The Dark Side of International Trade

International trade has been helping countries around the world to explore and capitalize on their best natural resources as assets and sources of their national incomes. Moreover, many countries have gathered together and created organizations or institutions, such as NAFTA, ASEAN, WTO and many more, to build their markets, help the global economy and, more specifically, to benefit every country member involved in free trade. Thus, global free trade enables the increase of production for countries of their best selling commodities, encourages competition in the markets, allows the creation of innovations, and increases employment.

While there are positive aspects of international trade, there is also a darker side that is often overlooked, but also deals with the trade of both objects and people across international borders.

The trade of certain objects, such as drugs (e.g. cocaine and heroin) within international drug trafficking, is very dangerous and threatens the global economy. Asia, for example, is believed to be a center of drug trafficking for tons of heroin. This is especially true in Afghanistan where the drugs are mostly consumed and produced but also trafficked globally to the rest of the Middle East and European countries through routes in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries. The consumption of heroin all over the globe has increased since 2006, North America has the highest percentage of cocaine consumption as well as some of the EU countries. The biggest trade routes are typically from Colombia to Mexico and onwards or from South America in general.

It is difficult to combat drug trafficking as the network is worldwide and can not easily be tracked, but there is one big UN organization that has been created to overcome this sort of international trade, the UNODC.

Furthermore, the illegal international trade of people is as threatening as the trade of harmful and illegal objects, and perhaps more so as it violates human rights. Human trafficking has become the second most profitable industry after drug trafficking and the case of human trafficking keeps growing as time goes on, it not only happens to women and children, but also men. Though it can happen within a country, the rate of human trafficking internationally is even higher. There are many different forms of human trafficking, such as forced and cheap labor, sexual slavery, bride-buying, prostitution, child labor, organ harvesting, and so on and so forth. Human trafficking, in all of its forms, is very popular in Asia specifically countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and some other Asian countries. According to International Labor Organizations, every year human trafficking generates around $32 billion USD and the structural factors of human trafficking are very complex; poverty, unemployment, discrimination against women, demands for commercial sex, and globalization.

However, countries and people around the world are trying to prevent these illegal activities from growing out even more by forming organizations. The impact is not only on individuals, but also on the global economy. According to UN data, the value of illegal trade around the world is estimated at $1.3 trillion USD and is constantly increasing.

It is evident that international trade has not only positive sides to help the development of countries and the world at whole, but also a complex dark side that people forget, or choose to ignore.

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/index.html

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/secured/wdr/wdr2013/Executive_summary.pdf

http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/Issues/drugs/drugs-crime.shtml

By : Dewi Mulyasari - 1701345645