Peru congress passes indigenous consultation bill

Enviromine

Publishing Date: 25 Aug 2011 11:50am GMT
Author: Mining, People and the Environment

Corporate Social Responsibility CSR Legal and Legislation

Peru’s congress has unanimously passed a law which requires mining and oil companies to consult with indigenous communities before developing a project.

The move has been welcomed by NGOs as the latest step towards free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for local communities.

President Ollanta Humala will have 15 days to sign the ‘Prior Consultation Law’, which will make Peru complaint with UN’s international law for the rights of tribal people, ILO Convention 169.

Survival International welcomed the announcement of the bill, and director Stephen Corry said “There are two factors at stake here. Firstly, [Mr] Humala should support the decision of Congress to approve the Prior Consultation Law. Secondly, the Peruvian government must commit to upholding it.’

Sworn in as president in July, Mr Humala pledged to end social exclusion in the South American country.

He had also indicated plans to introduce a windfall tax on the mining sector, which was valued at US$20.5 billion last year (production value).