International Journal on Criminology Volume 2, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 3

International Journal on Criminology: Fall 2014, Volume 2, Issue 2
Charting Illicit Trade: OECD Task Force In Action
Alain Bauer, Xavier Raufer and Arndt Sinn
I –What Do We Know? What Do We
Want? What Can We Do?
1. Wide-ranging Agreement on the Problem
A. The OECD provides a suitable medium
to tackle the persistent and complex problem
of charting illicit trade, organised in the
context of the OECD High Level Risk Forum,
which seeks to “increase societal resilience to
pressing global threats such as national disasters,
pandemics, financial crises, terrorism
and cyber attacks” via the Task Force on
Charting Illicit Trade (TF-CIT). 1
B. The scale of the damage resulting from
illicit trade worldwide gives TF-CIT members
cause for concern with respect to the
“Illegal economy... criminalized markets,
their consequences and harms… disruption
to supply chains... weakening of market activities...
distorting local economies... fuelling
conflicts... undermining the rule of law...
corruption... threatening the health and safety
of communities... significant damage to
the world financial system... exploitation of
weakly governed territories, etc.”
“Illicit trade infringes the rules, laws,
regulations, licences, taxation systems, embargoes
and procedures that countries use to
organise trade, protect their citizens, raise the
standards of living and enforce codes of ethics...
In the coming years, global illicit trade
is expected to become even more extensive
and complex... Illicit trade as a growing global
threat, a quickly evolving global risk.”
It is now clear that illicit trade—more
than other forms of cross-border crime—
represents between 8% and 15% of global
gross domestic product (GDP) (as a result
of activities such as trafficking in human beings,
drugs and counterfeit consumer goods 2
as well as crimes against the environment 3 ),
and that such activities significantly handicap
world trade, governments and the global
human environment:
World trade: increased surveillance of
supply chains; compliance; costs related
to the health of consumers (legal
proceedings); tarnished reputations;
infringement of copyright; insurance;
heightened security; etc.
Governments: loss of tax revenues resulting
from smuggling/counterfeiting
(cigarettes, etc.); stripping natural resources
(wood, minerals, fishing, etc.);
invoice fraud leading to loss of capital;
etc.
1
This quotation and all those that follow are taken from documents issued by the TF-CIT since autumn
2012: Mapping of the illegal economy, 23/10/2012, OECD High Level Risk Forum; Factors driving illicit trade,
25/10/2012, OECD High Level Risk Forum; Statement prepared for the OECD High Level Risk Forum, David
Luna, State Departmen0t, 26/10/2012; OECD Task Force on Charting Illicit Trade, 2-3/4/2013; OECD-TF-
CIT chair's update, November 2013. See also: WEF, 22-25/01/14, Out of the shadows, why illicit trade and
organized crime matter to us all; and The Independent (Irl.), 28/10/12, Illegal trade costs state €860 million in
lost revenue.
2
Counterfeiting involves the production of illegal copies of legal goods (food, cosmetics, etc.).
3
[UNODC, World Drug Report] “Illicit drugs alone represent more than 400 billion a year... Hundreds of
billions of illegal revenue from these activities are estimated to flow through the global economy every year.”
4
Ireland provides one concrete example, where revenues from cigarette smuggling are valued at €3 million per
week; a container of 7.5 million cigarettes generates a profit of €1.3 million. Trafficking is just as big a burden
on the Irish medical and sportswear markets.
1