Eliminating illicit trade demands regional approach

A growing “blurring” between legitimate and illegitimate trade is making it increasingly difficult to draw a line between the illicit and informal economies, according to Richard Chelin, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies. “Counterfeit products commonly piggyback on legitimate trade routes, often camouflaging the original points of departure,” he said. In southern Africa, popular products ranged from tobacco and clothing to various electronics

as well as food and pharmaceuticals. “The licit and illicit economies are no longer (if they ever were) two distinct entities, but are often one and the same thing.”  According to Chelin major nodes of trade such as sea ports, border posts and airports are all vulnerable to becoming hubs of the illicit economy.

“It is therefore important to take a cross-border or multi-sector partnership approach and treat the problem from a regional perspective.” With border posts, already under pressure dealing with cargo, the growing volume of illicit goods on corridors is a concern. Chelin said another challenge at present was

that development could, counter-intuitively, facilitate organised crime. “Development and economic growth, rather than mitigating the drivers of organised criminal activity, often exacerbate and expand them,” he said. “Development frameworks in Africa have focused heavily on economic stimulus, with investment in large-scale infrastructure, technology and social service delivery projects. There has been greater risk that organised crime would poison the very sinews of African development.”

According to Chelin addressing the threat of illicit trade will require officials to get a clear understanding of how these criminal syndicates operate and what drives the market – as well as addressing corruption at various intermediary points in the illicit trade chain. Product control organisations, he said, also needed to be roped in to stop goods long before they reached consumers. Illicit trade includes counterfeiting, piracy, tax evasion and the smuggling of legitimate products.