Gold of illegal origin made up 54% of the volume Peru exported in the first half of 2026 and exceeded legally sourced exports by 8.7 tonnes, the Peruvian Institute of Economics (IPE) estimates in its release of 17 September 2026. IPE puts the first-half increase in illegal-origin exports at 19.4%, against a 5.9% decline in exports of legal origin. For 2026 as a whole, IPE projects illegal-origin exports of at least 110 tonnes and possibly more than 120, or 52% to 55% of Peru’s gold exports.
Law 32537, published in El Peruano on 26 December 2025, amended Article 11 of Legislative Decree 1107, which requires every acquirer of controlled mining products in Peru, gold included, to verify their origin in whatever state they are bought. The minimum data to verify are the seller’s RUC tax number, identity and real address, the Unique Concession Code of the source, the exploitation authorisation and, where applicable, a registration in force in REINFO, the Registro Integral de Formalización Minera, or a similar register. The amended text admits a concession in extinguished status only as an exception, where its file forms part of an ongoing formalisation procedure registered in force and validated in REINFO. Law 32537 keeps that formalisation process in force until 31 December 2026, or until the Small-Scale and Artisanal Mining (MAPE) Law and its regulation enter into force if that comes first, and the two REINFO entries that Article 11 accepts depend on the process remaining in force. For an exporter that bought the gold it ships, the Article 11 verification of each seller is the origin record behind the shipment.
By IPE’s count, 2% of those registered in REINFO since its creation in 2016 have completed formalisation, across five extensions of the register, and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) has not ruled out another beyond December 2026. The release links the exemption from criminal liability that REINFO registration carries to illegal mining’s advance into natural protected areas, indigenous reserves and archaeological zones. Law 32537 also required every REINFO holder to declare the actual location of its operation through MINEM’s Ventanilla Única de Formalización Minera, with georeferenced and documentary evidence, within 120 calendar days of the law’s entry into force.
The tonnages and shares are IPE’s own estimates. Changes to the term of the formalisation process and to Article 11 rest with Congress, from which the Executive has requested powers to update formalisation and traceability rules; the Executive has also announced a new MAPE bill.