OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention establishes legally binding standards to criminalise bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions and provides for a host of related measures that make this effective. The 30 OECD member countries and eight non-member countries - Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, the Slovenia and South Africa - have adopted this Convention (Entry into force and Status of ratification).

Text of the Convention

This booklet, available in English and French, contains the official text and commentaries of the 1997 Convention, the Revised Recommendation of the Council and the 1996 Recommendation on the Tax Deductibility of Bribes to Foreign Public Officials. Other language versions include:  > Chinese > Italian > Portuguese > Russian > Spanish

Implementing the Convention

The Convention itself establishes an open-ended, peer-driven monitoring mechanism to ensure the thorough implementation of the international obligations that countries have taken on under the Convention. This monitoring is carried out by the OECD Working Group on Bribery which is composed of members of all State Parties. The country monitoring reports contain recommendations formed from rigorous examinations of each country.

Review of OECD anti-bribery instruments

Ten years after their adoption, the Working Group on Bribery is undertaking a review of the OECD instruments on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Further reading

• More about the tax treatment of bribes