rc

Governments can do more to preserve material resources and cut waste

Advanced economies have reduced their consumption of raw materials and improved waste management, but more should be done to design and produce goods in a way that uses fewer natural resources and produces less waste, according to a new OECD report.




rc

The Debate over Circumcision - Its Effects on Penis Health and Sensation

To circumcise or not to circumcise? This has been a touchy subject in the medical community for years, with those in favor of circumcision arguing that it is necessary to prevent disease, and those who are against the procedure insisting...




rc

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Berlin on 11 March 2015

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Berlin at the invitation of Mrs. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. The Secretary-General also attended the G7 Stakeholder Conference and deliver remarks at a panel on promoting decent work worldwide through sustainable supply chains




rc

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Baden-Baden on 17-18 March 2017

The Secretary-General was in Baden-Baden on 17-18 March 2017 to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. While in Baden-Baden, he also presented the OECD Going for Growth report, hold bilateral meetings and attend the G20 High-Level Symposium: Global Economic Governance in a Multipolar World.




rc

Research Fellowships and Conference Sponsorship

The Co-operative Research Programme (CRP)'s Call for Applications for conference sponsorship and research fellowships for funding in 2019 is now CLOSED. The CRP supports work on sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forests, fisheries and food production.




rc

Germany’s strong anti-bribery enforcement against individuals needs to be matched by comparably strong enforcement against companies

Germany continues to demonstrate a high level of anti-bribery enforcement having prosecuted and sanctioned 328 individuals and 18 companies in foreign bribery cases since 1999.




rc

Human Resources Management: Country Profiles

These country notes profile public sector human resource practices and policies, covering issues including legal frameworks; age and gender composition of workers; public sector restructuring; management practices; industrial relations and reforms.




rc

OECD, ILO call on G20 labour ministers to reinforce cooperation

Joint statement by ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría on the occasion of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting, Moscow, 18-19 July 2013




rc

Switzerland needs to improve its approach to mental-health issues in the labour force, says OECD

Switzerland needs to do more to help people with mental disorders find a job or stay in work, according to a new OECD report.




rc

Canada: Sustain inclusive growth by reducing housing market risks and overcoming specific skills shortages, says OECD

Canada has experienced solid economic growth since the global crisis, allowing it to reverse recession-induced job losses and put federal public finances on a sound footing, says the OECD. Growth is expected to accelerate from 2.5% this year to 2.7% in 2015.




rc

Inequality hurts economic growth, finds OECD research

Reducing income inequality would boost economic growth, according to new OECD analysis. This work finds that countries with lower income inequality grow faster than those with higher inequality.




rc

OECD Ministers reinforce importance of investment for strong, green and inclusive growth

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.




rc

Seminar: The intangible resources for the future of Trentino - The case of language skills (Trento, Italy)

The seminar was organised by IPRASE, provincial institute for research and educational experimentation, instrumental body of the Autonomous Province of Trento, the Autonomous Province of Trento and the OECD LEED Trento Centre. The seminar represented a first public reflection on the Trentino Multilingualism Plan within a national and international comparison framework, in view of future prospects.




rc

OECD and J.P. Morgan join forces to tackle global skills mismatch

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and J.P. Morgan through its Foundation today launched a new project “Adapting to Changing Skills Needs” to fill knowledge gaps in the assessment of skill mismatches and to identify international best practice in addressing them.




rc

Harmonised Unemployment Rates (HURs), OECD - Updated: March 2017

OECD unemployment rate down to 6.1% in January 2017




rc

Supporting ageing workforce key to tackling future US economic challenges

Providing American seniors with better work incentives and opportunities will be crucial for the United States to meet the challenges of its rapidly ageing population. By 2028, more than one in five Americans will be aged 65 and over, up from fewer than one in six today, according to a new OECD report.




rc

Harmonised Unemployment Rates (HURs), OECD - Updated: March 2018

OECD unemployment rate stable at 5.5% in January 2018




rc

'Force 2': Furiously forceful

There is something inherently attractive about people who fight for their country at the risk of losing their lives. We recently saw Akshay Kumar doing it in the outstanding Neeraj Pandey actioner.




rc

Reform of Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections in OECD Countries

This report summarises the results of the survey on regulatory enforcement and inspections conducted among OECD countries in 2012. The report draws some general conclusions from this survey and provides theoretical background on the topic. It also suggests some recommendations for organising and reforming inspections.




rc

OECD Ministers reinforce importance of investment for strong, green and inclusive growth

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.




rc

Political finance needs tighter regulation and enforcement

Many economically advanced countries are failing to fully enforce regulations on political party funding and campaign donations or are leaving loopholes that can be exploited by powerful private interest groups, according to a new OECD report.




rc

Rebalancing Turkey’s growth by improving resource allocation and productivity in manufacturing

Turkey’s manufacturing sector has expanded considerably but not efficiently and competitively enough.




rc

OECD Conference on Enforcement and Inspection

Access the main conclusions and presentations of the OECD Conference on Enforcement and Inspections, held 9 November 2017 at the OECD Headquarters in Paris.




rc

A Study of International Regulatory Co-operation (IRC) arrangements for air quality - OECD Working Paper

This paper identifies the existing arrangements for air quality co-operation in North East Asia and provides guidance to advance regulatory co-operation.




rc

Serious Concerns Remain over Japan’s Enforcement of Foreign Bribery Law, Despite Some Positive Developments

The Phase 3 Report on Japan by the OECD Working Group on Bribery evaluates and makes recommendations on Japan'simplementation and application of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments.




rc

In support of its active enforcement efforts, Italy should urgently extend timeframe for prosecuting foreign bribery

The Phase 3 Report on Italy by the OECD Working Group on Bribery evaluates and makes recommendations on Italy's implementation and application of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments.




rc

UK increases enforcement of foreign bribery, but concerns remain about transparency and resources

The United Kingdom has significantly boosted its foreign bribery enforcement efforts but needs to be more transparent when resolving cases.




rc

Tax: Joining forces to fight financial crime and illicit activities

Financial crimes, including corruption, tax fraud and money laundering, are a threat to all countries, both developing and developed. The sums are vast. Estimates have put total proceeds from all illicit activities at 3.6% of global GDP.




rc

Sweden's enforcement of foreign bribery laws far too weak

More than twelve years after making foreign bribery a crime, Sweden needs to make much greater efforts to actively enforce its anti-bribery legislation, according to a new OECD report.




rc

Austria’s enforcement of foreign bribery laws far too weak, but could pick up soon says OECD

The OECD Working Group on Bribery regrets that Austria has not had a conviction of bribing foreign public officials despite a number of allegations, 13 years after ratifying the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. However, enforcement appears to be picking up, with one case being tried, two more cases soon to be tried, and four ongoing investigations.




rc

Netherlands must significantly step up its foreign bribery enforcement, says OECD

The Netherlands is failing to vigorously pursue foreign bribery allegations and must do more to enforce its foreign bribery laws. Fourteen out of 22 foreign bribery allegations have not triggered the opening of an investigation, calling into question the Netherlands’ ability and proactivity in investigating and prosecuting this crime.




rc

Portugal needs proactive enforcement to tackle severe foreign bribery risks, says OECD

Portugal’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been extremely low. Not a single prosecution has resulted from 15 allegations of Portuguese companies bribing foreign officials in high-risk countries.




rc

Belgium should address “flagrant” lack of resources for fighting foreign bribery, says OECD

Fighting foreign bribery is not a priority in Belgium. Together with the flagrant lack of resources for Belgian law enforcement authorities, this has resulted in very few foreign bribery investigations and prosecutions. In the 14 years since the entry into force of the foreign bribery offence in Belgium, only one case of bribery of foreign public officials has been concluded.




rc

Ireland must urgently apply more resources to enforce Anti-Bribery Convention, says OECD

Ireland should increase its resources to detect and investigate foreign bribery more efficiently. Resources have, in recent years, been largely devoted to investigating non-bribery cases in the financial sector. Ireland has not prosecuted a foreign bribery case in the twelve years since its foreign bribery offence came into force, and law enforcement has taken few proactive steps to investigate allegations.




rc

Lack of enforcement jeopardises South Africa’s fight against foreign bribery; OECD concerned that political and economic considerations may be an influence

South Africa must take urgent steps to proactively investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. No foreign bribery cases have been prosecuted since South Africa joined the Convention in 2007. The 4 on-going investigations – out of only 10 allegations that have surfaced to date – are also far from reaching the prosecution stage, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.




