OECD co-operative activities with civil society

Since its creation in 1961, the OECD has undertaken consultation and dialogue with civil society. In the early days this was primarily with the business and labour sectors. Over the last decade, the OECD has been undertaking increasingly extensive dialogue and consultations with other CSOs across a broad range of policy areas. The Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) were formally designated by the OECD Council under the 1962 Decision which continues to govern the OECD’s formal relations with non-governmental organisations. (Two agricultural professional organisations – the International Federation of Agricultural Producers and the European Confederation of Agriculture – were designated at the same time). BIAC and TUAC participate across the whole board of the OECD activities through the Labour/Management Programme informal contacts and consultations, and bureau consultations prior to committee meetings. BIAC and TUAC have annual Liaison Committee meetings with the OECD Council, as well as pre-ministerial consultations.

Other elements of civil society, notably NGOs, participate mainly in informal activities, such as consultations, conferences, seminars and workshops. There is a great diversity in the modalities and intensity of OECD co-operative activities with civil society, reflecting in large part the immense variety of the Organisation’s work. Some examples are presented below.

i) Multilateral Trading System

OECD Member countries welcomed the Doha Declaration, which launched new multilateral trade negotiations within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The OECD is redoubling its efforts to strengthen the constituency for free trade, build
bridges in sensitive areas, and facilitate negotiations, as a contribution to preparations for the 5th WTO Ministerial meeting in 2003. Dialogue with civil society constitutes a significant part of these efforts. The OECD Trade Committee holds an annual informal consultation with CSOs. Member countries and observers are encouraged to invite national CSOs to participate in the consultation, as a complement to the regular consultation mechanisms established at the national level. In addition, a number of international CSOs active in key trade policy issues are also invited. To enhance transparency, a summary of Trade Committee discussions is posted on the Internet following each meeting, as are official documents once they have been declassified.

CSOs also participate regularly in work on trade and environment, and export credits. The Export Credit Group meets with CSOs at least once a year. In 2002, this Group met with NGOs, TUAC, BIAC and some non-member economies to exchange views on issues relating to export credits and the environment. In the context of regulatory reform reviews of market openness, a wide range of CSOs, such as business associations, chambers of commerce, consumer groups, and also environmental and development groups, are consulted. CSOs are also invited to participate on an ad hoc basis in conferences, symposia and workshops.

CSO consultations have had an impact on the OECD’s work, as they have provided impetus for reviews of the environmental impact of trade liberalisation,
for addressing the development dimension of trade liberalisation and for work on bribery and officially supported export credits. The Trade Committee held its fourth annual informal consultation with CSOs on 28 October 2002, on the themes “the multilateral trading system and sustainable development” and “domestic regulation in a multilateral context”. More information is available at www.oecd.org/ech/csos/tc/.

ii)  OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
In June 2000, OECD governments and Argentina, Brazil and Chile adopted an updated version of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The
revisions to this instrument were developed in constructive dialogue with the business community, labour representatives and other CSOs, and represent
an important step in addressing public concerns over globalisation.

The decision to involve CSOs in the review along with representatives of business and labour was made at an early stage. Once negotiations began, there were CSO consultations on the occasion of every negotiating session, which involved joint participation of government, business, labour and CSOs. As they were developed, drafts of the revised Guidelines were also placed on the OECD Internet site for public comment. ANPED, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam and the World Wildlife Foundation played a particularly active role in the process. Implementation procedures for the Guidelines explicitly provide a role for CSOs which, along with business and labour, have in particular the possibility of raising instances of alleged
breaches of the Guidelines’ recommendations before relevant Guidelines follow-up institutions. Since the 2000 Review, ANPED and a range of other CSOs have been participating in Roundtables on Corporate Responsibility held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the National Contact Points (NCP) for the OECD guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. CSOs’ contributions to these Roundtables are published as part of the OECD Annual Reports on the Guidelines. In addition, the NCPs, as a group, hold consultations with CSOs back-to-back with each of their annual meetings, and throughout the year the Committee on International
Investment and Multinational Enterprises consults them on the Guidelines and other FDI matters.

