MINISTERS and
representatives from the 41 State Parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
have reaffirmed their commitment to continued implementation of the Convention
and called for robust enforcement of their anti-foreign bribery laws.
They also formally launched the fourth phase of country evaluations by
the OECD Working Group on Bribery at the OECD Anti-Bribery Ministerial
meeting, chaired by Andrea Orlando, Italian Minister of Justice, in Paris
yesterday.
Representatives from the signatory countries noted the need for enhancing
enforcement of their laws implementing the foreign bribery offence against
legal persons, including state-owned or controlled enterprises. The Parties
called for greater efforts to fight foreign bribery and corruption and recognised
the importance of appealing to non-Parties that are major exporters and foreign
investors to accede to and implement the Anti-Bribery Convention, and support
ongoing consultations to promote wider participation in the Convention.
In total, 50 countries from around the world have joined the Declaration.
They have committed to staying on top of new and future challenges in fighting
bribery and corruption and to improve international cooperation, promote
better whistleblower protection, strengthen public-private-civil society
partnerships against corruption, and enrich the dialogue on voluntary disclosure
and settlement procedures in corruption cases.
The Ministerial Declaration is attached and also available here.
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention establishes legally binding standards to
criminalise bribery of foreign public officials in international business
transactions and provides for a host of related measures that make this effective.
It is the first and only international anti-corruption instrument focused
on the ‘supply side’ of the bribery transaction.
|
