On May 31, the Kazakhstani office of the National Contact Point of the Economic Research Institute (ERI) JSC participated in the last scheduled group consultation on summarizing changes to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The consultation, chaired by Allan Jorgensen, Head of the OECD Center for Responsible Business, focused on the decision of the OECD Council and the provisions of the Guidelines on Procedures Concerning the Mandate and Authority of the NCC.

The online consultation included delegates from over 30 countries responsible for shaping and developing responsible business standards, as well as Blake Harwell, senior policy advisor to the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC), Nicolas Hachez, manager of the OECD Responsible Business NFP coordination, and Marian Ingrams, OECD Watch coordinator.

The consultation addressed a number of issues regarding changes to the OECD Guidelines on Procedure, including:

- renaming of the NCC

- NCC's mandate to promote awareness and implementation of the OECD Guidelines;

- Facilitating access to remedies when acting as judicial grievance mechanisms.

As part of the amendments to the OECD Guidelines, delegates presented their recommendations based on analytical reports.

According to Blake Harvel, 22 businesses waived the NCC mandate, of which 52 cases remained undisclosed. Therefore, the following new subsections in the OECD Guidelines were recommended to enhance the NCC mandate:

- The role performed "as appropriate and in consultation with relevant government agencies."

- An indicative list of activities to support policy development, implementation and coherence.

Delegates pointed to the need for greater clarity on what the NCC's policy coherence mandate entails, given the increasing number of responsible business policies and regulations at the national and regional levels, as well as the related needs and opportunities. 

During the discussion, three proposals to rename the NCC were considered:

- Responsible Business Organization;

- Responsible Business Office;

- National Center for Responsible Business.

The majority of votes went to the third title, «National Center for Responsible Business».

At the conclusion of the online conference, participants expressed their gratitude for the discussion during the clarification of the changes to the OECD Guidelines. In addition, Allan Jorgensen, Chairman of the OECD Center for Responsible Business, noted that some substantive and regulatory amendments will be considered at the next upcoming meeting on June 2 of this year. 

For reference: 

The NCP - is a collegial advisory body that makes decisions on appeals concerning violations of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, including issues of information disclosure, human rights, labor and industrial relations, combating bribery, bribery and extortion, environmental protection, consumer interests, science and technology, competition and taxation.

The functions of the NCC Secretariat in Kazakhstan are performed by the Economic Research Institute JSC.