Alarming! $2trn annual loss
The global economy loses more
than $2trn annually due to smuggling, counterfeiting, trafficking of humans and
wildlife and other forms of illicit trade that hold back progress on the global
development agenda.
To address this alarming problem, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) are
convening the first-ever Illicit Trade Forum on 3 and 4 February at the Palais
des Nations in Geneva.
The forum is designed to
encourage an open dialogue among representatives from member states, experts and
non-governmental observers with the aim to share expertise, promote
international enforcement cooperation, coordinate resources and ensure countries
are adequately equipped to mitigate illicit trade.
“Illicit trade endangers all
aspects of development and all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). It creates a triple threat to the financing of development: crowding
out legitimate economic activity, depriving governments of revenues for
investment in vital public services and increasing the costs of achieving the
SDGs by eroding the progress already made,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa
Kituyi said.
TRACIT Director-General, Jeffrey
Hardy, added that “given the scale and damaging effects of illicit trade, a
coordinated and sustained global response by governments and companies is
urgently needed.”
The international response to
illicit trade is largely fragmented among many vulnerable sectors, and this
necessitates a joint approach that considers the interconnected nature of the
problem, commonalities and points of convergence among its various
manifestations.
“Every country is feeling the
malignant effects of illicit trade, underscoring the need for expanded
partnerships and cooperation among governments to push back against this
deterrent to global sustainable development,” said Pamela Coke-Hamilton,
UNCTAD’s Director of International Trade.
Illicit trade drains nearly 3% of
the world’s economy. If it were a country, its dark economy would be larger
than Brazil, Italy and Canada – and as large as Mexico and Indonesia combined.
It endangers public health, as
sub-standard and fake antimalarial medicines alone cause more than 100,000
deaths per year in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It also pushes endangered species
to the brink of extinction and causes irreversible damage to ecosystems. For
instance, illegal logging, with an estimated annual value of up to $157bn, is
the world’s most profitable crime involving natural resources.
Further, it threatens the rule of
law, owing to its links with organized crime – from human trafficking networks
and tobacco smuggling to the involvement of organized criminal groups in fuel
theft and the trade of counterfeit goods. Even more frightening are the links
to terrorist financing that heighten threats to national and global security.
Experts at the forum will
deliberate how to act together to defend the SDGs against the onslaught of
illicit trade.
They will explore the different
methods used to measure illicit trade and identify common approaches by
governments and industry actors to counter this problem and deter associated
illegal activities, like money laundering.
Participants will examine the
role of the private sector in ensuring that illicit trade does not compromise
the integrity of legitimate markets or jeopardize the well-being of consumers.
The forum will discuss how stakeholders
can better deter illegal trade across sectors, address vulnerabilities in
supply chain systems, report criminal activity, promote sustainable resource
management and protect against forced labour and other human rights abuses.
It is expected to generate a
roadmap for collective action by government, business and other stakeholders,
including a call for shared policy guidelines and a process to ensure Member
States benefit from intergovernmental experiences and expertise.
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