Washington, DC /eNewsChannels/ — The Governments of the United States and Peru held their first bilateral Environmental Affairs Council meeting in Washington, D.C. yesterday. U.S. Department of State Acting Director of the Office of Environmental Policy Dr. Willem Brakel and Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources Mara Burr led the United States delegation, while Legal Advisor for Trade and Environment Dr. Ernesto Guevara from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism headed the delegation representing the Government of Peru.
The two Governments established the Environmental Affairs Council within the Environment Chapter of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (USPTPA) as a means to consider and discuss how they are implementing the Environment Chapter and will report to the Free Trade Commission regarding Chapter implementation, as well as to discuss implementation of the Environmental Cooperation Agreement. During the half-day meeting, U.S. and Peruvian trade and environment officials discussed compliance with environmental provisions under the USPTPA and reviewed implementation of the Annex on Forest Sector Governance.
Officials also discussed the implementation of the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, including areas where the U.S. and Peru are collaborating on environmental protection, strengthening forest sector governance and capacity for related biodiversity conservation. The bilateral meeting provided an opportunity for the public to raise issues and ask questions on implementation procedures as well as provide suggestions on improving environmental protection in both countries.
