Quarterly Progress Report

Technical activities are nearing completion, and the project has focused on promoting the implementation of its recommendations by public entities. The current quarter involves collecting results and drafting a proposed agenda for further reforms in the areas addressed by the project. Labor reforms have been a key focus, with the project concluding ongoing activities, particularly those performed with the judiciary, following the new administration's takeover in January 2013. The project finalized the design of a monitoring system for the implementation of the new Labor Procedural Law, a study to identify the economic and non-economic costs of labor processes, a proposal of new formats to measure the quality of rulings by judges, and a study to define new parameters for establishing the standard workload of labor courts. The Minister of Labor's replacement led to a transition period, during which the project gathered information about each activity's status and emphasized the incorporation of deliverables by current officials. Priority was given to approving inspection guidelines and protocols on safety and health at work, agro-export companies, sea workers, mediation, and outsourcing companies. The validation process for tools designed to improve the Labor Inspections Information System (LIIS) continued and is expected to conclude in January 2013. The project will present all the products to the Minister after its meeting with USAID Peru's Mission Director. Intellectual Property (IP) has also been a significant area of focus, with highlights including the XI National Inventions Contest, the launching of the web page and social networks of the Antipiracy Campaign, and the EQUIPU Tour around universities in Lima and Arequipa to promote the use of IP among students and researchers. The project continued to develop copyrights guides for emerging cultural industries, a study on national collective trademarks, and the identification of patentable material in the National University of Engineering. Additionally, the project supported AMCHAM in organizing the first IP Mission to Washington D.C., where 27 participants from the Peruvian Government and private sector related to IP matters were exposed to IP policies of different American institutions and built relationships with these institutions and among themselves. Trade Facilitation has also seen significant progress, with the implementation of procedural reforms in key regulatory bodies such as DIGESA and SENASA. The Authorized Economic Operator program, promoted and supported by the project, was officially launched on October 2, 2012. U.S. experts Robert Keller and Gerardo Ayzanoa visited Lima and Paita in December 2012 to interview officials and private sector representatives as part of the first TCBaseline monitoring report, which is expected to be concluded in January 2013. The National Competitiveness Council presented the annual targets of its Competitiveness Agenda in December, with public officials from more than five trade-related entities and private sector representatives acknowledging their support of the project in the accomplishment of various targets. Administrative Simplification has also seen significant progress, with the project concluding the Second Virtual Diploma on Administrative Simplification. A total of 3,389 officials from more than 900 municipalities increased their capacities in administrative simplification and are now trained to implement such reforms in their institutions. A survey performed during the closing events showed that 79 percent of the attendees considered the Diploma a well-prepared course. The National Competitiveness Council presented a diagnostic and reform proposal for the National Institute of Civil Defense's Security Technical Inspection process.