The societal costs of illicit tradeIllicit trade imposes real costs on people and societies, not just on markets. It exposes workers to exploitation, fuels corruption, weakens public services, and puts consumers and communities at risk. While individual illicit markets have distinct characteristics, the same criminal networks often exploit shared routes, logistics, and concealment methods across sectors, compounding these harms.
These societal impacts—ranging from forced labour and corruption to reduced creditworthiness and stalled progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals—underscore the need to address illicit trade as a cross-cutting policy challenge. Integrating measures to counter illicit trade into strategies on development, human rights, investment, and governance is a central focus of TRACIT’s agenda. 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 |
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Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation under US tax code 501(c)(6).
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