WThe fossil trade is the purchase and sale of fossils. This is many times done illegally with stolen fossils, and many important scientific specimens are lost each year. The trade is lucrative, and many celebrities collect fossils.
WThe ice trade, also known as the frozen water trade, was a 19th-century and early-20th-century industry, centering on the east coast of the United States and Norway, involving the large-scale harvesting, transport and sale of natural ice, and later the making and sale of artificial ice, for domestic consumption and commercial purposes. Ice was cut from the surface of ponds and streams, then stored in ice houses, before being sent on by ship, barge or railroad to its final destination around the world. Networks of ice wagons were typically used to distribute the product to the final domestic and smaller commercial customers. The ice trade revolutionised the U.S. meat, vegetable and fruit industries, enabled significant growth in the fishing industry, and encouraged the introduction of a range of new drinks and foods.
WThe illicit cigarette trade is defined as “the production, import, export, purchase, sale, or possession of tobacco goods which fail to comply with legislation”. Illicit cigarette trade activities fall under 3 categories:Contraband: cigarettes smuggled from abroad without domestic duty paid; Counterfeit: cigarettes manufactured without authorization of the rightful owners, with intent to deceive consumers and to avoid paying duty; Illicit whites: brands manufactured legitimately in one country, but smuggled and sold in another without duties being paid.
WThe ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants.
WThis is a list of oil-producing countries by oil exports based on The World Factbook and other Sources. Many countries also import oil, and some import more oil than they export.
WThis is a list of countries by oil imports based on The World Factbook ^ and other sources. Many countries also export oil, and some export more oil than they import.
WSaffron is a key seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine in use for over three millennia. One of the world's most expensive spices by weight, saffron consists of stigmas plucked from the vegetatively propagated and sterile Crocus sativus, known popularly as the saffron crocus. The resulting dried stigmas, also known as "threads", are distinguished by their bitter taste, hay-like fragrance, and slight metallic notes. The saffron crocus is unknown in the wild; its most likely precursor, Crocus cartwrightianus, originated in Crete or Central Asia; The saffron crocus is native to Southwest Asia and was first cultivated in what is now Greece.
WShark fin trading in Costa Rica, or shark finning, is an illegal practice in the country. It poses a serious problem with shark populations and organized crime within Costa Rica. The trade in Costa Rica is vigorously controlled by the Taiwanese mafia because of the high value of shark fins in restaurants in the Pacific Rim countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and China where Shark fin soup can cost up to $100 a serving in top restaurants. Some 95% of shark fin trading activity in Costa Rica culminates in the docks of Puntarenas on the western coast, notably Inversiones Cruz Dock and Harezan Dock, which are often privately run by the Taiwanese. The industry in Costa Rica took off from the 1970s as a result of the growth in demand from the emerging wealthy Tiger economies of the Asia-Pacific for shark fin as a delicacy. By the 1990s, the shark fin industry in Costa Rica had become one of the world's most important in shark finning, especially as a major cargo-unloading point for international fleets because of tax laws and government corruption in cracking down on the trade.
WThe spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove and turmeric were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eastern World. These spices found their way into the Near East before the beginning of the Christian era, where the true sources of these spices were withheld by the traders and associated with fantastic tales.