Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

198 winer and rouleassistance, and extradition; (d) improved mutual assistance; (e) developmentof further standards; and (f) oversight. We offer recommendationsfor each of these in turn.Administrative Cooperation. National administrations shouldconsider recording, at least in the aggregate, international flows of commoditiesthrough a series of tracking measures, including Global PositioningSystem and import-export records from relevant states. Suchinformation should be made available to an international oversightbody.International authorities, perhaps Interpol and the World CustomsOrganization, should be given responsibility for gathering and disseminatinginformation to authorities about developments in combating thetrafficking of illicit commodities. Central banks and bank regulatorscould do the same in their network. National authorities, in consultationwith trade associations, could then disseminate this information tofinancial institutions in individual countries.Exchange of Information Relating to Suspicious Transactions InvolvingIllicit Commodities. Each country should make efforts toimprove a spontaneous or upon-request international informationexchange relating to suspicious transactions and to persons and corporationsinvolved in those transactions. Strict safeguards shouldbe established to ensure that this exchange of information is consistentwith national and international provisions on privacy and dataprotection.Cooperation in Confiscation, Mutual Assistance, and Extradition.Countries should try to ensure, on a bilateral or multilateral basis, thatdifferent knowledge standards in national definitions—that is, differentstandards concerning the intentional element of the infraction—donot affect the ability or willingness of countries to provide each otherwith mutual legal assistance. The signing of memoranda of understandingin instances where treaties are not viable may be especially importantfor the oversight of illicit commodities. The use of GPS systemsand import records from allied states could assist in the oversight.International cooperation should be supported by a network of bilateraland multilateral agreements and arrangements based on generallyshared legal concepts, with the aim of providing practical measuresto affect the widest possible range of mutual assistance covering illegalnatural resources.Focus of Improved Mutual Assistance on Combating Illicit Commodities.Cooperative investigations among countries’ authoritiesshould be encouraged. There should be procedures for mutual assistance