The Australian Government is being urged to check wooden furniture imported from Vietnam, after a new report by an investigative non-for-profit organisation was released on Monday.

The in-depth report from London-based Environmental Investigation Agency shows that Vietnamese companies and private individuals are smuggling enormous amounts of illegally logged timber from protected areas of Cambodia.

EIA alleges that the operations were facilitated with help from Vietnamese government officials and security force personnel.

Cambodian timber is smuggled across the border and stockpiled in Vietnam. (Photo courtesy: EIA)

It’s estimated that between November and March, at least 300,000 cubic metres of timber were cut down in Cambodia’s north-eastern Ratanakiri province and exported to Vietnam, despite a logging ban.

Australia is a major market for the Vietnam timber industry.

Last year, Australia imported 300 million dollars worth of timber products from Vietnam — mostly wooden furniture.