PERU Law and Practice Contributed by: Alvaro Echeandía, Alfred Kossuth Wieland, Pilar Santillán Meza and Rodrigo Varillas Cueto, Thorne, Echeandia & Lema Abogados
In this regard, although Peru has maintained a systematic policy of reducing tariffs on imports, in the event of global events that may affect Peru’s domestic industry, the Ministry of Econ - omy and Finance has the power to increase tariffs to protect the national industry, since, according to the jurisprudence of the Constitu - tional Court of Peru (judgment issued in EXP No 03116-2009-PA/TC), the constitutional purpose of tariffs is to favour national production, pro - mote economic stability through the increase or decrease, reduction or expansion of imports that may affect the general level of prices and the movements of national supply and demand, stimulate economic growth, protect national industry, promote national investment, control prices, defend consumers and encourage the competitiveness of national products. Peru applies tariffs to imports of all merchan - dise (goods), regardless of their country of origin. Rates of 0%, 6% and 11% are applied to the customs value, according to the tariff classifi - cation of goods in the current Customs Tariff, approved by Supreme Decree No 404-2021-EF. In this regard, the current Customs Tariff has the following tariff structure, according to the type of goods. • Capital goods: 1,762 tariff subheadings with a 0% rate. • Intermediate goods: 3,366 tariff subheadings with a 0% rate, 497 tariff subheadings with a 6% rate, and 260 tariff subheadings with an 11% rate. • Consumer goods: 522 tariff subheadings with a 0% rate, 1,180 tariff subheadings with a 6% rate, and 416 tariff subheadings with an 11% rate. It should be noted that three subhead - ings corresponding to express delivery and postal items have a 4% rate.
In the agricultural sector, in addition to ad valo - rem tariffs, there are specific tariffs (USD per ton) for a set of 48 subheadings related to rice (four), sugar and derivatives (seven), dairy prod - ucts and derivatives (26), and corn and deriva - tives (11). These subheadings are part of the Peruvian Price Band System (SFPP), created in 2001 by Supreme Decree No 115-2001-EF. The SFPP allows prices to fluctuate without inter - vention within a range of “floor” and ”ceiling” prices. Additional variable duties (specific tariffs) apply when the reference price in international markets is below the “floor” import price, while tariff reductions apply when the reference price is above the ”ceiling” import price. This system aims to reduce price fluctuations, increase agri - cultural profitability, and alleviate rural poverty. In this regard, on 23 April 2025, Peru and Guate - mala notified the WTO Dispute Settlement Body WT/DS457/7 that they had reached a mutually agreed solution in dispute DS457, “Peru – Addi - tional Duty on Imports of Certain Agricultural Products”. This dispute, initiated by Guatemala against Peru, aimed to verify whether Peru’s Price Band System violated Peru’s WTO com - mitments. In Peru, business concentration operations are regulated under Law No 31112 to protect and promote effective competition. Such law aims to prevent certain transactions from creating sig - nificant competition restrictions, thereby avoid - ing the formation of monopolies or dominant positions that could harm consumers and the economy. The law covers various types of concentration operations: mergers, acquisition of control, 6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
654 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook