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Illicit Trade in Agrochemicals and Pesticides 

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The trade in counterfeit and illegal pesticides both online and offline presents significant threats not only to agriculture but also to public health and the environment. These illicit products often contain banned or restricted chemicals, posing severe risks to farmers' health and consumers while damaging crops and the environment. 
 
Illicit pesticides bypass safety regulations during transport, risking the safety of transport staff, bystanders, and the environment due to improper handling of toxic and hazardous substances. Furthermore, illicit pesticides undermine legitimate businesses, deprive governments of tax revenue, impact GDP and job growth and can cause damage to the entire food chain. In addition, criminals have also entered the crop protection market in pursuit of illegal profits, especially in developing countries where regulation and enforcement are weak.
 
Financially, the impact of counterfeit pesticides is enormous, with global revenues from this illicit trade estimated between $8 to $20 billion annually. In Europe, counterfeit pesticides represent about 14% of the market, costing the legitimate industry roughly €1.3 billion in lost revenue each year (EUIPO, 2017) The broader economic toll includes significant job losses and substantial dips in government revenues due to reduced taxable sales. Developing countries face even harsher impacts, with places like Kenya reporting illegal pesticides make up to 20% of their market, leading to substantial revenue losses.​

Publications
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Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms
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TRACIT’s report, Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms, identifies the scale of trade of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms and the vulnerabilities that expose platforms to illicit traders. The primary objective of the report is to examine the structural vulnerabilities in the operations of e-commerce platforms that can be exploited by criminals to sell illicit pesticides online. It goes on to present examples of listings of illicit pesticides found on major ecommerce platforms worldwide. 
 
Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms

Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals
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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 agrochemicals and pesticides
  • Los ODS y el Comercio Ilicito de Agroquimicos y Plaguicidas
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Featured Events

TRACIT presents report on the online sale of illicit pesticides to the OECD 

5 April 2024, Paris -TRACIT presented its report, "Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms," at the OECD Working Party on Countering Illicit Trade meeting. This group is dedicated to helping member governments mitigate market vulnerabilities to illicit trade. The report delves into the structural weaknesses of e-commerce operations and urges platforms to enhance their oversight, compliance, and enforcement of national regulations to prevent the sale of illegal pesticides.
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 Suriya Padmanaabhan, TRACIT Director of Programs 

Third party publications

Global: The Illegal Trade in Chemicals
UN Environment Programme  (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal, 2020

Global:  New Digital Technologies to Tackle Trade in Illegal Pesticides
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Trade and Environment Working Papers, No. 2020/02

Global:  Adoption of Council Recommendation on Countering the Illegal Trade of Pesticides 
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Network on Illegal Trade of Pesticides (ONIP)

Global:  Best Practice Guidance to Identify Illegal Trade of Pesticides
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Network on Illegal Trade of Pesticides (ONIP)

Global:  Illicit Pesticides, Organized Crime and Supply Chain Integrity
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)

Global:  Report of the OECD Seminar on Risk Reduction Through Prevention, Detection and Control of the Illegal International Trade in Agricultural Pesticides
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
EU:  Ad-hoc study on the trade of illegal and counterfeit pesticides in the EU (executive summary)
Submitted to the European Commission, DG Health & Food Safety

Ukraine:  Counteraction to Counterfeit and Contraband Pesticides, Methodology
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) within the Environmental and Security Initiative (ENVSEC)

India:   Study on Sub-Standard, Spurious/Counterfeit Pesticides in India
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

EU: The Economic Cost of IPR Infringement in the Pesticides Sector
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

Mali: Fraudulent pesticides in West Africa 
International Journal of Pest Management

Global: ​Protect yourself against illegal pesticides CropLife International


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Learn how illicit trade in agrochemicals and pesticides 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 agrochemicals and pesticides
  • Los ODS y el Comercio Ilicito de Agroquimicos y Plaguicidas


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The trade in illegal and counterfeit pesticides is organised by highly sophisticated criminal networks. Criminals have developed complex global supply chains and exploit legal companies to camouflage their activities. The global revenues associated with this crime are estimated to be billions of euros a year.
Europol
MEDIA CENTER
Brazil
  • In agricultural giant Brazil, a growing hazard: The illegal trade in pesticides (Washington Post, 9 Feb 2020)
Turkey
  • Deadly pesticides in EU produce from Turkey (DW, 24 Jan 2020)
EUROPOL
  • Operation Silver Axe Strikes for the fourth time seizing over 550 tonnes of illegal pesticides (18 June 2019)
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      • Illicit Trade in ASEAN
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        • Illicit Trade in India
      • Illicit Trade in the Dominican Republic
      • Illicit Trade in Laos
      • Illicit Trade in Panama
      • Illicit Trade in Pakistan
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      • Illicit Trade in South Africa
      • Illicit Trade in Trinidad and Tobago
      • Illicit Trade in Turkey
    • The Societal Costs of Illicit Trade >
      • Corruption and Illicit Trade >
        • Launch event | Money Talks: The Crooked Connection Between Corruption and Illicit Trade
      • The Human Cost of Illicit Trade
      • Link Between Illicit Trade and Sovereign Credit Ratings
      • Illicit Trade and the UNSDGs
    • Illicit Trade Index
    • Fraudulent Advertising Online
    • Illicit Trade Summit Americas
    • Small Parcels
    • Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms
    • Ethanol Control Toolkit
    • Supply Chain Vulnerabilities to Illicit Trade
  • Sectors
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    • Alcohol
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