Peru : Indicators

In the free trade agreements and treaties signed, there are lists of annexes and duties, which identify commercialised goods between the signatory countries; some of these agreements are designed to protect the forest resources and implement contingency plans for illegal extraction processes linked directly to commercialisation. On this point, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA motivated the process of updating forest legislation, with the Peruvian State undertaking a series of commitments in environmental management and in the forest sector to improve trade in legal timber products.

Meanwhile, the Agreement with the European Union was signed on 26 June 2012 and is expected to enter into force at the end of 2012, depending on approval in the respective Parliaments of the signatory countries. This Agreement contains Article 273 on trade in forest products, the aim of which is to promote sustainable management of forest resources and thereby improve application of the laws and good forest governance, and promote trade in legal and sustainable forest products.

Although these international agreements are in the official language (Spanish), they have not been translated into other community languages, making access to these documents difficult for those populations. Meanwhile, these agreements have not been given a consultation process; the only participants have been the responsible bodies of each government. However, implementation of the Free Trade Agreement signed with the USA involved the formation of an environmental consultative committee which acts as an observer representing civil society, to meet the commitments taken on by the Peruvian State.

For these agreements to have genuine effect, there must be compliance on all sides with the already existing national regulations on transparency and citizen participation in the management of forest resources, but there also needs to be a strengthening of the mechanisms for monitoring timber products and verifying of the legality of their origin; if this is not done, all the stipulations will remain merely illustrative, with no real effectiveness. It is also debatable whether the FTA with the USA has had a real impact on trade in forest products. For example, an investigation by the International Environmental Investigation Agency (1) states that "almost two years after expiry of the deadline for Peru to implement its obligations, little has been done to demand compliance with the agreement.”

(1) Environmental Investigation Agency (2012) La Máquina Lavadora (The Laundering Machine). Available at http://launderingmachine.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/spanish_report_eia_final2.pdf