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Timber Risk Assessment
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Timber Risk Score: 12 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Peru for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

  • Specified risk for 20 sub-categories.
  • Low risk for 0 sub-categories.
  • No legal requirements for 1 sub-category.

This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Peru. 

The following percentages of the country are forested, making a total forest cover of about 56%:

  • 53% is the jungle region - the Amazon rainforest). Native species such as Guazuma crinita, Calycophyllum spruceanum and Swietenia macrophylla, and exotic species such as Simarouba amara and Tectona grandis are planted. The region is sub-divided into:
    • Permanent production forests (24.5%)
    • Forests reserves (29.5%)
    • Protection forests (27.5%)
    • Forests on lands of rural and indigenous communities (17.7%)
    • Forests on private landholdings (0.8%). 
  • 3% is in the coastal region, which is referred to as dry forest
  • 0.17% is in the mountainous region - the Andean forests.  Eucalyptus spp. and Pinus radiata are planted. In the jungle region,

Of the forests in Peru:

  • 81.4% are public forests (in production, conservation, land reserves, and areas with no forest rights assigned)
  • 18.6% are private forests (on landholdings and rural and indigenous communities).

Legality risks in Peruvian timber supply chains are wide-ranging and relate to legal rights to harvest, taxes and fees, timber harvesting activities, third parties’ rights, and trade and transport. 

Companies sourcing timber from Peru should take care to ensure the risks identified are not present in their supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Score: 36 / 100 in 2021

Rank: 105 out of 180 countries in 2021

Armed conflict

There are currently no armed conflicts in Peru according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker.

According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program there were 88 deaths from 2010-2017.

CITES species

CITES appendix I: Podocarpus parlatorei

CITES appendix II: Aniba rosaeodora, Dalbergia spp., Swietenia macrophylla, Swietenia mahagoni, Cedrela odorata

 

Certification

FSC Certified Forest Area: 774,679 hectares (4 December 2019). 

Timber sources

  • Find out the different sources of legal timber
  • Determine which source type your timber comes from
Timber source type Description of source type

Permanent production forest concessions

Timber from natural forest in the public permanent forest, managed by private enterprises through concession contracts. 

Concession contracts are for 40 years and are renewable. Concessions must have:

  • a strategic General Forest Management Plan that covers the concession area, with a duration of 20 years, reformulated every 5 years
  • an Operational Plan for short-term planning for forest harvesting with a duration of up to 3 years.

These two plans are approved by the regional forest and wildlife authority and supervised by The Forest Resources and Wildlife Supervisory Agency (Organismo Supervisor de Recursos Forestales y de Fauna Silvestre (OSINFOR)).

Any movement of timber requires a Waybill for Natural-State Forest Products (NSFSW) (Guía de Transporte Forestal al Estado Natural—GTFEN), which is a document for the initial transportation of roundwood.

Local forests

Timber from natural forest that is managed by local governments 

An authorisation of harvesting in local forests (management statement) is required. Documents are prepared for authorisation by the regional forest and wildlife authority. OSINFOR supervises implementation. The regional authority establishes the evaluation criteria according to the zone, including:

  • the area’s free availability (with no previous ownership)
  • its adjacency to the applicant community
  • justification for the local forest
  • list of the benefited population
  • maps
Private forests

Timber from natural forests on private landholdings.

An authorisation of harvesting in local forests (management statement) is required. A visual inspection by the regional authority is required in order for harvesting authorisation to be granted. OSINFOR supervises implementation. All movements of timber require an NSFSW/GFTFEN document for the initial transportation of roundwood.
Indigenous community forests

Timber from natural forests managed by indigenous communities on their land.

Harvesting permits in indigenous communities require long-term planning with a general forest management plan, and short-term planning for harvesting under an operational plan. The regional authority grants the permit and OSINFOR supervises implementation.

Plantations

Timber from plantations of native and exotic species on both private and public land, including in agroforestry systems.

Privately owned and managed plantations do not require a management permit. State-owned plantations are managed by private oranisations through forest plantation concession. Private agroforestry systems have a contract for transfer of rights for agroforest systems.

Plantation species are primarily Eucalyptus and Pinus in the mountains, and Guazuma, Simarouba, Calycophyllum, and Tectona grandis in the rainforest.

Risk assessment summary

Legal rights to harvest

Legal rights to harvest, EUTR
  • Risk that concession licenses and indigenous community territories overlap where land tenure rights have been granted with Required Forest Management Plans (GFMP), Intermediate Forest Management Plans (IFMP), and Operation Plans obligations. This can be where the indigenous community territories existed prior to the granting of tenure or prior to the definition of continuous production forests (CPF)
  • Risk that conflicts over land tenure occur in areas where indigenous communities are present
  • Risk that harvesting occurs outside the concession area if concession licenses are granted in flood prone or unproductive areas 
  • Risk that concession licenses are granted without sufficient consideration of all social stakeholders (including indigenous communities), which can lead to land rights conflicts 
  • Risk that Forest Management Plans are based on and/or include incorrect or false information 
  • Risk that permits to harvest are misused and locations outside the approved area are harvested. This practice is possible as operation plans and management statements are not verified in the field and therefore false information is difficult to detect
Taxes and fees
Taxes and fees, EUTR
  • Risk that concessionaires do not pay harvesting right fees, or pay fees late 
  • Risk that indigenous communities do not pay taxes, due to a lack of insight into tax management systems 
Timber harvesting activities

timber harvesting activities, EUTR
  • Risk that concessionaires do not comply with harvesting regulations, e.g. that information in management plans does not reflect in terms of approved harvesting volumes, standing volume etc. 
  • Risk that concessionaires harvest products from unauthorised places, including protected sites  
  • Risk that health & safety regulations are not followed and accidents are not reported 
  • Risk that employment regulations are violated, including occurrences of bonded labour, where employees are not paid a salary, but work to pay off a debt 

Third parties' rights
Third party rights, EUTR
  • Risk that customary rights are violated due to ancestral uses of land not being addressed by law 
  • Risk that customary rights of coastal communities are violated 
  • Risk that consultation processes for exercising the right to consultation and approval as a condition for applying for a permit to harvest forest resources are not conducted 
  • Risk that there have been cases where community leaders have been bribed to get access to communities’ resources
Trade and transport
Trade and transport, EUTR
  • Risk that species are incorrectly classified, which increases the risk of various species being traded under the same name, including CITES species
  • Risk that shipping waybills that do not indicate the true origin of the products are used, as field verification of management documents has not been conducted. 
  • Risk that offshore trading and transfer pricing occurs 
  • Risk that customs regulations are violated 
  • Risk that CITES-listed species (mahogany and cedar) are transported with no evidence of origin and no listing in a harvesting plan 

 

Specified risk species

Common/trade name Scientific name Risk information

Spanish cedar

Cedrela odorata 

CITES listed. Risk of illegal trade without CITES permits 

Mahogany

Swietenia mahogoni

CITES listed. Risk of illegal trade without CITES permits 

 

 

Mitigate the risks in your supply chain

Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Peru.

Source Certified Materials 

NEPCon believes that third party certification (for example FSC and PEFC certification) can provide strong assurances of the legality of the products they cover. Companies seeking to mitigate the risks of sourcing illegal timber should seek to purchase third party certified materials wherever possible. 

While the European Timber Regulation does not include an automatic “green lane” for certified products, it does recognise the value of certification as a tool for risk assessment and mitigation. The European Commission says that companies “may rate credibly certified products as having negligible risk of being illegal, i.e. suitable for placing on the market with no further risk mitigation measures, provided that the rest of the information gathered and the replies to the risk assessment questions do not contradict such a conclusion.”

For more information on using certified materials in your due diligence, including how to assess whether a certification system meets EUTR requirements, see the page on Certification and Due Diligence.

Mitigation recommendations

There are six recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with timber sources from Peru:

1. Fully map your supply chain

2. Obtain and verify documents

  • Forest level documents
    • Concession licences. Verify the duration of the concession through the following links:
      • http://app.serfor.gob.pe/concesiones/consulta.aspx
      • http://observatorio.osinfor.gob.pe:91/MasterPage/MPageSistema.aspx?sigo=1&lstManMenu=0)
    • Maps of activities such as harvesting, roads, and others documentation that shows compliance with management plans 
    • Property title granted by the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and a permit for forest harvesting issued by the regional forest and wildlife authority (in the case of indigenous communities)
    • Title or certificate of ownership issued by the regional agricultural authority in coordination with the regional forest authority, and authorisation for harvesting of forest resources (for private landholdings)
    • Declaration as a local forest by the regional forest authority at the request of the local governments, and a permit for harvesting forest resources (for local forests)
    • Documents that verify that the presence of populations and/or indigenous peoples that could be affected by forest management must have been analysed. These documents must include maps of the zone, its boundaries, and neighbouring areas, among others
    • Procedures for verification of zoning of CPF versus location of urban-rural areas in the FMU
    • Public commitment to forest management obligations and to combat corruption
    • Forest management plans that include:
      • Information on inventories and censuses
      • Maps of road infrastructure, camps, production areas, protection areas, forest management administrative units
      • Information about forest product revenues and expenses
      • The training programme
      • The social, environmental and economic risks
      • The justification for the harvesting rate, the number of species to be harvested, harvesting volumes, and monitoring activities
      • Identification of rare, threatened species and their habitats, taking into account the national list, CITES, and IUCN. Impacts on them should be identified and actions established for mitigation. Implementation of these actions should be evaluated in the field inspection
    • Single Administrative Procedures Statement – SAP (Estado de Procedimientos Administrativos Únicos –  PAU).
    • Procedures for the protection of management units
    • Export permits granted for mahogany and cedar, verified by SERFOR 
  • Third parties’ rights documents
    • Records of disputes and a process developed for their resolution
    • Documentation and mapping of indigenous communities. In the case of indigenous peoples in isolation or initial contact, procedures should be developed to respect them
    • Places of special cultural significance  identified, recognised and recorded
    • In the case of local communities, those that are affected by management activities should be identified, documented and mapped
    • Records of places of special cultural significance 
    • Communal minutes documenting approval of the harvesting of forest resources
  • Tax related documents
    • Legal documents (invoices) for payment of the corresponding harvesting right fee
    • Sworn declarations made to SUNAT about compliance with monthly/annual declarations
    • Personnel payroll records verify employees’ working conditions. This should be checked with the labour authorities and with workers, as should payment of social benefits and times of service
  • Health and safety related documents
    • Health and safety procedures
    • Records of accidents and incidents should be established
    • Preventive health plans
    • Industrial safety regulations
    • Inspection documentation should be maintained by SUNAFIL, including: current list of workers, and a record of the list of workers for the last three months (record of entries by workers and confirmation that they are shown in the record)
    • The election process of the Occupational Safety and Health Committee or Supervisor should be documented as follows: notice of election, minutes of the election process, minutes of installation and constitution, and minutes of monthly meetings confirming performance of functions
  • Employment related documents
    • Labour agreements that are the result of negotiations between workers and employers
    • Records of payments of compensation and fringe benefits. Wages should be higher than the legal minimum wage
  • Trade and transport documents
    • Shipping and sales documents
    • It should be verified that the company has complied with submission of an income declaration and tax withholding declaration (if that is the case)
    • Certificate of Origin
    • Phytosanitary Certificate from SENASA
    • CITES Certificate (in the case of mahogany and cedar)
    • Bill of lading
    • Packing lists

3. Consult with stakeholders

  • Neighbours, local communities, landowners and other stakeholder confirm there are no conflicts on the land
  • Staff / workers confirm they are aware of health and safety procedures and have participated in training
  • Staff / workers confirm there are no issues with lack of labour contracts, or other contractual violations

4. Carry out on-site verification

  • Confirm that sites are harvested within the boundary of the property and according to the management and harvesting plans
  • Confirm that the process of consultation for making the decision about harvesting the timber resource and land tenure was legal
  • Confirm that indigenous peoples have access to timber products and have the ability to delegate to third parties, giving their free prior informed consent
  • Confirm that easement rights are respected
  • Confirm that product specifications at export match what was harvested (and are recorded in the harvester’s official forest harvesting and shipping reports)

5. Conduct targeted timber testing 

  • Conduct timber testing on samples of purchasd material to verify the species or origin of timber, where appropriate

6. Avoid / do not buy

  • Avoid products that include materials bought at spot- and/or open-markets
     
Profile Publication Date
2017-11-01