18 novembre 2008: 11ème consultation annuelle entre les comités des crédits à l'exportation de l'OCDE

En cours de traduction.

1. Representatives from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) met in the OECD on 18 November 2008 with the OECD’s Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees (ECG) and the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits to exchange views on export credit issues; the meeting was chaired by Mr. Kohei OKADA (Japan, a Vice-Chairman of the two committees).
   
   
2. The CSOs included representatives from the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, the Coalition for Employment through Exports Inc. of the United States, the European Banking Federation, the Small Business Exporters Association of the United States, Transparency International and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. The non governmental organisations, represented by ECA Watch, had been invited to attend the consultation but declined and held a demonstration outside the meeting venue.
   
   
3. The OECD Secretariat presented the export credit work in progress, encompassing the issues of buyer risk premium, the rules of the Sector Understandings on Ships, Nuclear Power Plants and Renewable Energies/Water (annexed to Arrangement), monitoring of the OECD Recommendations on bribery and on the environment , and outreach to non-OECD countries.
   
   
4. The practical implementation of the Recommendation on the environment and the use of certain standards and the screening/reviewing of associated operations were discussed. The report by Professor John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, in the context of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) was referenced, as well as the issue of due diligence screening to ensure compliance of supply chains with labour and other standards. With regard to the OECD Recommendation on bribery, the raised issues included revisiting the definition of credible evidence and introducing whistleblower projection provisions.
   
   
5. The global financial crisis was a main issue of interest. CSOs agreed that there was a lack of cross border finance and that this was damaging to international trade flows. Members acknowledged that official export credit agencies had a role to play in counterbalancing instability in international trade as part of governments’ response to the crisis. In this connection, on 24 November 2008, OECD countries and Brazil, Estonia, Israel, Romania, the Russian Federation and Slovenia issued a statement pledging continued export credit support for international trade deals in line with a call by G20 leaders for emerging and developing economies to retain access to financing for imports in the present financial crisis.
   
   
6. The Chairman thanked all the CSOs for their active participation in a fruitful and interactive consultation meeting and confirmed that the Secretariat would maintain contact with all the CSOs; the next consultation meeting was scheduled for November 2009.

Xcred Secretariat,

November 2008