MANILA, Philippines — A US-based anti-illicit trade group is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to step up its crackdown on illegal trade by adopting uniform rules that would hold e-commerce platforms accountable for counterfeit and other illicit products sold online.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (Tracit) warned that Asean’s resilience against illicit trade was just “average.”
READ: EU-ABC urges Philippines to spearhead battle vs illicit trade
Because the region was becoming an increasingly important global manufacturing and trading hub, that performance suggested its growth had outpaced the safeguards needed to protect it, the report added.
As such, Tracit called for stricter regional standards requiring online marketplaces to verify sellers, proactively block illegal product listings and permanently ban repeat offenders.
“Asean needs common regional e-commerce standards that hold every platform operating in the region accountable for preventing illicit trade,” said Suriya Padmanaabhan, Tracit’s director of programs.
“Platforms must do more, starting today, starting with zero-tolerance verification of who is selling, starting with aggressive blocking of illegal product listings, and putting an absolute stop to repeat offenders,” she added.
Manila ranks midpack
Asean scored 49.7 points on Tracit’s Illicit Trade Index, trailing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which scored 64.4, and the broader Asia-Pacific region at 50.9.
Among Asean economies, the Philippines ranked fifth, placing 69th out of 158 countries globally.
Singapore led the bloc at 29th, followed by Indonesia at 39th, Thailand at 56th and Vietnam at 61st. They were followed by Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. None of the region’s economies reached the global top 20.
READ: Illicit trade poses threat to Southeast Asian maritime security: experts
Tracit warned that the region’s middling performance was concerning given its growing importance to international trade.
“This suggests that Asean’s emergence as a global manufacturing and trading hub has not been matched with regulatory measures necessary to protect the region from illicit trade,” Padmanaabhan said.
“They all have different strengths and weaknesses, but average is not good enough for a region that has become so important to global trade,” she added. INQ