IWPA Urges USTR to Monitor Peru Timber Harvesting to Ensure Legality
The International Wood Products Association (IWPA) urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to press Peru to expediently review claims of illegal logging in the country, in a letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (here). IWPA released…
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a batch of suggestions to improve the Peruvian forest sector and support bilateral trade in wood products, including improvements to the accuracy and clarity of Peru's "SIGO" forestry information management system and a partnership informing U.S. importers on how to use the system as part of their due diligence programs. U.S. and Peruvian officials are meeting in Lima Nov. 3-4 regarding implementation of the environmental chapter of the U.S.-Peru Trade Partnership Agreement, as well as that agreement's Annex on Forest Sector Governance and the U.S.-Peru Environmental Cooperation Agreement. Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in August cited concerns about potentially illegally harvested Peruvian timber, calling for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinvigorate efforts to identify and intercept such timber (see 1608180016). Peru has acknowledged that "significant portions" of a 2015 shipment to the Port of Houston did not comply with Peruvian laws and regulations, USTR recently said (see 1608170039).