Congress extended for 6 months, with the possibility of a single extension of another 6 months, the validity of the Comprehensive Registry of Mining Formalization (Reinfo) without taking into account the absolute failure of said program. Since Reinfo came into effect in June 2017, 90,265 registrations were made, but only 2,108 were formalized. That is, 2.34%. And once they were formalized, they left the Reinfo list. The extension approved by Congress will in no way change the trend.
According to sources from the General Directorate of Mining Formalization of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, as of today there are 84,434 registrations in Reinfo, and miners may be in suspended or current status. In both cases they are immersed in the formalization process for different reasons. Now, of the 84,434 registrations, 19,266 (23%) are in current status and 65,168 (77%) are in suspended status.
If a registration is considered valid when the miner meets any of the conditions required for formalization, then 2 out of every 10 registered would be on track. The extension of the validity of the Reinfo will not imply any change.
The figures indicate that by extending the expiration date of the Reinfo, the most beneficiaries are the miners who resist complying with the law.
Miners with suspended registrations are those who do not have a valid RUC, have not proven the consumption of auditable goods before Sunat, have omitted to declare semi-annual mining production or have not presented the Environmental Management Instrument for the Formalization of Small Activities. Mining and Artisanal Mining (IGAFOM), to mention a few.
In the event that the suspended and registered miners overcome any of these violations, they could regain their current status.
The figures also reveal why the miners in the southern region of the country exerted greater pressure on Congress to achieve the continuity of Reinfo for 6 more months with the possibility of extending it for another 6 months.
Arequipa (19.2%), Puno (14.3%) and Madre de Dios (10.6%) together represent almost half of the miners registered in Reinfo. But they are also the regions with high rates of miners with registrations suspended for not complying with the law: in Arequipa it is 76%, in Puno 67% and in Madre de Dios.
Other regions with high rates of suspended registrations are Áncash (84%), Cusco (83%), Ayacucho (83%), Apurímac (79%) and La Libertad (70%). It is no coincidence that in this list of the highest rates of suspended miners records, Arequipa and La Libertad appear, regions that have been scenes of brutal crimes among miners.
Postponing the validity of the Reinfo further will not improve this panorama that expresses the failure of the State for 7 years to try to formalize the miners.
For the head of the General Directorate of Mining Formalization of the MINEM, Mayra Figueroa Valderrama, what hinders the miners from completing the process in Reinfo is, first of all, the difficulty in reaching an agreement and signing an exploitation contract with the holder of the concession they operate.
Secondly, Figueroa mentioned the signing of the contract for the use of the surface area.
And a third obstacle is the “red tape” related to permits for the use of explosives, for the transfer of supplies and other procedures before the Regional Directorates of Energy and Mines.
The Executive presented the draft Law on Small Mining and Artisanal Mining (ASM), which is in the Energy and Mines Commission, waiting for it to be reviewed and strengthened with your contributions. What he did prioritize was the expansion of Reinfo. If the ASM Bill had been promoted, progress could be made in addressing the problem of illegal mining.
“With respect to the exploitation contract, the bill presented establishes an incentive for the concession holder in order to motivate him to sign it. This project also enables the possibility of applying other incentives through a supreme decree. However, regarding the surface contract, the State cannot be directly involved, since the owners of these areas can be communities, associations, indigenous peoples or private individuals, which implies a contractual link that escapes state intervention,” he explained. Mayra Figueroa.
For the technical advisor of the Association of Small Formal Miners, Liliana Otero Salinas, these 12 years of trying to regularize informal miners has been a failure and extending the deadlines for the mining formalization process a complete mistake.
“Of nearly 90,000 registrations to Reinfo, only 2,000 have been formalized. What does this mean? This doesn’t work! Since 2012 they have tried to regularize this issue and after 22 years and nothing has been achieved,” said Liliana Otero.
He also highlighted the collateral effects of Congress’s decision to extend the validity of Reinfo.
“Reinfo has facilitated impunity because informal workers cannot be detained or intervened. They are also not subject to criminal sanctions. They settle on the land where they have mining concessions, they show their Reinfo and we can’t do anything,” said the technical advisor.
The general director of Mining Formalization, Mayra Figueroa, pointed out that as a ministry an expansion without greater technical support was unfeasible.
“A cleanup is necessary to identify who is actually focused on achieving formalization, meeting their requirements so that the State supports them,” he added.
“We recognize that Reinfo has been misused. Within our records we have had cases of people who have illegally carried out mining activity and we have excluded them. The MINEM bill does not want to take away the powers in terms of monitoring, supervision or inspection, from the DREM (Regional Mining Directorate), but it does bring to the Ministry of Energy and Mines the powers or responsibilities to formalize,” Figueroa highlighted.
“These miners do not have concessions; However, there are some that have up to 10 Reinfo in different mining concessions. If the Reinfo reopens, all the work that the MINEM has done will go down the drain,” he warned.
Rejection of the decision of Congress
● “It is alarming that a democratic institution like Congress extends a system that, for more than 20 years, has granted impunity to illegal mining, without implementing effective control mechanisms or addressing the harmful effects that it will cause to the entire country,” it states. pronounced by the group of organizations and specialists, the Illegal Mining Observatory (OMI).
● “The Congress of the Republic has the duty to legislate for the good of the entire nation and above all attend to the voices of those who are directly affected by illegal mining activities, especially peasant and indigenous communities,” the statement states.
