Publications

The Guidance on Corporate Governance for Process Safety draws attention to those at the top of industry to the need for high standards of corporate governance in relation to the management of high hazard industries. The Guidance encourages every director, CEO and President of a major hazard company and to check themselves against a set of self-assessment questions and evaluate their awareness and knowledge in process safety.

This document presents a harmonized method for characterising, for assessment purposes, a specific subcategory of UVCBs (Substances of Unknown or Variable composition, Complex reaction products or Biological materials): oleochemical substances. Many oleochemicals are UVCBs, due to the variability in the composition of the starting materials. The method presented in this document gives guidance on how oleochemical substances can be characterised in a way that their composition is accurately and consistently reflected to ensure that substances with the same chemical composition, manufactured in different countries, can be characterised with the same description for hazard assessment purposes. A common understanding and approach to characterising UVCBs would enable regulatory authorities to increase cooperation in the field of hazard assessment and help industry deal with regulatory requirements from multiple jurisdictions. 

The purpose of this guidance is to harmonise the way non-guideline in vitro methods are described and thereby facilitate an assessment of the relevance of test methods for biological activities and responses of interest, and an assessment of the quality of data produced, irrespective of whether these tests are based on manual protocols or assay protocols adapted for use on automated platforms or high-throughput screening systems (HTS). This guidance outlines the elements considered relevant for providing a comprehensive description of an in vitro method to facilitate the interpretation of results and support scientifically defensible fit-for-purpose applications.  

OECD member countries have been making efforts to expand the use of alternative methods in assessing chemicals. The OECD has been developing guidance documents and tools for the use of alternative methods such as (Q)SAR, chemical categories and Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) as a part of Integrated Approaches for Testing and Assessment (IATA). There is a need for the investigation of the practical applicability of these methods/tools for different aspects of regulatory decision-making, and to build upon case studies and assessment experience across jurisdictions. The objective of the IATA Case Studies Project is to increase experience with the use of IATA by developing case studies, which constitute examples of predictions that are fit for regulatory use. The aim is to create common understanding of using novel methodologies and the generation of considerations/guidance stemming from these case studies. This document reports the learnings and lessons obtained from the review experience of the four case studies submitted to the 2015 review cycle of the IATA Case Studies project. The topics discussed in this document include the strongest aspects and uncertainties of each case study, and the document identifies areas for developing further guidance on IATA.

This scoping document aims at bringing forward relevant in vitro and ex vivo thyroid assays to the attention of OECD member countries, to provide recommendations for their development/use, and also, to identify aspects/blocks of the thyroid signalling pathways that are not covered and would require further development of thyroid assays. 

Acute toxicity tests are an area of focus for developing alternative assays and approaches to address animal welfare concerns. In the context of this document, acute toxicity studies refer to studies involving a single exposure to a test chemical and include those assessing systemic toxicity as well as those assessing local irritation, corrosion or sensitization. One approach to minimizing the use of animals for acute toxicity testing is to consider waiving a study that may be required based on scientific criteria. Another approach to reducing or eliminating animal testing is to use existing hazard information that is informative for the acute toxicity endpoint for the test chemical; this would include the use of hazard information for one or multiple similar test chemicals to characterize the hazard for another or for mixtures, the use of recognized calculation approaches and bridging concepts. This Document provides clarification on these approaches to ensure that regulatory authorities are provided with the appropriate data required for decision-making and that reduced animal testing can be undertaken without compromising the integrity of the hazard information. 

People in many countries, especially advanced countries, are expressing growing discontent about globalisation. They feel that its benefits have accrued mostly to a small and already well-off segment of the population. In addition, many citizens are dissatisfied with the way economic integration has been advanced. They complain about too little transparency and too many conflicts of interests between policy makers and firms. Several of the negative effects feeding the discontent have more to do with technological change than with globalisation per se, but the two are closely intertwined. Moreover, the policies put in place to alleviate negative impacts of economic openness on some groups, industries and regions have not always worked as intended, and global rule-making has not kept up with reality. Given its many benefits, reversing economic integration is not a solution. Rather, we need to find ways to make it work for all. This report sets out what needs to be done to advance a fairer and more inclusive globalisation – at the global level, at the European level and within Germany.

La taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA, également connue sous le nom de Taxe sur les Produits et Services avec l'acronyme TPS dans certains pays de l'OCDE) est devenue une source essentielle de recettes pour les États de toutes les régions du monde. Quelque 165 pays appliquaient une TVA au moment de l'achèvement des Principes directeurs internationaux pour la TVA/TPS en 2016, soit plus de deux fois plus que 25 ans auparavant. Cette expansion de la TVA à l’échelle mondiale a coïncidé avec l’expansion rapide des échanges internationaux de biens et de services dans une économie mondialisée. Il en a résulté une interaction plus forte entre les systèmes de TVA et, en corollaire, des risques accrus de double imposition et de non-imposition involontaire en l'absence d'une coordination internationale de la TVA.Les Principes directeurs internationaux pour la TVA/TPS comprennent à présent un ensemble internationalement reconnu de normes et d'approches recommandées destinées à résoudre les problèmes issus de l'absence de coordination des systèmes de TVA nationaux dans le contexte du commerce international. Ils portent une attention particulière aux échanges de services et de biens incorporels, qui posent des défis croissants pour la conception et le fonctionnement des systèmes de TVA dans le monde. Ils comprennent notamment les principes et les mécanismes recommandés pour relever les défis de la collecte de la TVA sur le commerce international de produits numériques qui ont été identifiés par le projet OCDE/G20 sur l'érosion de la base d'imposition et le transfert des bénéfices (Base and Erosion and Profit Shifting - BEPS).Ces Principes directeurs ont été adoptés en tant que Recommandation du Conseil de l'OCDE en septembre 2016.

Solving non-routine problems is a key competence in a world full of changes, uncertainty and surprise where we strive to achieve so many ambitious goals. But the world is also full of solutions because of the extraordinary competences of humans who search for and find them. We must explore the world around us in a thoughtful way, acquire knowledge about unknown situations efficiently, and apply new and existing knowledge creatively.The Nature of Problem Solving presents the background and the main ideas behind the development of the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving, as well as results from research collaborations that originated within the group of experts who guided the development of this assessment. It illustrates the past, present and future of problem-solving research and how this research is helping educators prepare students to navigate an increasingly uncertain, volatile and ambiguous world.

The present report examines how governments use financial incentives to promote a better alignment between labour market needs, on the one hand, and the supply of skills, on the other. In doing so, it identifies: i) innovative models that countries may be interested in learning from; ii) best practice in the design and use of financial incentives; iii) framework conditions for their effective use; and iv) limitations and risks in the use of financial incentives.