Peru Corrects Course in Fight Against Illegal Logging

OSINFOR, the institution in charge of supervising the legality of timber in Peru, regains its independence today in a Supreme Decree from the Council of Ministries

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2019

Today, the Peruvian government released a decree to return the Agency for Supervision of Forest Resources and Wildlife (OSINFOR) — a key Peruvian government agency in charge of identifying illegal logging — to the Council of Ministers, after a decision in December moved the agency to within the Ministry of Environment.

Melissa Blue Sky, Senior Attorney, and Rolando Navarro, Fellow, of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) issued the following statement:

Today, after nearly four months, the Peruvian government reversed its decision to move OSINFOR to the Ministry of Environment. As CIEL and others expressed at the time, the relocation of OSINFOR from under the Council of Ministers to within the Ministry of Environment undermined OSINFOR’s independence and violated the environment chapter of the US-Peru free trade agreement.

On January 4, the United States Trade Representative requested the first ever consultations for a violation of a trade agreement’s environment chapter. Though Peru responded publicly that OSINFOR was still independent, the government’s actions told a different story.

Peru’s decision today to return OSINFOR to the Council of Ministers is an encouraging and positive first step toward empowering OSINFOR to perform its essential function in the fight against illegal logging in Peru. However, much more is needed to support and strengthen the work of OSINFOR and other important forest and environmental agencies, including the Peruvian Tax and Customs Authority (SUNAT), public prosecutors, and Regional Forestry and Wildlife Authorities. Further, Peru’s national and regional governments must take significant steps to get at the root causes that allow illegal logging and the trade of illegal timber to persist at such high levels.

CIEL will soon release a report detailing the involvement of certain sectors of the government in the illegal timber trade, with detailed technical recommendations for combatting Peru’s ongoing problems with illegal logging. We hope that the Peruvian government will hear these recommendations and continue to take steps, like today’s, that make a positive difference in the fight against illegal logging.

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Contact:

Amanda Kistler, Communications Director, CIEL: akistler@ciel.org, +001.202.742.5832

Notes for Editors: