ICE, SAT participate in first regional forum on combatting illicit trade
Directors sign MOU establishing cooperation through a Trade Transparency Unit
VERACRUZ, Mexico — Government officials and private industry partners from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Peru, Colombia and Argentina are part of the first regional forum on combating illicit trade which negatively impacts the global economy. The two-day forum in Veracruz runs through Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Winkowski participated in the forum and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Wednesday with Aristoteles Nuñez Sanchez, director of Mexico's Tax Administration Service (SAT). The MOU encourages the exchange of information related to imports and exports of merchandise between the United States and Mexico. The exchange of information will help ensure compliance with customs laws and assist special agents and officers in detecting and preventing trade fraud, smuggling and trade-based money laundering.
"Memorandums like this are critical to our bilateral effort in combating transnational criminal organizations that are involved in trade based money laundering and other trade based crimes," said Winkowski. "By targeting ill-gotten gains, we deal a blow where it hurts criminals the most, their pockets."
"The efforts of Mexico's government, in coordination with various agencies and institutions that shape it, and with the support of the private sector, are aimed to achieve efficient fighting of illicit trade," said Nuñez Sanchez. "These criminal practices affect our national economy. We wish to draw the attention of Mexico's citizens that our country can be modified as long as we follow law and order."
Topics to be discussed during the two-day forum include:
- Private and public sector strategies in combating illicit trade;
- Benefits of international cooperation;
- Role of public-private partnerships;
- Illicit trade and organized crime; and
- Protecting consumer health and safety from the dangers of counterfeit products.
The forum and MOU will assist in developing a deeper understanding of the black and grey markets that criminal networks use to traffic goods into Mexico and throughout Latin America.
The forum will also provide action-oriented recommendations for the public and private sector to use to identify criminal networks that threaten the global economy.
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