Peru: Congressmen analyse to modify the law that regulates the explotation of games and sports betting.

During the session of the Foreign Trade and Tourism Commission, headed by Congressman Edgar Tello Montes (BM), the presentation of Pablo Viana Ruiz, representative of the Peruvian Sports Betting Association - APADELA, was heard first, regarding the aforementioned legislative initiative.

Congressman Roberto Sánchez Palomino (CD-JP) considered that the rule, approved unanimously in Congress in July 2022 and which has not yet been regulated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), needs to be strengthened.
He said that it is necessary to know who the person betting is, above all because of the high risks involved, in order to promote legality with regard to the resources.

"Peru needs to be regulated because we are talking about taxes that do not reach the treasury to attend to mental health, sport and the development of tourism itself," said Sánchez, while pointing out the importance of preventing money laundering in Peru.

Parliamentarian Katy Ugarte Mamani (NA) called for policies to prevent gambling addiction, mainly in schools and including parents. She explained that, according to Social Security figures, gambling addiction in Peru is growing at an accelerated rate of 33% each year, however, the National Institute of Mental Health indicates that the percentage may be higher.

"The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 5 % of the population in Metropolitan Lima has complications associated with pathological gambling. For this, immediate action must be taken, bearing in mind that in our country we do not have many professionals in psychiatry," Katy Ugarte Mamani said.

In this regard, Pablo Viana Ruiz said that for this it is important to regulate the new law that includes many of the problems and shortcomings of the current regulation.
"It is necessary to approve the modifications in a new law so that an entity such as Mincetur can carry out responsible gambling policies and regulation," he said.

Next, representative María Acuña Peralta (APP) presented her draft bill 867/2021, which proposes the creation of the Free Trade Zone of the Lambayeque region.

She said that the initiative is based on the principle of integration of economic activities in accordance with the State policies established in the National Agreement and with the National Competitiveness Plan 2019 - 2020.

In addition, it aims to create the Free Trade Zone of the Lambayeque region to carry out productive, commercial, industrial, machine, services and other activities related to foreign trade, in accordance with current regulations on the matter.

This, with the aim of contributing to the sustainable socio-economic development of north-eastern Peru, eradicating poverty and closing social gaps through the promotion of investment and technological development.