Many governments provide export credit services to help their domestic exporters secure contracts to sell goods and/or services overseas. An export credit is an insurance, guarantee or financing arrangement that allows a foreign buyer/borrower of exported goods and/or services to defer payment over a period of time.

While many private sector financial institutions provide export credit services to help exporters, governments sometimes need to step in with official support to complement the market, for example, when the size of the export transaction or the risks involved go beyond private-sector capacities. Government-provided official support can take the form either of “official financing support”, such as direct credits, refinancing or interest-rate support, or of “pure cover support”, such as export credits insurance or guarantees.

OECD governments have agreed that they should not support export transactions tainted by bribery. As a result, they have adopted a Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits, containing recommendations of appropriate measures for deterring and detecting bribery in export transactions benefitting from officially supported export credits.

Priority checklist

Based on the key provisions of the Recommendation, this guidance addresses questions to policy makers looking to deter and detect bribery in international business transactions benefitting from official export credit support.

1. Are exporters and/or applicants for officially supported export credits informed about the legal consequences of bribery under national legislation and are they encouraged to develop, apply and document appropriate management control systems that combat bribery?

2. Are exporters and/or applicants required to provide an undertaking or declaration that neither they, nor anyone acting on their behalf in connection with the export transaction, have been engaged or will engage in bribery?

3. Are Export Credit Agencies required to verify whether exporters and/or applicants are on the debarment lists of international financial institutions? If so, are Export Credit Agencies required to undertake enhanced due diligence?

4. Are exporters and/or applicants for officially supported export credits required to disclose if they, or anyone acting on their behalf in connection with the export transaction, are currently under charge in a national court, or have been convicted or subject to equivalent national administrative measures for violation of anti-bribery laws in the five year period preceding the application? If so, do Export Credit Agencies undertake enhanced due diligence, such as verifying whether appropriate internal corrective and preventive measures have been taken, maintained and documented?

5. Are exporters and/or applicants required to disclose, upon demand, the identity of persons acting on their behalf in connection with the export transaction, and the amount and purpose of commissions and fees paid, or agreed to be paid, to such persons?

6. Are Export Credit Agencies required to undertake enhanced due diligence when appropriate, whenever there are reasons to believe that bribery may be involved in the export transaction?

 Download the Full text of the guidance  (pdf, 660KB)

INSTRUMENTS AND STANDARDS

OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

OECD Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits

TOOLS, GUIDANCE, MANUALS

Action Statements on Bribery and Export Credits

REVIEWS, CASE STUDIES

Responses to the Survey on Measures Taken to Combat Bribery in Officially Supported Export Credits