Change to Peru Logging Rules Makes Nearly All Shipments to US Illegal, Environmental Group Says
A recent change to Peruvian logging permit rules will make it “nearly impossible” for Peruvian timber to be legally imported into the U.S. and European Union, the non-governmental Environmental Investigation Agency said in a Feb. 7 news release. Following concerns that cropped up in 2015 over illegal timber harvesting in Peru (see 1608170039), the Peruvian government’s response has been to “fire and intimidate key officials, reduce data collection at export points, and most recently to change transport permit requirements so that wood cannot be traced back to its source -- in contravention of Peru’s own laws and international commitments,” the EIA said. “Peru’s new rule interpretation will make it impossible to trace any wood product for sale or export back to its forest source and therefore, given the way U.S. and European Union regulations are being enforced, will make it essentially impossible for Peruvian timber to legally enter those markets,” said Lisa Handy, EIA director-forest campaigns. “If you can’t even figure out where your timber came from, how can you possibly claim to know it’s legal?”
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The Lacey Act, as enforced by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, "makes it unlawful to import certain plants and plant products -- including timber from Peru -- without an import declaration," an APHIS spokesman said. "Importers must submit this import declaration independent of the country of origin. Peruvian logging industry permitting rules are made by the Peruvian government at its discretion, and we do not treat Peruvian timber differently than other products regulated by the Lacey Act," he said. "USDA, along with the Departments of Justice, Interior, State, and the U.S. Trade Representative, is a member of the Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru. This group continues to work with Peru to address the issue of illegal logging." An EIA report in 2015 found only 16% of timber exported from the port of Callao could be verified as legal, though the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in late 2016 said plans were in the works to improve Peruvian timber tracking (see 1611150066).