The overwhelming majority of the world’s leading exporting nations is failing to fully enforce a ban on foreign bribery, reveals Transparency International’s (TI) 2009 OECD Anti-bribery Convention Progress Report.

The fifth edition of the yearly report shows that just four of 36 countries party to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention are active enforcers. There is moderate enforcement in 11 and little to no enforcement in the 21 remaining countries. Such performance throws into question governments' commitments and threatens to destabilise the definitive legal instrument to fight international bribery.

In 1997, the member states of the OECD adopted the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Hailed as a landmark event in the fight against international corruption, the Convention represented a collective commitment to ban foreign bribery by the governments of the leading industrialised states, which account for the majority of global exports and foreign investment. The Convention entered into force in 1999 and now has 38 parties.

Inadequate enforcement stems from insufficient political will. Despite commitments and evidence of the damage done by foreign bribery, many governments appear reluctant to penalise companies headquartered in their country that use bribes abroad. This reluctance to translate words into action means that critical legal reforms remain unimplemented, while ill-equipped enforcement agencies struggle to pursue complex cross-border money trails. Statutory and legal obstacles continue to block proper enforcement in 26 of the countries covered. Consequently, companies can be undeterred from exploiting the situation, as illustrated in the report by coverage of major corporations’ bribery schemes.

“Political will must be at the heart of efforts to deliver on anti-bribery,” said Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director at TI. “Especially in the current global recession when businesses face acute pressure to win declining orders. Accelerated enforcement is needed to ensure fair competition.”

• The OECD Ministerial Council should exercise regular oversight to ensure that the Convention succeeds in meeting its objectives
• The OECD Secretary-General should meet with the justice ministers of poor performing countries to reach agreement on steps for achieving active enforcement. Failure to take such steps should result in suspension of membership in the Convention
• The Ministerial should reaffirm the broad scope of Article 5 of the Convention and make clear that claims of national security, such as the UK’s action in the BAE case, violates Article 5

In recognition of the challenges companies face when implementing anti-corruption policies, TI works alongside business to address bribery and help instil transparency and accountability at the very core of their operations.

Business Principles for Countering Bribery A common anti-bribery code, developed with a group of multi-nationals and non-corporate stakeholders. Its significance is acknowledged by global initiatives such as the UN Global Compact and the WEF Partnering against Corruption Initiative.

RESIST TI co-designed RESIST ( Resisting Extortions and Solicitations in International Transactions) to help business counter solicitation and extortion demands in the most efficient and ethical manner, as well as reduce the probability of such demands being made.

SETSelf-Evaluation Tool (SET) is a checklist that enables companies to examine the design of their anti-bribery programme and assess its effectiveness. This assists companies to manage risks more effectively and improve their operational efficiency.

TI Press Release:
Major exporters failing to curb overseas bribery
Les grands exportateurs ne réussissent pas à juguler la corruption à l’étranger

OECD Working Group
State Parties to the Convention
Country reports on the implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
Council of Europe GRECO
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
Shearman & Sterling, Recent Trends in FCPA Enforcement
Russia takes key step forward in OECD membership negotiations

• Canada cited for lax anti-bribery measures
  The Gazette
• Anti-corruption body raps UK, other OECD countries
  Reuter News
• Deutschland führend bei Verfolgung von Auslandsbestechung
  AFP
• UPDATE:OECD Gurria: Much Progress On Tax Information Exchange
  The Wall Street Journal
• NGO: Anti-bribery ban not being enforced
  UPI
• Czechs, Slovaks fail in deterring inernational trade bribery-TI
  Ceskenoviny
• Major exporters failing to curb overseas bribery
  afriquejet.com
• Rich nations under fire on anti-bribery enforcement
  FT
• Deutschland ist führend im Kampf gegen Bestechung
  ZEIT ONLINE
• Efforts to Curb Foreign Bribery Lack Vigor, Report Finds
  NY Times
• Bribery still rife, says agency
  Bloomberg, IDN
• REPORT: U.S. Doing A Good Job At Addressing Corruption
  News Junkie Post
• The world is losing the fight against international bribery
  New Europe
• Australia slips in international anti-corruption rankings
  Radio Australia
• 'Anti Corruption Body Downscaled, Dependent'
  The Korea Times
• Transparency International: Czechs, Slovaks fail in deterring international trade bribery
  Prague Daily Monitor
• Bulgaria Receives Latest Anti-Bribery Failing Grade
  Novinite

Hungary:

• Szinte semmit nem teszünk a korrupció ellen - Lesújtó jelentés a TI-től
• Transparency International: Szinte senki nem harcol a korrupcióval

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Tel: +49 30 34 38 20666
E-mail: press@transparency.org