The U.S. government has been urging Peru to take stronger steps to combat illegal logging ever since the two countries signed a free-trade agreement seven years ago. But the nudging has become particularly insistent following the discovery, in a verification process triggered by U.S. officials earlier this year, that much of the timber in a Peruvian shipment that arrived in Houston, Texas, in January 2015, was illegal. The U.S. Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru requested the verification in February of this year, invoking a provision of the free-trade deal’s forest-governance annex. That annex requires Peru to trace the origin of timber shipments from particular producers or exporters when asked by U.S. government officials. Although U.S. officials have lauded... [Log in to read more]