EU countries are not doing enough to stem the flow of illegal and unsustainable timber or regulating its sale, despite the upcoming introduction of two pieces of legislation to halt its import, according to a survey by WWF. The survey found the highest scorers with 12 points (out of max 18 points) respectively were Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. The UK has been the most consistent high scorer on performance, but has become one of the slowest in terms of improving its performance.

So far only four countries are ready to receive licensed timber, under the FLEGT Regulation, which came into force in 2005. And as many as nine countries have still to put in place any of the necessary implementing measures for the EU Timber Regulation, which is due to be implemented on March 3rd, 2013

Beatrix Richards, head of Forest Policy and Trade at WWF UK, said: "Overall the study shows that EU Member States will have a busy year if they're going to ensure that these two key pieces of legislation are in place to exclude illegal timber."

Only seven countries are making good progress in ensuring that all public institutions buy only legal and sustainable timber and wood products. As many as 11 countries still have no such policy in place at all, despite having illegal timber in their supply chains, and monitoring of the quality of implementation is very weak. The idea of using public procurement policy to drive demand for sustainably produced timber arose out of the Rio Summit in 1992 and the Agenda 21 Initiative.

Comparable scores over the course of the barometer surveys (2004-2012) show that Belgium, France and Slovenia are the most improved. The weakest performers overall in 2012, scoring two points or less, out of a total possible score of 18, were Estonia, Finland, Greece Italy, Slovakia and Spain.

One of the flagship actions by the EU is working with tropical countries to enter into voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) which will permit licensed timber from these countries to enter the EU both under the FLEGT regulation and the EU Timber Regulation. Only six EU countries are currently proactively engaged in supporting this.

Unless EU governments do more, wood products sold across the EU could still be undermining social infrastructure and devastating natural habitats in areas of Indonesia and the Congo Basin. Illegal and unsustainable logging impacts on communities and species, such as the orang-utan and gorilla, whilst also making a significant contribution to climate change.