The societal costs of illicit tradeIllicit trade is a serious threat to our economies and societies. While each form of illicit trade has its own characteristics and drivers, it is often the same criminal groups using the same routes, means of transport and concealment methods for multiple forms of illicit trade.
One of the key strengths of TRACIT's work is the ability to go beyond a segmented approach, and instead consider the interconnected nature of the problem of illicit trade and to appreciate commonalities and points of convergence across sectors. This is especially true in the work program focusing on the wider societal costs of illicit trade. These societal costs include how illicit trade:
While each subject area has its own specific characteristics and associated recommendations for actions by governments, what is common across all four policy areas is that government strategies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, protect human rights, attract investment, and eliminate corruption, necessarily need to include measures to combat illicit trade. Focus topics
The current global health, socio-economic and geopolitical climates provide an optimal environment for criminal activity to not only increase but manifest itself in different ways. Illicit trade is no different. We are confronting a crisis of the global common good. |
THE ILLEGAL EMPIRE - AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 
The Stop the Illegal Empire campaign is central to TRACIT’s mission to expose and disrupt the systems that enable illicit trade to thrive. It reveals the vast criminal networks that profit from illicit activities at the expense of human rights, development, and global security.
FEATURED PODCASTS The Underground World of Fake Football Shirts
TRACIT's Dr. Ulrika Bonnier is interviewed in the New York Times / the Athletic's investigation of the illicit trade of counterfeits, highlighting the role that forced labor plays in these criminal organizations across the world and breaking down why buying that fake jersey is far from a victimless crime.
Listen: Apple Podcasts I The Athletic Read the full reporting and interviews: Inside the underground world of fake football shirts, The Athletic, March 10, 2025 Fake football shirts survey: 78% have bought one, 66% happy to stick with counterfeits, The New York Times, March 12, 2025 Child and forced labour, human trafficking and illicit trade
TRACIT's Ulrika Bonnier joins the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Global Business Network on Forced Labour to discuss how child and forced labour are linked to crimes and criminal networks, as well as possible solutions. The podcast is part of ILO’s series that looks at how forced labour is linked to child labour, environmental degradation and illicit trade, and how these issues can be tackled successfully together. More... Listen on: SoundCloud I Spotify I Apple Podcasts FEATURED EVENTS Investigating the societal costs of IP infringement, Panel Discussion, INTERPOL IP Crime Conference Willemstad, Curaçao, 24 September 2024 Roundtable Discussion on Money Talks: The Crooked Connection Between Corruption and Illicit Trade TRACIT webinar, 22 February 2024 Investigating the societal costs of IP infringement, Panel Discussion, World Intellectual Property Organization Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) Sixteen Session. Media Release / Report Geneva, 2 February 2024 EUIPO Meeting of the EU Observatory Expert Group on International Cooperation EUIPO-virtual meeting, 28 November 2023 2nd Illicit Trade Forum UNCTAD / TRACIT co-hosted event Geneva, 6-7 September 2022 Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Kyoto, 7-12 March 2021 Illicit Trade Forum UNCTAD / TRACIT co-hosted event Geneva, 3-4 February 2020 Dialogue on Illicit Trade and the SDGs UNCTAD / TRACIT Co-hosted event Geneva, July 18, 2019 |
|
Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation under US tax code 501(c)(6).
© COPYRIGHT 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
Follow us
|