Tempo de leitura: 3 minutos<\/small><\/p> \n
Special Economic Zones (SEZ) \u2013 an umbrella term which includes Free Trade Zones, Export Processing Zones, Freeports, and others \u2013 are becoming common across the globe. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as of 2019, 147 countries had established some kind of SEZ, with the total number of SEZs worldwide nearing 5,400. Among the many advantages offered by these is a more relaxed regulatory environment, which increases the overall ease of doing business. The flow-down benefits for states hosting successful SEZs can be significant: a high-performing zone with strong foreign investment can create thousands of jobs while also building the capabilities of the local workforce as outside investors share expertise and know-how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, these advantages also carry risks. The relaxation of certain regulations can create an environment that may prove attractive to nefarious actors engaging in illicit activities such as counterfeiting, money laundering, and general smuggling. According to a 2018 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), \u201c\u2026illicit trade, and other forms of criminality, such as fraud and money laundering, are relying on the opaque nature of Free Trade Zones [FTZs] to further the interest of bad actors, by allowing them to carry out illicit business, at lower risk.\u201d These illicit activities jeopardize the benefits enjoyed by governments that establish SEZs through reputational risks. A zone that gains a reputation for opacity and criminal activity will simultaneously become less attractive to firms \u2013 especially large multinational corporations \u2013 that are seeking legitimate investment opportunities to grow their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poorly managed SEZs also present a threat to international security, especially in the area of weapons proliferation. Zones are frequently used as transshipment points by state and non-state actors working to procure goods and materials destined for weapons programs. Proliferators are constantly endeavoring to acquire a long list of \u201cdual-use\u201d goods; that is, goods that have both civil and military applications. In their 2016 article, \u201cFree Zones and Strategic Trade Controls,\u201d authors Andrea Viski and Quentin Michel explain that \u201cIllicit actors can forge documents and use free zones to repackage or relabel goods, or manufacture and assemble new goods in the zones.\u201d Using the infamous A.Q. Khan proliferation network as an example, Viski and Michel note that \u201cfree trade zones in Dubai were critical in allowing nuclear technology to reach Iran, DPRK, Libya, and other states.\u201d While the UAE government has taken action to address the issues revealed by the Khan network, similar oversight gaps endure in SEZs across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The measures necessary to address these oversight gaps are well known to scholars and trade professionals familiar with SEZs. The primary limiting factor to implementation is a lack of awareness among policymakers. Unfortunately, as the abovementioned OECD report notes, \u201cThere are presently no wide-reaching international frameworks that set out a series of rules or governing regulations for FTZs.\u201d Still, guides and recommendations do exist. In 2019, the OECD published its \u201cCode of Conduct for Clean Free Trade Zones.\u201d This document advises states to, among other things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– <\/strong>Provide unconditional access to the competent authorities, in accordance with their domestic law, to carry out unobstructed, ex officio enforcement checks of operators in support of investigations of violations of applicable laws and regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – <\/strong>Prohibit operators and persons who do not provide the necessary assurance of compliance with the applicable customs provisions from carrying out an activity in the FTZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – <\/strong>Ensure that economic operators active in the FTZ maintain detailed digital records of all shipments of goods entering and leaving the zone, as well as all goods and services produced within it, sufficient to know what is inside the zone at any given time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, these recommendations are only useful so long as they are communicated to and adopted by policymakers. With this goal in mind, CRDF Global has organized a virtual event entitled \u201cSpecial Economic Zones: Addressing Proliferation Challenges through Best Practices in SEZ Management\u201d on November 10, 2020 at 9:00am EST. The event will include insights from industry, academia, and international organizations focused on improving SEZ governance and enhancing international security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3 minutos<\/small> Special Economic Zones (SEZ) \u2013 an umbrella term which includes Free Trade Zones, Export Processing Zones, Freeports, and others \u2013 are becoming common across the globe. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as of 2019, 147 countries had established some kind of SEZ, with the total number of SEZs worldwide nearing 5,400. Among the many advantages offered by these is a more relaxed regulatory environment, which increases the overall ease of doing business. The flow-down benefits for Continue lendo<\/span>\u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-adm_hb2018","post-4005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eventos","category-noticias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4008,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005\/revisions\/4008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}