2nd Illicit Trade Forum

UNCTAD / TRACIT co-hosted event
Geneva, 6-7 September 2022

Following the inclusion of illicit trade as the only new area of work in the outcome document of UNCTAD15, the Bridgetown Covenant, UNCTAD hosted the second iteration of the Illicit Trade Forum on 6-7 September 2022. The Forum, co-organized with TRACIT, served as as a platform for dialoge between a wide range of stakeholders, including member States, representatives from IGOs, NGOs, academia and the private sectors to discuss crucial issues surrounding global action aimed at combatting illicit trade.

Illicit Trade affects all countries and industries and erodes legitimate economic activity, slowing economic growth and impeding unemployment reduction and development. Further, identifying, quantifying and combatting illicit trade requires significant investments from member States and collaboration amongst international organisations, along with cooperative efforts from private sector stakeholders. To address these issues, the two-day Forum held interactive panel discussions on the following topics:

Illicit trade in times of crises
Mitigating illicit trade through maritime transport
Trade in falsified medicines: a danger to health and development
Illicit financial flows related to trade, tax, and criminal activities

The Forum was held as a follow up to the first UNCTAD / TRACIT Illicit Trade Forum on 3-4 February 2020 and the UNCTAD / TRACIT Dialogue on Illicit Trade and the Sustainable Development Goals on 18 July 2019.

Documents

Program I UNCTAD Event page I TRACIT Media release

Keynote address: Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry, Trinidad and Tobago

News stories
Trade Minister urges UN member states to unite to combat illicit trade (Loop News)
Organised crime to ‘target container ship sector in economic crisis’ (TradeWinds)

Audio and transcripts

Audio recordings from the Forum (all sessions)

Session transcripts from the Forum (all sessions)

Featured report

Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 8

The TRACIT report, "Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 8", was launched during the UNCTAD 2nd Illicit Trade Forum. The report updates key findings from the 2019 Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals to focus on the impacts of illicit trade on decent work and inclusive economic growth. Additionally, it incorporates observations on how the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the illicit trade economy. More...

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Videos

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