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Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade
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Illicit Trade in Alcohol

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Illicit trade in alcohol is widespread, representing significant percentages of alcohol consumption worldwide and stripping governments of billions of dollars in tax revenues. According to Euromonitor’s 2018 Global Study on Illicit Alcohol, 1 in 4 alcohol bottles are illicit, representing 25.8% of all global consumption.
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In addition to the serious health risk for consumers, the illicit trade in alcohol results in substantial losses in tax and duty revenue for governments. According to the Euromonitor report, the fiscal loss to governments in these countries is as much US$ 3.6 billion every year. These findings correspond to a 2016 report by the EU Intellectual Property Office that estimated counterfeit spirits and wine drain €1.2 billion (US$1.4 billion) in government revenues in Europe, of which €739 million (US$843 million) are excise duties.  ​For industry, the main impact relates to lost market shares, costs related to intellectual property theft, reputational damage and lost consumer trust. 

OECD report
Illicit Trade in High-Risk Sectors: Illicit alcohol and implications on public health and criminal network

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 As part of its ongoing mission to mitigate illicit trade in vulnerable sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, counterfeits and wildlife, the OECD’s Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade undertook an investigation into illicit trade in alcoholic beverages. This report structures and enhances existing evidence on illicit alcohol trade. It examines the nature and scope of illicit trade in the sector, assesses the impacts of illicit trade on socio-economic development, and identifies the factors driving illicit trade in the sector.

​TRACIT Press Release | OLAF Event Summary | OECD report in PDF format

TRACIT report
​Towards an ASEAN Community: Tackling Illicit Alcohol in Southeast Asia

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TRACIT in collaboration with APISWA, EU-ABC and AACS launched a joint report 'Towards an ASEAN Community: Tackling Illicit Alcohol in Southeast Asia' at the EU-ASEAN Business Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This report paves the way to effectively counter illicit trade in alcohol in the ASEAN region.
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​Media Release (English) | Media Release (Cambodian) | Full Report (PDF)


​What is Illicit Alcohol?
Illicit trade in alcohol encompasses a wide variety of illegal activity that is typically characterized as:
  • Contraband/Smuggled Alcohol: Alcohol with original branding that has been illegally imported / smuggled into a jurisdiction and sold, evading tariffs/customs. This Includes beverages brought across the border via organized smuggling or in excess of the applicable traveler’s regulated allowance.
  • Counterfeit Alcohol: Fraudulent imitations of legitimate branded products, including refilling, falsification and tampering. These beverages infringe the intellectual property rights of legitimate producers and present brand reputational risk and potential liability. It is often produced in illicit factories and sometimes substitutes lower grade alcohol not intended for human consumption such as denatured ethyl alcohol.
  • Illicit Artisanal: Alcoholic beverages produced following artisanal practices, including home production. Artisanal alcoholic beverages are considered illicit if they are produced for commercial purposes, and if their production and / or sale violate local law.
  • Tax Leakage: Legally produced alcohol beverages on which the required excise tax is not paid in the jurisdiction of production.
  • Non-conforming Alcohol / Surrogate: Products that are not compliant with production processes, guidelines, or labeling legislation. Includes products produced with denatured alcohol or illegal industrial alcohol not produced for human consumption.
Featured videos

COVID-19 Impacts on Illicit Trade

​​TRACIT speaks to CNN en Español, warns governments that prohibition policies drive markets for illicit alcohol
Full story on CNN en Español


Featured reports

Country studies
Reports prepared by Euromonitor International

  • Argentina, 2014 (Spanish)
  • Bolivia, 2017 (Spanish) 
  • Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Peru, 2016
  • Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, 2018 (Spanish)
  • Czech Republic, 2015
  • Dominican Republic, 2017
  • ​Guatemala, 2016 (Spanish)
  • Malawi, 2016
  • Mexico, 2021
  • Paraguay, 2018 (Spanish)
  • Russia, 2015
  • Sub-Saharan Africa, 2018
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COVID-19
Illicit Alcohol Trade Information Center
​Visit the page
  • TRACIT report: Prohibition, Illicit Alcohol and Lessons Learned from Lockdown
  • COVID-19 Illicit Alcohol Market Alerts
  • Media round-up
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Learn how illicit alcohol impacts the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
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From  smuggling, counterfeiting and tax evasion, to the illegal sale or possession of goods, services, humans and wildlife, illicit trade is compromising the attainment of the UN SDGs in significant ways, crowding out legitimate economic activity, depriving governments of revenues for investment in vital public services, dislocating millions of legitimate jobs and causing irreversible damage to ecosystems and human lives. 

The TRACIT report Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals investigates illicit trade in 12 key sectors that participate significantly in international trade and are most vulnerable to illicit trade. For each sector, the negative impacts of illicit trade are mapped against the 17 UN SDGs. ​The full report is available here.

Read the chapter: SDGs and illicit trade in alcohol


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RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ILLICIT ALCOHOL
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​CONSUMERS
Serious health risks, including death and blindness.

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GOVERNMENTS
Loss in fiscal income due to unpaid taxes and health expenses. Large pool of value for governments from fiscal loss from illicit alcohol.

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BUSINESSES 
Licit business lose opportunities to illicit market. Licit brands degraded.
Featured events

Don’t Peg On Poison, Perils of Illicit Alcohol in India​
New Delhi, September 19, 2019
​
​The Global Illicit Alcohol Trade 
Washington, D.C., November 5, 2018
MEDIA CENTER
Costa Rica
  • Implementar plan para dar trazabilidad fiscal a licores aumentará el contrabando
  • ​​Proyecto de ley no ayudará a combatir el comercio ilícito en Costa Rica

Colombia
  • The consumption of alcohol in public spaces and all commercial establishments is banned
  • Preventive measures by the Colombian goverment to help contain Covid19

South Africa
  • SA’s alcohol ban will create the mother of economic hangovers
  • Prohibitions: unintended consequences
  • Alcohol industry during lockdown
  • Liquor association urges easing on alcohol ban
  • Illicit trade of alcohol bigger than ever
  • SA’s alcohol ban explained

​Mexico
  • ​Tracit: Prohibición de venta de alcohol promueve mercado ilícito​
  • Yucatán extends dry law, prohibiting alcohol sales until May 15
  • Mexico Banned Booze, Now 70 People Have Died of Tainted Alcohol
  • At Least 70 Dead in Mexico From Drinking Tainted Alcohol
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India
  • Illicit liquor trade
  • Illegal Liquor Ruins India’s Buzz (And Health)

Other
  • Suman 203 las personas fallecidas por consumir alcohol adulterado, República Dominicana
  • El comercio ilícito se propaga en Centroamérica
  • Tracit: Bebidas alcohólicas deben ser un bien esencial
  • Banning Alcohol Sales During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is a Terrible Idea​​
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