00:03These products are not assessed, they are not tested and they are dangerous.
00:16This is a type of crime that affects the environment, the local community,
00:21the local agricultural economy and the most serious of all, public health.
00:33Pesticides are a vital tool for farmers to protect their crops.
00:37But across Europe, the growing trade in illegal and counterfeit pesticides is raising serious concerns.
00:44In northern Greece, Sturgius, the president of a local farmers' association,
00:48says the price of spraying is driving demand for cheaper alternatives.
01:14Scientific experts say that lower price comes at a potentially higher cost for the environment and public health.
01:21Every time we use such an alternative agricultural drugs in our facilities,
01:27we are especially worried because we know the negative effects of these drugs
01:32to the producers, producers and abroad.
01:39Local food producers say the perceived effectiveness of banned pesticides
01:44is also another temptation for farmers.
01:47There are producers who believe that the negative effects of these drugs are more powerful
01:54than that they can protect diseases
01:57that cannot protect the law of this drug.
02:01What do you think of this drug?
02:09Behind this trade, there are both local criminals and international networks.
02:14I would say that most of our cases show characteristics of organized crime,
02:20in which both people from Greece and other countries participate in cooperation.
02:27These drugs etc.
02:32We all know about other drugs that we know as a patient.
02:35These drugs are the most effective drugs.
02:36This drugDAQ, in order to survive,
02:37legal drugs and drug- addicted.
02:41They are among those drugs.
02:42The drugs drugs for all of Europe have already been used in a number of drugs.
02:46They have all the drug and mange of course,
02:47they are in the United States.
02:49They have a lot of drug drugs,
02:49as a lot of drug-use drugs.
02:50Those drugs have been used in the UK,
02:51but they have for example.
02:52They have been used in Turkey and into another third nation.
02:55They use cars, trucks, and we have also seen this type of products being transported with tourist buses.
03:04The nature of these products poses a very high risk when they are transported in an unlawful way.
03:17But counterfeit pesticides are just one part of a much wider illicit trade economy,
03:24whether by land, sea, or air, global trade relies on complex supply chains,
03:29a system criminal groups constantly seek to exploit to move illicit goods across borders.
03:35Today, smugglers abuse regular trade routes.
03:40And this is also because trade in general is exploding.
03:44Nobody will open billions of parcels to check if this good is counterfeit or not.
03:49That will just freeze all economic activity.
03:51That opens possibilities for bad actors to pollute these illicit supply chains with bad products,
04:00substandard products, counterfeit products.
04:02To avoid detection at the border and move their products even closer to consumers,
04:07criminal groups are also increasingly setting up facilities inside Europe,
04:11particularly for counterfeit cigarette production.
04:23criminal organizations are free to move across borders unimpeded, without any obstacles.
04:30While law enforcement authorities, as soon as they need to take a step in another country,
04:36they need to ask for permission to the authorities of that country.
04:39Illicit trade is a huge problem across the border, not only in Europe.
04:44In most countries that face this issue, it's a huge governance problem.
04:50Responsibility is peppered throughout many agencies that have sometimes difficulties working with each other,
04:56and even if they were working with each other, they cannot solve the problem on their own.
05:00Increasingly, we see the establishment of joint investigation teams that gather prosecutors and investigators from many countries,
05:09and that's an important model for ensuring the law enforcement has a quicker response
05:15and reacts almost at the same speed as the criminals.
05:19Since 2020, Europol and national authorities across Europe have seized almost 8,700 tons of banned and counterfeit pesticides.
05:29In terms of the fight against illegal pesticides and counterfeited pesticides,
05:34we have a regular operation that is called Silver Axe.
05:37In the last year, we have seen more than 1,300 tons of pesticides that have been seized,
05:45and more than 484 liters of products, so very, very high numbers that are the results of the coordination
05:52with all the authorities in the member states in this kind of fight.
05:56The fact that authorities are seizing illegal products shows two things.
06:02The first one is that organized crime is very active, but also that authorities,
06:07national authorities, and European authorities are also very active, chasing the problem.
06:12And this is why the cooperation is so important.
06:15This is why our sector, together with national and European authorities,
06:19need to work hand in hand to make sure that these untested, unassessed products are kept out of the market.
06:31If I had to say something, I would say that the Greek authorities would not be selected.
06:38It is not a significant effect.
06:40It is not a significant effect.
06:41It is not a significant effect for the human beings, the consumer, the consumer, the consumer, and the environment.
06:48By understanding the economic losses that have come to our country,
06:55they must be aware of the use of these false drugs
07:01what they are doing in their country, in their own, in their families and in their children.
07:08Despite the fact that the offenders gained big money from this,
07:13the criminal sanctions are often low,
07:16so we see the phenomenon of people doing the same crime again and again,
07:22even after they are arrested.
07:56For more information, visit www.fema.org
07:56www.fema.org
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