IRELAND imports millions of euro worth of illegal wood every year, propping up a global black market that devastates third-world countries and the environment, it has been claimed.

New research shows that the construction boom helped Ireland become the foremost country in the EU for using contraband supplies.

According to sustainable development organisation Progressio, just 6% of wood distribution outlets here are certified by bodies established to ensure the use of legitimate suppliers.

Only 3% of 541 printing companies surveyed are certified whereas in the UK, the standard rate of certification in the overall timber market is more than 80%.

"The illegal trade has much in common with the drugs trade," the report notes.

"They're both worth billions of euro… both rely heavily on bribery and both have helped to fund armed conflicts.

"The illegal trade of forest resources also undermines international security as it is frequently associated with money laundering, organised crime, human rights' abuses and, in some cases, civil war."

Ireland has had a positive track record on domestic forestry production although much wood is still imported.

While it remains difficult to establish exactly how much illegal material comes in, Progressio pointed out that the real problem is a lack of compliance with recognised certification systems that guarantee materials come from a legal source.

"Certainly, the recent construction boom saw Ireland import vast amounts of imported tropical hardwood timber and wood-based products," it says.

"In most cases, the origins of such timber and wood based products was unknown.

"Unless they are certified as legal and sustainable, the imported tropical hardwood and wood-based products (especially those processed and exported from China) are very likely to contain tropical hardwood of dubious origins and in many cases [they are] the results of illegal logging."

According to the WWF environmental lobby, Ireland has the worst record in relation to illegal logging in the EU and came bottom of a 2007 survey.

The report notes that Ireland imports an estimated €20m worth of illegal tropical timber every year – one of the highest per head of population in Europe.

At a global level, certification of legitimate wood is controlled by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC).

Four Irish-based timber distributors/importers, 22 processors, 20 printing companies and six paper manufacturers are certified by the above bodies, meaning they "rely substantially or wholly on legal and sustainable sources for their product range".

However, in terms of distributors and printers specifically, Progressio found a very low level of uptake with the FSC and PEFC systems.

It names Brooks Group, Chadwicks, Heiton Buckley and James McMahon as being major suppliers who are not certified.

There is no legal obligation to register and calls on such companies to become certified are made simply in order to put further clamps on black-market trade.

A spokesman for Chadwicks and Heiton said that the vast majority of its products are sourced in Ireland and added: "We demand and expect from all our suppliers, where appropriate, a verification and traceability of the products they are supplying.

"We insist on this so that we can trace the source of any issue that may arise with any product we supply to the consumer marketplace."

The Brooks Group insisted it used suppliers who were registered with both FSC and PEFC and said it had "controls and a corporate social responsibility policy with regard to timber purchasing".

James McMahon des­cribed itself as a distributor and not an importer, but declined to comment further.

Illegal timber is that which is provided through the corrupt access to forest land, extraction without permission or from protected areas, where protected species are cut down or limits are exceeded. There are also black-market supplies that avoid taxes and other charges.

"Illegal logging is also a major contributor to global deforestation which causes enormous environmental damage," the report notes.

"Deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of global emissions or carbon dioxide – more than the total global CO2 emissions from the transport sector, thereby fuelling climate change.

"In Ireland, to be certified as a timber distributor, importer, timber frame manufacturer or printer is certainly the exception rather than the norm.

"In the UK more than 80% of timber and panel products consumed are certified and almost all the rest is legal."