CSOs, together with charitable foundations and academics, have begun to play an increasing role in promoting the OECD Guidelines. Among events to be noted: the Fredrick Ebert Foundation sponsored a Guidelines event in Santiago, Chile and
Germanwatch organised a session as part of the NGO Forum Programme in connection with its event “World Food Summit – Five Years Later” in Rome. More information is available at www.oecd.org/daf/investment/guidelines/.

iii) Corporate governance

Civil society has been actively involved in the OECD’s corporate governance activities. The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, adopted by OECD ministers in June 1999, resulted from the work of a special task force made up of
representatives from all OECD countries as well as representatives from multilateral organisations, labour, business, stakeholder and shareholder groups. In an effort to improve corporate governance in non-OECD countries, the OECD and the World Bank jointly organise regional corporate governance roundtables. These regional roundtables take place in Asia, Russia, Latin America, Eurasia and South Eastern Europe with advocate groups, investors and representatives of corporations and governments. CSOs also participate in the drafting and adoption of  recommendations for corporate governance reform in these regions. Roundtable
recommendations frequently concern the need to strengthen the roles and capacities of CSOs. More information is available at www.oecd.org/daf/corporate-affairs/.

v) Environment Policy
There is a long tradition of civil society dialogue in environment policy, as CSOs have constituted a strong environmental lobby since the 1960s-70s. The role of CSOs has been evolving progressively from one of primarily awareness-raising to a
broader role of participation in policy implementation, decision-making and monitoring activities. CSOs participate in a range of activities of the OECD Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) which holds regular consultations with CSOs as well as with BIAC and TUAC. The European Environment Bureau co-ordinates participation of environmental NGOs from across the OECD region,
either through direct participation by NGO representatives in consultations or by co-ordinating NGO input on specific issues or to EPOC papers. The representatives are from such organisations as WWF, World Resources Institute, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. In 2002, the consultations have been expanded at the request of EPOC and the stakeholder representatives, both in length (from a working lunch to a half-day session) and in participation (from the Bureau of EPOC alone to all interested EPOC delegates). Consultations between stakeholders and ministers have been held at the last few meetings of EPOC at Ministerial level.

Some specific areas where CSOs play an important role are the work of the Chemicals Committee, and the Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment.
The OECD also has a long-standing working relationship with environmental NGOs and regional environmental centres from the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union. European Eco-Forum, an NGO umbrella organisation working with
the Environment for Europe process, co-ordinates NGOs participation in this work.
Co-operation with CSOs is a two-way exchange whereby the OECD also participates actively in CSO meetings and workshops, contributing to mutual trust and a better flow of information and ideas. More information is available at
www.oecd.org/env/.

vi) Development Co-operation

CSOs have long been active in development cooperation. There is close collaboration between CSOs and development co-operation agencies, both on the funding and execution of aid programmes, and on aid policies and public education
on development. CSOs bring vast expertise to the table and help maintain support for development co-operation.

The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) itself has wide-ranging interaction with CSOs. The guidelines adopted by the DAC in 2001 on poverty reduction, sustainable development strategies, conflict prevention and trade capacity
building were all shaped by extensive consultations with civil society actors from both developed and developing countries.

Three CSOs are permanent observers in the DAC Working Party on Development Co-operation and Environment: the International Institute for Environment and Development, the World Conservation Union and the World Resource Institute. The DAC also involves NGOs as observers in the Networks on Good Governance and Capacity Development (GOVNET) and Conflict Peace and Development Co-operation (CPDC). But all other DAC bodies hold consultations and invite CSOs to participate in seminars, conferences, etc. In the preparation of the DAC peer reviews, discussions are also held with CSOs.

One feature of the OECD’s collaboration with CSOs is the Organisation’s annual contribution of data to the Reality of Aid publication, which presents an NGO view of donor assistance. In conclusion, CSOs make a very important contribution to the
work of the DAC as they are working towards the same goals and complement each other. More information is available at www.oecd.org/dac/.
CSOs are invited to participate in the annual forums with the African, Asian and Inter-American Development Banks as well as in the annual Development Partnership Forums. The OECD Development Centre has played an important role in improving the transparency of OECD-based NGOs for a number of decades and it has published directories of NGOs active in international cooperation. This work continues and an update of the previous directory into an interactive web based activity is underway in partnership with EUFORIC, a co-operative network of NGOs and other development actors.

