TI Progress Report on OECD Enforcement

TI strongly promoted the adoption of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, its ratification and the passage of implementing legislation by signatory states. TI has also participated actively in the OECD’s follow up monitoring programme. In March 2005 TI published the TI Progress Report on OECD Convention Enforcement based on national expert responses to a questionnaire developed by TI. The Report provides an assessment of government performance in OECD Convention signatory countries and recommendations for improvement.

Promoting enforcement of the OECD Convention is a key priority for TI because enforcement would reduce the supply side of international corruption since most of the major companies involved in international trade and investment are based in signatory states.

On 7 March 2005, TI publicly released its first annual assessment of government enforcement of the OECD Anti-bribery Convention. The TI Progress Report on OECD Convention Enforcement Link to Document 74 provides a clear, concise overview and assessment of government enforcement performance in 24 of the 35 OECD Convention signatory countries, with associated recommendations for improvements. By generating external scrutiny of government performance, the Report strengthens the OECD peer review process and helps promote government enforcement of the OECD Convention. The release of the Second TI Progress Report is planned for mid- 2006.

The first TI Progress Report on OECD Convention Enforcement found that there has been considerable progress towards enforcement, but that levels of enforcement vary between individual countries and there is a need for improvement in all countries. The fact that nine countries had no enforcement and only four had seen more than one case of enforcement is clear evidence that civil society must supplement the efforts of the OECD Working Group by assessing and advocating for enforcement of the Convention. If resources permit, TI will release a Progress Report on OECD Enforcement every year.

The Report is based on national expert responses to a questionnaire developed by TI covering key enforcement issues. The Report has three main sections: (a) numerical data on prosecutions and investigations; (b) TI assessments of key aspects of national enforcement systems, including narrative excerpts from the country responses; (c) TI recommendations to strengthen enforcement. Lawyers and other highly qualified professionals and academics were chosen by TI national chapters in the 24 countries covered as expert respondents to the TI questionnaire. The twenty-four OECD signatory states covered by the Report represent about ninety-five percent of OECD exports.

TI National Chapter Contributions to OECD Phase 1 and 2 Reviews

TI National Chapters have been contributing to the review process of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention since it began in 1999. In the first round of Phase 1 reviews, 20 National Chapters submitted written reports evaluating national legislation implementing the requirements of the OECD Convention. TI National Chapters in many countries have contributed to the ongoing Phase 2 review process on Convention enforcement by preparing written submissions to the OECD Working Group on Bribery and/or by contributing to discussions with review teams during on-site visits and sometimes also by organising civil society fora during the on-site visits.