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Assessing Free Trade Zone Integrity

From

12
3:00 pm February 2020

To

13
6:00 pm February 2020

by invitation

Brief

Illegal trade takes diverse forms, which are frequently interlinked. In many cases, crossovers exist in the trafficking of drugs, humans and weapons, corruption and money laundering. Commonly, such crossovers arise from the exploitation of tested routes and infrastructure; this applies not least to free trade zones (FTZs), as incubators of many such intersections.

The criminal risks associated with FTZs have been studied extensively, leading to repeated calls for more consistent enforcement of applicable regulations, especially Annex D to the Revised Kyoto Convention. Yet, policymakers and private sector actors struggle to assess the risk level of individual FTZs and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

This Project seeks to address the discrepancy between a high awareness that FTZs pose risks at the macro-level, and a limited ability to evaluate and understand those risks – and the convergence between them – at the micro-level. The first of its kind, the project will provide a mechanism to enable authorities and business partners to assess overall risk levels in individual FTZs, moving beyond narrow concerns of specific crime types within them.

Format

The workshop will take place in the format of a moderated roundtable discussion. All participants are invited to take active part in the discussion and share their views on the issues identified in the Agenda (see below). This will enable participants to learn from each other and develop common, cross-sectoral approaches to safeguarding the integrity of Moroccan free-trade zones.

For more information, please contact Mohamed Abrouq at : m.abrouq@policycenter.ma

AGENDA
14:30

Registration & Welcoming Coffee

15:00-15:10

Introductory remarks

Alexandria Reid, Research Analyst, Organised Crime and Policing, RUSI

Rida Lyammouri, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

15:10-16:30

Roundtable 1: Understanding and Mitigating the Risks

Moderator:

Anton Moiseienko, Research Fellow, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, RUSI

Discussion questions:

• Morocco’s free-trade zones facilitate significant amounts of legitimate trade. What do we know about related risks of illicit trade and financial crime?

• What key policies and measures are in place to address those risks?

• Whose responsibility is it to prevent illicit trade and financial crime in Morocco’s free-trade zones?

16:30-16:45

Coffee break

16:45-18:00

Roundtable 2: Future Priorities

Moderator:

Alexandria Reid, Research Analyst, Organised Crime and Policing, RUSI

Discussion questions:

• How can facilitating legitimate trade be reconciled with preventing illicit trade and financial crime?

• What are the key future priorities in doing so?

• What is the role of private sector and non-governmental organisations?

 
 
Speakers
Rida Lyammouri
Senior Fellow
Rida Lyammouri is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. His research activities focus on geopolitics and international relations in the West African Sahel, a region he has worked on for about a decade. He has extensive experience supporting both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the areas of international aid, development, and security. Some of the topics he covers include countering violent extremism (CVE), conflict prevention and conflict sensitivity, humanitarian access, and migration. Mr. Lyammouri has contributed to numerous in-depth research and analysis reports aiming at building deeper understanding of regional and domestic challenges. He is often solicited by various stakeholders to provide policy recommendations on how to address va ...
Anton Moiseienko
Research Fellow, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, RUSI
Anton is a Research Fellow at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies. His current and recent research covers a range of financial crime issues, including money laundering via online businesses, corruption in the UK and overseas, the intersection between cybercrime and money laundering, and financial crime risks posed by free trade zones. Anton holds a PhD in law from Queen Mary University of London and a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge. His book Corruption and Targeted Sanctions was published by Brill | Nijhoff. He is also a co-editor of Transnational Crime: European and Chinese Perspectives (Routledge, 2018), Criminal Networks and Law Enforcement (Routledge, 2019) and Research Handbook on Transnational Crime (Edward Elgar, 2019). Anton ...
Alexandria Reid
Research Analyst, Organised Crime and Policing
Alexandria Reid is a Research Analyst in the Organised Crime and Policing team at RUSI. Her research covers a range of topics related to serious and organised crime, including environmental security, illicit trade and related illicit financial flows. She is Project Officer for the Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research (SHOC) at RUSI, and a Guest Lecturer for the Marjan Centre for the Study of Conflict and the Environment, King’s College London, where she teaches gender and environmental security. Alexandria holds an MA (Distinction) in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London. Prior to joining RUSI, she was a Programme Officer for the Centre for Grand Strategy and an MoD-funded Research Administrator at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research. ...