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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:52 am
Time: 12:52 am
Results for free trade zones
1 results foundAuthor: Economist Intelligence Unit Title: The Global Illicit Trade Environment Index: Free Trade Zones: Five Case Studies Summary: Free trade zones (FTZs) are the problem child of global trade. On the one hand they highly valued for their contributions to trade facilitation but on the other they are criticized for vulnerabilities that facilitate many forms of illicit trade and other illegal activities. Though the concept of a "geographically delimited area administered by a single body, offering incentives [to business]" has been around for hundreds of years, it wasn't until the 1980s that countries, mainly in the developing world, truly started creating them. And they were conceived as a means of stimulating economic growth, which in many instances is what they have done, with the most prominent example being the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Many of the zones have come at a cost, however. In enticing businesses with the promise of a tax-free environment, with little in the way of regulation, governments across the world have created within their borders unmonitored havens ripe for criminal operations, including those of transnational organised crime networks. Over the past decade, numerous international bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and consultancies, including the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), have documented the myriad ways that free trade zones are used to facilitate trade in illicit goods. While no one knows for certain the precise volume or value of illicit trade that flows through the zones, it is estimated, by almost everyone, to be substantial and include counterfeits, narcotics, alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, wildlife and humans. Moreover, FTZs have been exploited by criminals as a means to initiate and facilitate illicit financial transactions, such as traditional money laundering, trade-based money laundering (TBML) and terrorist financing. Yet, it didn't - and doesn't - have to be this way. Free trade zones don't need to be free of oversight to deliver on their commercial and economic promise, and many governments are grappling with approaches to find the balance between facilitation and control/monitoring. Perhaps what might be concerning are cases where governments appear to be indifferent to the issue, some actively so. To measure how nations are addressing the issue of illicit trade, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) has commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to produce the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index. The global index expands upon an Asia-specific version, originally created by The Economist Intelligence Unit in 2016 to score 17 economies in Asia on the extent to which they enabled or prevented illicit trade. The Asian index generated much needed attention on the issue of illicit trade within the region. Building upon the success of the Asia index, the global index now includes 84 economies, providing a global perspective and new insights on the social and economic impacts of illicit trade. Details: New York: Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), 2018. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2019 at: http://illicittradeindex.eiu.com/documents/EIU%20Global%20Illicit%20Trade%20Environment%20Index%202018%20-%20FTZ%20June%206%20FINAL.pdf Year: 2018 Country: International URL: http://illicittradeindex.eiu.com/documents/EIU%20Global%20Illicit%20Trade%20Environment%20Index%202018%20-%20FTZ%20June%206%20FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 156581 Keywords: Free Trade ZonesIllegal TradeIllicit TradeOrganized Crime |