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Dear Delegates,
Welcome to the 21st Session of WorldMUN at Vancouver, Canada! I hope you are as excited as I am to begin our debate in the Specialized Agencies’ INTERPOL, a dynamic new committee that promises to be filled with stimulating crisis and engaging debate.
Before I introduce the topics we’ll be discussing over the week, let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Lisa Wang, and I will be your chair for INTERPOL. I’m a sophomore at Harvard College, originally from central New Jersey, concentrating in Government with a secondary in Ethnic Studies. Outside Model UN, I also participate in Model Congress and tutor Boston residents for the U.S. Citizenship Exam. This year, I will be chairing the Human Rights Council at our high school conference, Harvard Model UN. I will also be directing the Security Council at our freshman conference, Model Security Council, in the beginning of the year. WorldMUN XXI will be my first WorldMUN conference, so I’m probably just as excited as you if not more!
Without further ado, the topics we will be debating this year are Wildlife Crime and Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals. Both are relatively under-discussed issues, but they are on the rise in recent years and will have plenty of intricacy for you to debate. The direction of the committee will ultimately be up to you!
Before conference, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the policies of your country both on these topics and your relationship to INTERPOL. The study guide that will be released in the upcoming weeks will be useful, but extra research will definitely facilitate debate over the course of a week. More importantly, however, be prepared to meet people from around the world and immerse yourself in the various cultures you will encounter. You will be sure to make friendships that will last you a lifetime!
Best of luck during the research process! In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at any time before the conference if you have questions about the committee or conference, or simply just to introduce yourselves. Looking forward to meeting you all in Vancouver!
Best regards,
Lisa Wang
Chair, INTERPOL
World Model United Nations 2012
interpol@worldmun.org
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Topic A: Wildlife Crime
Wildlife Crime is an up-and-coming topic in INTERPOL, and is unique in that it has been rarely discussed before, providing all delegates with a chance to see that Model UN takes environmental damage as an issue as gripping and vital as human rights violations. INTERPOL defines wildlife crime as “the taking, trading, exploiting or possessing of the world’s wild flora and fauna in contravention of national and international laws.” Though it does not form one of INTERPOL’s core subfields, it is a growing field that has plenty of direction and legitimacy for the INTERPOL to intervene where appropriate. International law (most notably, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora [CITES]) bans the trade of 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants, yet thousands are killed every year in illicit trade, usually by petty criminals interested purely in profit. To combat this, INTERPOL has recently created an Environmental Crime Committee as well as a Wildlife Crime Working Group, both of which can provide valuable information on the steps INTERPOL has taken to combat wildlife crime. In essence, INTERPOL is dealing with international criminal syndicate networks – whether trafficking in humans, drugs, or wildlife, the detection and prosecution of traffickers have many similarities across these diverse fields.
Topic B: Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals
A little known global public health crisis lies in the production and trade of counterfeit pharmaceuticals (including all types of life-saving/life-enhancing drugs and medical devices). Often indistinguishable from brand-name drugs in terms of packaging, these pharmaceuticals can be harmless or life-threatening and are increasing in prevalence. Globally, 10% of drugs in circulation are believed to be counterfeited, and this figure rises to as much as 30% in certain regions. The rapid increase of counterfeit drugs can be tied to the rise of unauthorized and unregulated trade over the Internet: 50% of drugs sold on the Internet are probably counterfeited, estimates the World Health Organization (WHO). Every country is affected as a source, transit, or destination point for counterfeit pharmaceuticals. INTERPOL’s Medical Product Counterfeiting and Pharmaceutical Crime Unit unites police, customs, NGOs, health regulatory authorities, scientists, and the private sector to combat these crimes. It also cooperates with WHO in the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). However, much more debate on the issue is necessary to avoid the unnecessary loss of life from preventable sources.