The review is now completed and the 2021 OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation, which supersedes the 2009 Recommendation, was adopted by the OECD Council on 26 November 2021

Online public consultation As part of the review of the OECD 2009 Anti-Bribery Recommendation, stakeholders were invited to participate in an online public consultation from 22 March 2019 to 6 May 2019 on the basis of a public consultation document. The consultation document raises a variety of cross-cutting issues that have emerged over the last decade of implementation and enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. It also identifies new trends and challenges. Download a compilation of comments received About the review  The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is the first and only international anti-corruption instrument focused on the ‘supply side’ of the bribery transaction. To ensure that it continues to respond to the challenges of fighting foreign bribery, the OECD launched a review of the OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation in December 2018. This review is being conducted by the OECD Working Group on Bribery and is scheduled for completion in 2021.   Background Information  OECD Anti-Bribery Convention OECD Working Group on Bribery Phase 4 monitoring of the Convention

Consultation events 21 March 2019 - Panel session at the OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum    22 March 2019 - Thematic roundtables during OECD Integrity Week   11 Dec 2018 - Annual consultation on fighting foreign bribery with the private sector and civil society

About the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the 2009 Anti-Bribery Recommendation

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. 

 In 2009, Parties to the Convention agreed to put in place new measures to reinforce their efforts to prevent, detect and investigate foreign bribery with the adoption of the OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation. The Recommendation contains provisions for combating small facilitation payments, protecting whistleblowers, improving communication between public officials and law enforcement authorities, and includes the OECD Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance.

 

What are OECD Recommendations and how are they used?

OECD Recommendations are adopted by the OECD’s governing body, the Council, and result from the substantive work carried out in the Organisation’s committees and their subsidiary bodies. Recommendations generally contain high-level policy directions based on agreed good practices and aspirational goals, and serve to highlight the importance of specific work areas in the context of broader international policy-making. They are not legally binding, but practice accords them great moral force as representing the political will of Members and non-Members having adhered to them (Adherents), on whom there is an expectation to do their utmost to fully implement them.

For more information, consult the online Compendium of OECD Legal Instruments.