Illegality in the Food We Eat

The document examines five types of illegality—resource rights, labor rights, other laws, fraud, and corruption—across several global commodity chains. It provides case studies on beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, cocoa, shrimp, olive oil, dairy, and soy, highlighting how illegal practices drive deforestation, biodiversity loss, and labor abuse. The paper argues that illegality is an underappreciated threat that increases with global food demand and climate change, calling for precompetitive cooperation between governments and companies to ensure supply chain transparency.

• Illegality in food consumption is rising, with food fraud incidences increasing by 60% since 2010. The financial costs of product counterfeiting are estimated to range from $30 billion in the early 1980s to $600 billion in recent years, with some projections reaching nearly $1.8 trillion.
• Illegal conversion of tropical forests for agro-commodities, including beef, leather, soy, palm oil, tropical timber, pulp and paper, and plantation wood products, is estimated to cost $61 billion per year.
• In Brazil, beef production is heavily linked to illegal land clearing; estimates of illegal deforestation for pasture up to 2012 averaged 81.5%. This suggests that approximately 12.46% of globally traded beef is produced illegally in Brazil.
• Indonesian palm oil production is characterized by high levels of illegality, with estimates suggesting 80% of palm oil in Indonesia is produced illegally. This contributes to approximately 44.5% of the global palm oil supply being produced illegally.
• The Indonesian pulp and paper industry shows significant illegality, with an estimated 80% of total production thought to be produced illegally, often involving timber species banned by CITES.
• Cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire is a major driver of deforestation, with an estimated 10.8% of the country's cocoa produced within national parks and protected forests, meaning 4.3% of the world's cocoa is illegally produced in these areas.
• Child labor is prevalent in the West African cocoa industry; in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana combined, 2.1 million children were engaged in inappropriate forms of child labor, with 96% involved in "hazardous activity."
• The Thai farmed shrimp industry is linked to slave labor in both feed production and processing. If 80% of Thai shrimp is produced illegally, it is estimated that at least 12.8% of all shrimp on the global market is produced illegally.
• Italian olive oil is subject to significant fraud and adulteration, particularly extra virgin oil. Estimates suggest 45% or more of oil labeled extra virgin in Italy is adulterated, contributing to an estimated 12.2% of global olive oil being illegally produced.
• Brazilian soy production has historically seen high rates of illegality; prior to the Soy Moratorium and Forest Code changes, an estimated 65% of Brazilian soy producers did not comply with the Forest Code, implying 27.9% of global soy trade was produced illegally in Brazil.
• Illegal conversion of tropical forests for commercial agriculture between 2000-2012 caused an average of 1.47 gigatons of CO2 emissions per year, which is equivalent to one-quarter of the annual fossil fuel-based emissions of the EU.

APA

Clay, J. (2018). Illegality in the Food We Eat. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/479/16bo9s6kc2_Illegality_WHITE_PAPER___V__Dec_2018___wcover.pdf

Chicago

Clay, Jason. Illegality in the Food We Eat. WWF International, 2018. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/479/16bo9s6kc2_Illegality_WHITE_PAPER___V__Dec_2018___wcover.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Clay |first1=Jason |title=Illegality in the Food We Eat |publisher=WWF International |date=1 August 2018 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/479/16bo9s6kc2_Illegality_WHITE_PAPER___V__Dec_2018___wcover.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clay2018illegality, author = {Clay, Jason}, title = {{Illegality in the Food We Eat}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/479/16bo9s6kc2_Illegality_WHITE_PAPER___V__Dec_2018___wcover.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }