South Africa Illicit Trade Report Highlights Improvements… but Mainly Weaknesses

The Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) is a non- governmental organisation consisting of corporations and select trade associations within a range of sectors, including tobacco, alcohol, agri-foods, petroleum, and pharmaceuticals. It has released a report titled ‘South Africa’s Fight Against Illicit Trade – A Strategic Review ¹’. The report reveals that while the country has improved its cross-border enforcement and customs capacity, as well as controls over the informal economy, it has performed significantly less well in other areas with regard to anti-illicit trade efforts.

According to TRACIT’s annual Illicit Trade Index, South Africa ranks 60th out of 158 countries (Yemen is lowest), and fourth in the Africa region, with an overall score of 52.4 out of 100. Its strongest performance is in the ‘Trade, Customs and Borders’ category (score: 79.6), reflecting improvements in customs and cross-border enforcement. However, it only scored 21.6 in the ‘Supply Chain Intermediaries’ category (relating to free trade zones, postal services, and online marketplaces), 48.4 in ‘Criminal Enablers’ (organised crime and corruption) and 31.6 in ‘Sectoral Illicit Trade’ (relating to specific industries like tobacco).