USTR calls on Peru to verify legality of 2017 timber exports

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the U.S. and Peru have an “active record on engagement” in timber issues under their trade deal, but “serious concerns” regarding illegal logging in Peru remain, despite improvements in some areas.    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Monday called on the Peruvian government to verify three timber shipments exported to the U.S. in 2017 complied with all Peruvian laws and regulations, USTR said in a Monday statement.
   The timber verification provision is a monitoring tool inscribed in the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement to ensure enforcement of Peruvian forestry laws throughout the supply chain.
   “Strong monitoring and enforcement of our trade agreements is a top priority for the Trump Administration,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. “We are committed to using all available tools to ensure illegal timber from Peru is not entering the United States at the expense of American timber producers and workers.”
   USTR added that the U.S. and Peru have an “active record on engagement” in timber issues under the trade deal, but “serious concerns” about illegal logging in Peru remain, despite improvements in some areas.
   In October, USTR took the “unprecedented action” of blocking timber imports for three years from the Peruvian company Inversiones Oroza, which was found in 2016 to have violated Peru’s laws, regulations and other measures concerning the harvest of, and trade in, timber products.
   “Today’s action will provide an opportunity to test Peru’s progress in addressing this continuing challenge and help ensure that Peruvian timber is legally harvested and violators are held accountable,” USTR said Monday.