{"id":514507,"date":"2026-07-09T22:51:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/tobacco-alcohol-and-agrochemicals-fuel-illegal-trade-in-central-america\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T22:51:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:51:50","slug":"tobacco-alcohol-and-agrochemicals-fuel-illegal-trade-in-central-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/tobacco-alcohol-and-agrochemicals-fuel-illegal-trade-in-central-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Tobacco, alcohol and agrochemicals fuel illegal trade in Central America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The illicit trade of tobacco<\/strong>, alcohol<\/strong>, agrochemicals<\/strong>, and electronics<\/strong> has taken hold in Central America<\/strong> due to a series of structural and regulatory failures that persist in the region, according to a recent report by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The presentation of the \u201cAssessment of Central America\u2019s Performance in the Illicit Trade Index\u201d<\/strong> took place in Panama City<\/strong>, with the participation of business representatives and experts, as reported by EFE.<\/em> The study examines the situation of 158 economies<\/strong> in six different areas, including the tax environment, regulation, government controls, corruption, and anti-money laundering systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report highlights that the lack of customs control in free trade zones<\/strong> and the weakness of intermediaries in the supply chain facilitate the illegal flow of a wide range of products. Furthermore, it points to the existence of a robust informal economy<\/strong>, the misuse of free trade zones<\/strong>, and an unequal state monitoring capacity that favor the expansion of illicit trade in the region.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most exposed countries and factors fueling illicit trade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the 2025 index, Costa Rica<\/strong> and Panama<\/strong> lead the Central American list with 51.2<\/strong> and 49.6 points<\/strong> respectively. They are followed by El Salvador<\/strong>, Belize<\/strong>, Guatemala<\/strong>, Honduras<\/strong>, and Nicaragua<\/strong>, the latter with scores that reflect greater vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within Latin America, Uruguay<\/strong> stands out as the best-positioned country. The global average of 49.9 points<\/strong> out of 100 indicates that most governments in the world are not prepared to prevent or mitigate illicit trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The report on Central America evaluated 158 economies and analyzed the tax environment, regulation, government controls, corruption, and money laundering. (Illustrative Image Infobae)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tracit<\/strong> report maintains that, although some Central American countries show progress, the region as a whole continues to face significant obstacles in controlling the illegal circulation of products, according to what was reported by EFE.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document mentions that the Col\u00f3n Free Trade Zone<\/strong> in Panama and the Corozal<\/strong> Free Trade Zone in Belize are critical hotspots, as they handle high volumes of re-exports<\/strong> with low transparency regarding beneficial owners<\/strong> and minimal physical inspection<\/strong> of high-risk goods, such as cigarettes<\/strong> and distilled spirits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research warns that these factors, together with deep-rooted corruption<\/strong> and informality<\/strong>, allow the illicit trade of goods such as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, electronics, medicines, and counterfeit or adulterated agricultural products to remain active and connected at a regional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affected products, risks and government responses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the products most affected by illegal trade are cigarettes<\/strong>, alcoholic beverages<\/strong>, and electronics<\/strong>, mainly of Asian origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added to this are counterfeit medicines<\/strong>\u2014antibiotics, painkillers, flu treatments, and dermatological products\u2014and the circulation of adulterated or stolen pesticides<\/strong>, fertilizers<\/strong>, and seeds<\/strong>. This illicit flow poses a risk to health<\/strong> and food security<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of customs control in free trade zones and the weakness of the supply chain facilitate the illegal flow of products in Central America. (Illustrative Image Infobae)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illegal trade networks<\/strong> exploit gaps in supply chain monitoring<\/strong> and the lack of effective inspections<\/strong> to move merchandise on a large scale throughout the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report notes that Central American governments<\/strong> increasingly recognize illicit trade as a priority issue and have begun to establish control measures and safeguards. Tracit<\/strong> proposes that free trade zones<\/strong> be formally declared under customs jurisdiction<\/strong>, with full rights to inspect and control warehouses and points of entry or exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the document, \u201cCentral America\u2019s growing efforts<\/strong> to strengthen transparency<\/strong> and supply chain integrity<\/strong>, along with ongoing progress to address institutional capacity constraints<\/strong> and align regulatory frameworks<\/strong> with international treaties and standards, provide a solid foundation for increasing resilience<\/strong> against illicit trade throughout the region\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the region advances in coordination<\/strong> and regulatory updates<\/strong>, the Tracit<\/strong> report underscores the need to deepen these efforts to combat illicit trade and protect both the economy<\/strong> and public health<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The illicit trade of tobacco, alcohol, agrochemicals, and electronics has taken hold in Central America due to a series of structural and regulatory failures that persist in the region, according to a recent report by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT). The presentation of the \u201cAssessment of Central America\u2019s Performance in the Illicit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133556,"featured_media":514508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-514507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29Qv","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/OFFLDBXEAFCJDMCZD3VU5VGM5U.avif","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yerandi Santana","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-5.35.07-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/OFFLDBXEAFCJDMCZD3VU5VGM5U.avif"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}