The next meeting of the OECD Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct
09.11.2023
On November 7-8, 2023, the next meeting of the OECD Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) was held under the chairmanship of Kristin Kaufman. The meeting was held in a hybrid format in Paris (France). On the part of Kazakhstan, representatives of Secretariat of Kazakhstan NCP, represented by Economic Research Institute JSC, and offline representatives of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan took part. The following issues were on the agenda: • The scale of the necessary reforms in the NCP, • The importance of consultations with stakeholders during the review and reform period, • OECD recommendations on specific reforms, NCP institutional arrangements, • NCP case review procedures, promotional activities, expert assessments, OECD Secretariat Guidance Documents for NCP, • Upcoming update of NCP assessments OECD Watch . The delegates exchanged views on the efforts and activities undertaken to promote the updated Guidelines for MNEs in 2023. In addition, the draft technical opinion and the preliminary conclusions of the Working Group on RBC on the accession of Mauritius (East African countries) to the OECD Declaration and the establishment of functioning NCP were considered. Delegates were given the opportunity to discuss key trends regarding the NCP expert assessments conducted over the past few years. The secretariat provided an overview of the main findings and recommendations. It was noted that expert assessments help to improve the functioning of the NCP. In particular, the positive exchange of best practices between reviewers and peer-reviewed NCPs, as well as the monitoring of peer review practices. Delegates generally discussed the relevance of the key trends and issues highlighted by the Secretariat. Expert assessments, taking into account the national regulatory framework, contributed to the improvement of promoting activities, solving specific cases and involving stakeholders. In this case, the members of the expert review were: • Czech Republic (expert assessment group in Luxembourg, Sweden, NCP of Romania), • Slovak Republic (Expert assessment Group, Denmark, NCP of Ireland) • Latvia (expert assessment group, Germany, NCP of Lithuania), • Portugal (expert assessment group, Chile, NCP of Spain). Also, after updating the procedures for the NCP, there was discussion regarding some of the minimum functions required for the institutional mechanisms of the NCP. OECD Watch, while supporting these minimum requirements, shared suggestions on how governments and NCPs should comply with them. Engaging top management: The guidelines require the top management of the NCP to increase the attention and authority they receive from their governments. In order to ensure the trust of stakeholders, OECD Watch calls for top management to be appointed from ministries that are not only related to economic development or export promotion, but also have experience and authority regarding the consequences arising from irresponsible business conduct. For example, ministries related to human resources, law, environment, labor relations and social security. Availability of sufficient human and financial resources: The Procedures now emphasize that adequate resources are "necessary for the effectiveness and credibility of the NCP." OECD Watch emphasizes the central role of providing resources to ensure efficient and functionally equivalent NCPs. It is now expected that OECD governments will ensure these requirements in the institutional structures of their NCPs, promoting activities and specific case procedures. Availability of sufficient access to expert knowledge: The Guidelines require that NCPs have sufficient access to expertise on the issues covered by the Guidelines. These and other aspects were discussed during the meeting. In addition, the amendments to the Ministerial Declaration on RBC, introduced in February 2023, were considered. The Declaration emphasizes the need to strengthen the coordination of due diligence policies through an inclusive platform for dialogue, information exchange, capacity-building and cooperation. Strategic updates and work related to the RBC in the OECD countries were announced. The Secretariat informed the delegates about the strategic issues and projects of the OECD. The Secretariat of the Directorate of Trade and Agriculture presented the initiative of the Committee on Trade to develop four new reports: • on improving sustainability and readiness in supply chains: • environmentally sustainable supply chains; • labor risks in supply chains, • as well as the role of sustainable development initiatives and preferential trade agreements in promoting sustainable supply chains. The Secretariat of the Development Assistance Committee provided an update on recent discussions on improving policy coherence in relation to RBC and development cooperation. The delegates provided comments, including on possible further steps and their interest in strengthening this cooperation in 2024. In conclusion, the Chairman of the Working Group on RBC K. Kaufman summed up the discussion and thanked all the participants for a fruitful and informative discussion.
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