FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY NOT YET APPROVED

THE OAS CONVENTION:

In May, 1996, twenty-nine OAS member countries signed the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. The Convention calls for the criminalization of illicit enrichment and transnational bribery, and for mutual legal assistance to facilitate prosecutions. Article III on Preventive Measures calls for: codes of conduct for public officials to prevent conflicts of interest; disclosure of assets by public officials; mechanisms for their enforcement; government procurement that assures openness, equity, and efficiency; government revenue collection and control systems that deter corruption; whistleblower protection; oversight anticorruption bodies; accounting and internal controls; and civil society participation ¹.

**1 While not explicitly addressed in the Convention, the issues of access to information and judicial reform may be considered worth including in the monitoring process.

RATIONALES FOR SUPPORT:

Many of these provisions closely parallel the elements that Transparency International has identified as key to an integrity system. Moreover, they represent commitments by heads of state and are supported by the OAS and IDB, which have initiated programs throughout the hemisphere to promote implementation.

These factors make the Convention a potentially useful vehicle to promote TI's agenda and the OAS and IDB potential allies in that effort.

CURRENT STATUS:

To date, only 10 countries have ratified, and there is little evidence of implementation. The OAS and IDB have already begun to hold workshops to encourage ratification by more governments and to provide technical assistance for implementation to those governments that have ratified.

TI chapters have participated and are invited to participate in future OAS/IDB workshops.

TI-LAC has sought and received funding from the MacArthur Foundation for, among other objectives, a Convention monitoring system, which would identify those Convention commitments that have been implemented and those outstanding. TI-LAC would develop an action plan to promote. compliance, and prepare and publicize a comparative progress report each year.

The network of TI chapters in the Americas are uniquely positioned for such an initiative. With chapters in 15 countries, TI could contribute significantly to bringing important commitments into effect. In fact, TI is looked to by the international community and donors as the logical convener of such an effort.

A similar monitoring effort is underway among TI chapters in OECD member economies, organized by the chairman of chapters in Australia, Germany, and the U.S. They are working individually to promote ratification and effective implementation of the OECD Antibribery Convention in their countries. They have created a checklist to use as a yardstick to evaluate draft legislation and will monitor enforcement as well. They are using the results to advocate more effective outcomes with the. government and for media activities.

They are also working jointly, sharing their findings with each other, with the OECD Working Group on Bribery, and securing government to government support where appropriate.

The following set of recommendations is proposed as a starting point for consideration by the TI-LAC chapters at their meeting in Santiago on July 24-25, 1998. TI-USA welcomes the opportunity to participate in the discussion and to support the development of an effective monitoring program.

As a general matter, TI chapters in the Americas would agree to promote the ratification and implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through national and regional efforts. TI chapters in Argentina, Canada, Panama and U.S. would coordinate the exchange of information among chapters, and TI-USA would work with OAS, IDB, and other representatives in Washington, D.C. to secure inclusion of TI chapters in programs, to provide information on areas of concern, and to support funding requests. TI-Canada has a special role since its government will host the next Summit of the Americas and is the current chair of the FTAA Trade Negotiating Committee.

REGIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• The OAS has not set a target date for ratification. TI chapters would agree on such a date and call for its adoption at the 1999 OAS General Assembly. (The OECD Working Group agreed on a target date for entry into force of December 31, 1998. This has been a driving force in the ratification effort.)

• There is no "mechanism" within the OAS, similar to the OECD Working Group on Bribery, to bring all signatories to the table, to provide technical assistance, or to carry out periodic peer evaluation of implementation efforts. TI chapters would call for the creation of such a mechanism by the OAS at the June 1999 General Assembly.

• Chapters would identify and focus their attention on select priority issues in the Convention. This would ensure that limited resources are focused on issues of greatest impact and that a progress report can be compiled.

• Chapters will issue an annual "Progress Report" for publication just prior to the OAS General Assembly containing information on the following:

1. Has the country ratified the Convention or transmitted it to the legislature for approval?

2. What is the level of enforcement of existing anticorruption laws? Numbers of prosecutions?

3. What steps have been taken to implement and enforce priority convention issues:

• Illicit enrichment: Has implementing legislation been drafted and what is the quality?

• Transnational bribery:

What steps have the 6 OECD signatories taken to implement the convention?
What steps have non-OECD signatories taken either to accede to the convention or to implement legislation independently?

• Transparency in procurement: What is the status of existing procedures? Does the government support implementation of an Agreement on Transparency in Procurement by 2000?

• Codes of Conduct/Conflict of interest rules/ Disclosure of assets/Whistleblower protection: Has implementing legislation been drafted and what is the quality? Loopholes?

• What mechanisms have been created (Office of Government Ethics/Anticorruption Bodies) and do they have independence, enforcement power, and sufficient resources ?

• As TI has learned from the Corruption Index, a report card can be a powerful tool to spur reform and grading sub-categories permits encouragement for some positive action, even if overall progress has been lacking.

National-level activities

• Do baseline surveys of status of convention and implementation of key issues.

• Organize seminars to promote public awareness of convention's importance and its status, including representatives of government, private sector, media, other NGOs and civil society.

• Participate in 15 OAS/IDB national workshops and the Fall OAS Symposium on Strengthening Probity in the Hemisphere, hosted by Chile.

• Seek to place issue on agenda of other conferences, such as those held by anticorruption commissions and by professional associations or private sector.

• Encourage media coverage.

Nancy Zucker Boswell
TI-USA
July 1998