Levin Statement on Department of Labor Peru Report

WASHINGTON, DC – Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor issued a report in response to a submission by Peruvian unions and the International Labor Rights Forum, which alleged that Peru is not in compliance with labor provisions in the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement:

"The May 10th Agreement in 2007 was a major breakthrough in incorporating strong and enforceable labor and environmental obligations in U.S. free trade agreements, with the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement being the first to adopt those standards. Unfortunately, today's report – combined with a failure to implement the environmental provisions in the agreement – makes clear that Peru has failed to meet its obligations under the FTA.

"Unlike the failure to act in a timely manner in previous cases, notably with the Guatemala and Honduras submissions, this report was issued within the statutory time frame. However, today's report fails to provide clear next steps regarding how Peru will remedy the use of short-term contracts that deprive workers of the ability to freely associate. Further, the report merely "raises questions" about labor law enforcement when there are clear examples of the Peruvian government failing to enforce its laws and meet the labor standards in the agreement."

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