The World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last week called for “increased coordination among relevant national and international agencies in combating illicit trade in medical products,” a crime that puts people’s health and livelihoods at risk around the world.
This was demanded by top officials at a high-level round table held on Wednesday (27.07.2022) within the framework of the event “Global Review of Aid for Trade”, organized by the WTO.
Participants agreed on the need to strengthen public awareness activities to support developing countries in acquiring legitimate medicines and to help them combat illicit trade in medical products.
At this point, the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, He said that “Customs plays a key role in facilitating legitimate trade, but we are also the first line of defence in the fight against illicit trade that poses security and safety risks.”
In this regard, he highlighted the Importance of access to data, the exchange of information and the coordination of capacity-building activities to assist customs officials around the world in combating illicit trade.
Meanwhile, la Director-General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, outlined her long-standing concerns about illicit trade. “Time and again, we see how illicit trade threatens people’s health and livelihoods, and how it undermines legitimate business activity and incites corruption,” she said.
He also noted that "By working together as an international community, we can seize opportunities to combat this type of illicit activity and, at the same time, strengthen legitimate trade, especially in poor countries with little capacity." He called on international organizations to step up efforts to raise awareness among public leaders and national officials about the urgency of tackling illicit trade.
On that point, the deputy director general of the World Health Organization, Mariângela Simão, He stressed that the rise of e-commerce has turned illicit trade in medical products, in particular, into a "global problem» which demands more attention from the international community.
He also stressed the need for “a more systematic approach across different multilateral organizations” to help strengthen developing countries’ capacity to procure legitimate medical products.
El Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Gerd Müller, noted that “we need a strong coalition of international organizations to expand the production of quality medicines and combat the trade in illegal medical products.”
The Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Edward Kwakwa, stressed the importance of greater cooperation "to create a stronger and more united response and avoid reinventing the wheel." He called for the creation of a Forum on Illicit Medical Products to promote “information exchange, coordination of awareness-raising and technical assistance activities, and policy coordination among relevant international governmental organizations.”
In his video message, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebecca Grynspan, He agreed with the speakers and added that "if we want to develop Resilience against future pandemics, combating the trade in medical products is absolutely essential."
La WTO Deputy Director-General Anabel González, who moderated the event, underlined this point: “The nefarious forces driving the illicit trade in medical products are difficult to uncover, and even more difficult to counter. But despite this, one thing is certain: The battle against illicit trade is not one in which any one country will emerge victorious, nor can any one international organization or any other actor fight it alone.«.
Participants also heard perspectives on combating illicit trade from representatives of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The high-level panel also shared the launch of a WTO publication entitled “Tackling illicit trade in medical products”.WCO Press Release ) (WTO Press Release)
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