“ILLICIT TRADE IN FOOD AND FOOD FRAUD”
This year the Annual Symposium of the WTO Agriculture and Commodities Division (AGCD) will shine a light on the topic of Illicit Trade in Food and Food Fraud. The Symposium will bring trade negotiators together with experts on illicit trade in food and food fraud, international organizations, businesses, civil society and academics in an attempt to better understand the landscape of illegal trade, and how the WTO rule-book could contribute to stopping illegal practices. Agreements such as the Agreement on Pre-Shipment Inspection and the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights will be in focus.
From food fraud to the large scale smuggling of agriculture products, illicit trade in agri-foods undermines farming and the global food trade system, destabilizes rural economies and jeopardizes production and delivery of fair, safe and sustainable food supplies. According to the Transnational Allicance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), food fraud is the intentional substitution or dilution of an authentic food or ingredient with a cheaper product (such as replacing extra virgin olive oil with a cheaper oil), flavor or color enhancement using illicit or unapproved substances, or substitution of one species with another. The smuggling of agriculture products is driven by a disparity between the price of a good at its origin and its (prohibited) destination, which can include price
differentials deriving from government subsidies. Sugar, tea and cocoa smuggling, for example, destabilize food supplies and erode the sustainability of their underlying legal industries. Fake infant milk powder and dangerously recycled vegetable oils are examples of how adulterated food supplies contribute to malnutrition and imperil food safety. The Symposium will explore the incentives that lie behind these practices, discussing how best to control them, and the role that the WTO could play.
Rahel Heruy of Damascene being one of the participants on one of the 2023 WTO Annual Agriculture Symposium virtual event, the respective schedule here after
DAY 2: TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER
(For Youtube Livestream please click here)
BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
10.00 – 11.30 C.E.T.
Panelists:
• Sergio Fragoso Rodriguez, Head of Brand Protection, Moët Hennessy
• Stefania Carpino, Guidance and Coordination of Research and Analytic activities of the ICQRF Laboratories,
Ministry of Agriculture, Italy
• Lukasz Wozniacki, Senior Manager, Trade & Anti-Counterfeit, CropLife Europe
• Tony Wright, CEO, UMF Honey Association
• Rahel Heruy, Managing Director, Damascene Essential Oils Processing, Ethiopia
