Traceability Systems: Potential Tools to Deter Illegality and Corruption in the Timber and Fish Sectors?

One reason that the illegal timber and fish trade and the corruption that facilitates it have flourished is that it is possible and often easy to “launder” illegal products in ways that make them difficult to distinguish from legal ones. This Brief finds vulnerabilities in some traceability systems that reduce their effectiveness in preventing laundering and combating illegality and corruption. While they can be strengthened in a variety of ways, the efficacy of traceability systems as anti-crime/corruption tools will always be conditional upon the will and capacity of authorities to act on the information the systems provide.

Key Takeaways

• Illegal logging, fishing, and the associated trade in their products are major threats to sustainability and are often abetted by corruption. One reason that the illegal timber and fish trade and the corruption that facilitates it have flourished is that it is possible and often easy to “launder” illegal products in ways that make them difficult to distinguish from legal ones.
• Tracing timber and fish via digital tools and online systems could be key to preventing such laundering. Digital traceability systems that monitor the flow of materials through supply chains are designed to deter the laundering of illegal products by flagging anomalies and thereby alerting businesses or governments to possible incidences of lawbreaking and corruption.
• Our research finds vulnerabilities in the traceability systems we examined, however, that reduce their effectiveness in preventing laundering and combating illegality and corruption. While they can be strengthened in a variety of ways, the efficacy of traceability systems as anti-crime/corruption tools will always be conditional upon the will and capacity of authorities to act on the information the systems provide.