Counterfeit goods from China make up almost 2pc of world trade
Organised crime worth $90 billion a year in East Asia
A staggering 75 per cent of all fake goods seized worldwide from 2008 to 2010 were primarily from China, a report revealed on Tuesday.
The World Customs Organisation also said the booming industry accounts for some two per cent of world trade despite it being considered a “soft” form of crime.
And organised crime groups dealing in fake goods, drugs, human trafficking and illicit wildlife trade earn nearly $90 billion annually in East Asia and the Pacific, a separate UN report showed on Tuesday.
“Transnational Organised Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment” is the most comprehensive study of the subject, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.
It estimates that the top money-makers for crime groups are the trade in counterfeit goods ($24.4 billion), illegal wood products ($17 billion), heroin ($16.3 billion) and methamphetamines ($15 billion).
Fake medicines ($5 billion), the black market trade in used electronics components to avoid legitimate recycling ($3.75 billion) and the illegal wildlife trade ($2.5 billion) also rank highly.
Migrant smuggling and the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution or general labour also earn crime bosses hundreds of millions of dollars each year.