"Excellent work." -Trade control government professional The 2021/2022 Peddling Peril Index (PPI), the only public effort to comprehensively rank national strategic trade control systems in 200 countries, entities, and territories, continues to present a troubling picture of the state of efforts to stop the illicit trade in goods critical to nuclear weapons, other WMD, and conventional arms. The world faces tremendous challenges from illicit actors who...
More Description"Excellent work."
-Trade control government professional
The 2021/2022 Peddling Peril Index (PPI), the only public effort to comprehensively rank national strategic trade control systems in 200 countries, entities, and territories, continues to present a troubling picture of the state of efforts to stop the illicit trade in goods critical to nuclear weapons, other WMD, and conventional arms.
The world faces tremendous challenges from illicit actors who undertake innovative and complicated schemes to acquire strategic goods and tacit knowledge abroad, aiming to forward the political and military goals of pariah regimes such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and adversaries, such as China and Russia. Strategic trade control systems, as proven by dozens of case studies documented by the Institute and others, play a central role in international security. If they are well implemented, strategic trade control systems can be effective in deterring, detecting, and prosecuting illicit strategic trade.
But how effective are existing strategic trade control systems? And do all countries have them? In its application of over 100 indicators, the 2021/2022 PPI reveals the current state of strategic trade controls worldwide and serves to remind the international community of the pressing need to more widely implement and enforce trade control systems throughout the world. Most of the countries scored below half of the maximum points in the PPI, with the areas of enforcement and proliferation financing requiring the most global improvements. Additionally, over half of all countries lack relevant, comprehensive export control legislation.
Despite the overall problems, this edition also reveals a degree of measurable progress. In comparison with the 2017 and 2019 PPIs, this edition shows that global trade controls are slowly but steadily improving in many key categories.
For an individual country, the PPI provides its total score and final rank, supplemented by its scores in major categories and a comparison to similar countries. It is a tool that countries can use to identify deficiencies, compare their policies and processes to those of others, and improve their national trade control systems. The PPI also provides an indication of a state's vulnerability to illicit procurement schemes and measures the extent of a country's compliance with international obligations, such as United Nations Security Council resolution 1540. It can assist governments and organizations in better targeting assistance and capacity building efforts.
Political will, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and innovative ideas remain vital in closing gaps in strategic trade controls. The PPI is a key starting point for discussions in government, industry, academia, and the NGO community aimed at improving the effectiveness of strategic trade controls, making the world safer, and ultimately stopping the proliferation of dangerous weapons.