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 these serious factors are more powerful than
01:55that they can protect diseases that can't protect themselves from the law of this drug.
02:09Behind this trade there are both local criminals and international networks.
02:15I 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.
02:26The foreign drugs come from third countries.
02:31Of course, because of the use of drugs.
02:36And it comes from hand-in-hand to hand-in-hand.
02:39Without testimony and nothing.
02:41The foreign drugs in all Europe have been in the European Union
02:45for the drastic reasons that they have.
02:47Because they have a lot of trouble.
02:50That's why they have been taken care of.
02:51But we see, for example, that they come from Turkey and from third countries.
02:55They use cars, trucks.
02:58And we have also seen this type of products being transported with tourist buses.
03:04The nature of these products poses a very high risk
03:09when they are transported in an unlawful way.
03:18But 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.
03:48That will just freeze all economic activity.
03:51That opens possibilities for bad actors to pollute illicit supply chains with bad products, substandard 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, particularly 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 board, not only in Europe.
04:44In most countries that face this issue, it's a huge governance problem.
04:49Responsibility 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.
05:10And that's an important model for ensuring the law enforcement has a quicker response and reacts almost at the same
05:18speed 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, we have a regular operation that is called Silver
05:37Axe.
05:37In the last year, we have seen more than 1,300 tons of pesticides that have been seized and more
05:45than 484 litres of products.
05:48So very, very high numbers that are the results of the coordination with all the authorities in the member states
05:54in 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 and national authorities, European authorities, are
06:10also very active chasing the problem.
06:12And this is why the cooperation is so important. This is why our sector, together with national and European authorities,
06:18need 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 about that, the Chinese companies will not be in official andőspeed traditional medicine products.
06:39It is not available. It is not available. It is in aowiadualty and toxic for human beings, the consumer, the
06:46human trader, the entrepreneur, the communicator 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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