rc

Statement of OECD Working Group on Bribery on Spain’s efforts to amend its Penal Code and to enforce its foreign bribery offence

The OECD Working Group on Bribery supports Spain’s efforts to further reform its Penal Code to bring its anti-bribery law into line with its international obligations under the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.




rc

Statement of OECD on Japan’s Efforts to Increase Foreign Bribery Enforcement

Due to serious concerns about the extremely low level of enforcement of Japan’s offence of bribing foreign public officials – just three prosecutions since 1999 – the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommended in December 2013 that Japan establish an Action Plan to organise police and prosecution resources to be able to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery by Japanese companies.




rc

Brazil closes legal loophole on foreign bribery: OECD hopes this will now translate into stepped up enforcement

Brazil must build on the positive momentum started with its new Corporate Liability Law and its first indictments in one foreign bribery case to investigate and prosecute more proactively foreign bribery.




rc

OECD Working Group on Bribery report on Greece launches Friday 20 March 2015

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a review of Greece’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Friday 20 March 2015 at 11.00 CET.




rc

Anti-corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: March 2015 meetings

This meeting will focus on the third round monitoring reports under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The meeting will also include progress reports from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.




rc

Ukraine must enforce its new anti-corruption strategy and legislation

Widespread corruption was one of the main reasons that led to the change of the political regime in Ukraine in 2014. The new administration pledged to fight corruption, a challenging task in the current context of the economic crisis and military conflict in the East of the country.




rc

OECD encouraged by Israel’s recent investigative activity, but remains seriously concerned with overall efforts to enforce foreign bribery laws

Israel is not sufficiently proactive in detecting and investigating foreign bribery, with no prosecutions over the past 7 years, despite 14 allegations of foreign bribery involving Israeli individuals or companies. The OECD Working Group on Bribery is, however, encouraged by the recently-opened investigations, and will pay close attention to how these evolve.




rc

Latvia’s fight against foreign bribery overshadowed by enforcement weaknesses

Latvia has improved its laws since acceding to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2014. Yet serious personnel issues until recently as well as negative government commentary concerning KNAB, Latvia’s anti-corruption law enforcement agency, have cast doubts over its capacity to enforce those laws.




rc

Uzbekistan must enforce anti-corruption laws and strengthen public sector integrity

Uzbekistan has adopted its first anti-corruption action plan and established an anti-corruption coordination commission. Nevertheless corruption is widespread in Uzbekistan and remains a key obstacle for business.




rc

OECD Anti-Bribery Ministerial Meeting, 16 March 2016 - Open to media from 9:45 AM to 12:45 PM, Live webcast

Bribery in international business undermines good governance and economic development, perpetuates poverty and distorts international competition.




rc

OECD and IBA join forces to develop practice guidance to equip lawyers in fight against corruption

Following on from the London Anti-Corruption Summit which took place in May 2016, the OECD and the International Bar Association (IBA) have agreed to form a task force to develop professional conduct standards and practice guidance for lawyers involved in establishing and advising on international commercial structures and recommended actions for governments.




rc

Overcoming international co-operation challenges in corruption cases: Perspectives from the April 2016 Beijing Workshop

The paper summarises views expressed by practitioners at a workshop in Beijing on 13-14 April 2016 with respect to contemporary challenges in international co-operation in corruption cases and possible solutions to mitigate these challenges. It has a practical orientation and is intended to contribute to ongoing dialogue at national and multilateral levels on enhancing international co-operation.




rc

OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum 30-31 March 2017, OECD Conference Centre

Corruption and abuse of public office are a blight on democracies and a drain on public finances. With trust in government flagging in many countries and voter disillusionment on the rise, raising standards of integrity is more important than ever.




rc

OECD Working Group on Bribery reports on Finland and the United Kingdom launch Thursday, 23 March 2017

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release reviews of Finland and the UK’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Thursday 23 March 2017 at 11.00 CET/10.00 GMT.




rc

OECD Working Group on Bribery report on Argentina launches Friday, 24 March 2017

The OECD Working Group on Bribery will release a review of Argentina’s efforts to fight foreign bribery on Friday, 24 March 2017 at 11.00 CET/07.00 Buenos Aires time.