A new international pact is needed to ban trafficking in human organs, tissues and cells, protect victims and punish offenders, says a report issued on Tuesday by the United Nations and Council of Europe.

Selling body parts was not just unethical, it also led to greater health risks for both donor and recipient than free, voluntary transplants, the 98-page report said.

"We affirm as a primary principle no financial gain should be coincident with obtaining organs and tissues for transplant," University of Pennsylvania academic Arthur Caplan, one of the report's authors, told a news conference.