PERU’S FOREST INSPECTION AGENCY REGAINS INDEPENDENCE

In a dramatic U-turn, the Peruvian government published a decree that restores the independence of OSINFOR, the agency in charge of inspecting and sanctioning illegal logging crimes in the Peruvian Amazon. This comes just a few months after its independence had been seriously undermined by placing it under ministerial control.

For the last decade, OSINFOR has worked under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and has been the only state agency effectively combatting the rampant trade in illegal timber. Its independence, guaranteed by a US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement that entered into force in 2009, was crucial to its success.

As a result of its work, it faced a fierce backlash from the timber sector, which for years tried to weaken it. Then, in December 2018, without being consulted or informed, OSINFOR was placed under the Ministry of the Environment, a move that weakened its independence and which compromised its ability to carry out its work free of undue political influence. This led to the resignation of its director in protest.

In January 2019, Global Witness published the report The Forest Avengers, revealed continuing widespread and systematic illegal logging in Peru that contributes to the ongoing degradation of the country’s climate-critical forests. In recognition of the critical role OSINFOR plays in tackling this persistent problem, an urgent call was made to restore its independence.

The move also triggered the US Trade Representative to launch the first consultation under the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement to ascertain whether the agreement had been breached.

Almost four months later, the Peruvian government has finally backed down and restored OSINFOR’s independence. This is a promising step in addressing illegal logging in Peru, but much more remains to be done.

Now that OSINFOR’s independence has been restored, it is imperative that its powers are expanded so it can tackle new and emerging forms of illegal logging that currently fall outside its mandate. This means giving it powers to inspect and sanction timber harvest areas it currently is unable to inspect or sanction, and giving it powers to inspect the sawmills that drive much of the demand for illegal timber.