Mar 04, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. The secretary general of PEFC Italy Antonio Brunori expressed his satisfaction for the agreement signed by Federlegno Arredo and WWF against illegal timber trade, as The Greenplanet informed Lesprom Network. "Forest certification is the most effective tool to ensure legality", Brunori stated. "This agreement is extremely positive because it focuses on the exact attention that is needed for a sustainable management of forests and wood", he continued. This was the first comment of PEFC Italy about the agreement signed at the Italian Ministry for agricultural, food and forest policies, at the presence of the minister Luca Zaia, the President of Federlegno Arredo Paolo Bortolotti and the honorary President of WWF Italy Fulco Pratesi. PEFC Italy in a press release highlights the important role played by the Ministry in the agreement, hoping for a growing involvment in the protection of Italian forests and woods. In 2008 Italy has become the leading importer of timber in Europe, the 4th in the world. Italy imports 14% of Bolivia's illegal timber, 24% of Cameroon's, 33% of Ivory Coast's, 25% of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's, 36% of Congo's, 24% of Gabon's, 14% of Indonesia's, 13% of Thailand's, 5% of Malaysia's and 7% of China's. In the past few years illegal timber in Italy also comes from Eastern Europe (Bosnia 42% and Ukraine 11%), This justifies a commitment to valorise tools such as forest certification, in order to make the wood market more transparent. "PEFC Italy looks with satisfaction at the commitment of the production world to sustainable management of forests as well as a responsible wood supply" stressed Brunori. "Each effort towards a fair and transparent use of forest resources allows for a reduction of the illegal trade's foundations as well as illegal logging in Asia, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe". The certification of sustainable forest management and product traceability is the main tool to get guarantees of legality and sustainability. PEFC Italy is a non profit-organization that represents the national management body of the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes.