More than 20 US companies have imported millions of dollars of illegal Amazon wood since 2008, according to a new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
The multi-year investigative report released on Tuesday says trade it has uncovered appears to be in violation of the US Lacey Act and international endangered species laws, as well as the US-Peru free trade agreement.
EIA’s report, The Laundering Machine, analysed official documents which it says demonstrate that at least 112 illegal shipments of cedar or mahogany wood – allegedly laundered with fabricated papers and signed-off by Peruvian government officials – arrived in the US between 2008-2010.
EIA says shipments account for more than 35% of all trade in these protected species between the US and Peru.
EIA believes the figures are conservative and would increase with access to more complete data from field verifications.
“Pervasive laundering and corruption have been an open secret in Peru’s wood trade for years,” said Andrea Johnson of EIA.
“Any exporter or importer still relying only on paper permits to claim legality should know better by now.”
EIA recorded testimonies from men and women who experienced forced labour and sexual abuse in logging camps, and teenagers with horrific injuries sent away without wages to find their own way to a clinic.
Meanwhile, analysis of the special permits required for trade in cedar and mahogany (both protected by international agreements) shows that many of the US companies appear to have reduced or ended imports of these species from Peru since 2009.
EIA is unclear whether this was a result of more careful due diligence or other business decisions.
The report will be submitted to US authorities with a call for official investigation.
EIA’s report is available at www.eia-global.org.
