USTR Asks Peru for Consultations Over Its Forestry Changes
The U.S. is confronting Peru over changes to its logging oversight, a move described by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as an unprecedented step that makes it clear that the Trump administration "takes monitoring and enforcement of U.S. trade agreements seriously...."
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All of the Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to USTR on Dec. 19 saying that changes to the way Peru supervises logging were a flagrant attack on the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement's forestry provisions (see 1812190033). They noted that the forestry annex to the agreement was critical in getting it through Congress in December 2007. The prompt response by the USTR could be part of a larger strategy to reassure Democrats that the nation's trade negotiators agree on some of their core priorities of making sure trading partners live up to their agreements, whether on labor or environmental protections. The USTR said that on Jan. 4 he requested consultations with Peru on ending the independence of the Agency for the Supervision of Forest Resources and Wildlife, or OSINFOR under its Spanish acronym. The independency of that agency is a requirement in the free trade agreement.
“Since its creation in 2008, OSINFOR has played a critical role in Peru detecting and combating illegal logging, and we are gravely concerned that its independence is threatened. I urge Peru to abide by its obligations and restore OSINFOR’s separateness and independence,” Lighthizer said in a press release. This is the first time the U.S. has asked for consultations in the 10 years the trade deal has been in effect.
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., responded to the USTR news, praising Lighthizer for responding swiftly to the Democrats on Ways and Means. "It is critical that we continue to demonstrate to our trading partners that trade enforcement is a priority for the United States," he said in a press release the evening of Jan. 4. "We look forward to working closely with USTR on this matter to seek the kind of swift and certain enforcement that House Democrats have insisted U.S. trade agreements provide when trading partners go back on their promises."