Finally, the Development Centre has been studying the role of civil society in development co-operation for well over a decade. It has produced analysis
of civil society and government as stakeholders in development as well as the role of CSOs in raising public awareness of development and globalisation
issues in OECD countries. More information is available at www.oecd.org/dev/.

vii) Biotechnology
The OECD addresses the key policy challenges arising through advances in biotechnology and is continually devising new and meaningful ways to involve civil society in science-based dialogue to secure a more sustainable economic future.
Public and civil society interest in advances in biotechnology continues to grow and not just over the development of genetically-modified crops. International debate on availability of and access to diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases has
focused much global discussion on what biotechnology can offer society and how the rise in availability of “gene patents” might affect provision of health care, especially in poorer countries. Interest is growing too in how biotechnology might
help contribute to a more sustainable future as evidence grows that use of the technology can improve the eco-efficiency of many industrial processes. In the light of the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 and the subsequent
anthrax incidents, society is increasingly asking what their governments and the international community are doing to safeguard against biotechnology being used for terrorist attacks. The OECD has been building expertise on biotechnology
for two decades involving the active participation of civil society. G8 leaders have looked to the OECD to undertake a number of initiatives and the Organisation continues to address the issues that biotechnology raises that are of most relevance
to society. Some recent major events have been the Bangkok conference on “New Biotechnology: Science, Safety and Society”, and the conference on “Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and the Environment”, held in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Biotechnology potentially offers a great deal to those engaged in the fight against infectious diseases and in health improvement more generally. Much of the focus understandably has been on HIV-AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis but other comparatively “neglected” diseases kill more people each year around the world.
A major meeting on the challenges posed by neglected and emerging infectious diseases – including those that might be deliberately introduced by terrorists – and what biotechnology can do to help combat these was held in Lisbon in October 2002. The focus of this meeting was on how barriers to diffusion of technology can be overcome and the involvement of civil society – industry as well as NGOs – was crucial to a successful outcome. More information is available at www.oecd.org/ehs/icgb/.

viii) Food and Agriculture

The OECD Committee for Agriculture has had regular consultations with international farm organisat ions since 1962, notably the International
Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the European Confederation of Agriculture (ECA). It has also been longstanding practice to invite CSOs to
workshops and meetings that are directly relevant to their interests, and the Secretariat actively participates in various public events organised by CSOs.
The Committee for Agriculture continues to improve dialogue with CSOs representing all parts of the agro-food sector, both within and outside the OECD area. Special half-day sessions of the Committee are now dedicated to substantive discussions with senior officials from organisations representing farmers (IFAP and ECA), consumers (Consumers International), environmental interests (IUCN and WWF), industry (executives from companies associated with BIAC) and food industry workers (TUAC). More use is being made of electronic communication tools to ensure regular information flows, and bilateral contacts ensure concrete exchanges on specific issues of mutual interest. The Committee for Fisheries is introducing similar initiatives with a view to ensuring effective dialogue with relevant international CSOs. Consultations to date have contributed to improved mutual understanding on a variety of sensitive issues, particularly as regards approaches to achieve further policy reform, trade liberalisation and sustainability of the resource base. More information is available at www.oecd.org/agr/.

ix) Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)
CSOs contribute to many areas of the OECD’s work on ICTs, e-commerce, the digital economy and information society. Policy-making in this domain has long required dialogue between governments and business but since the mid-1990s,
one strength of the OECD’s role in this area has been to bring the voice of civil society into the debate, particularly with regard to regulatory frameworks.
The main areas of this involvement lie in the protection of consumers in the online marketplace and striking a balance between the rights of the individual (as a citizen, student, worker, consumer or member of a minority) and the interests of enterprises and those of governments. These are reflected, notably, in law enforcement in the domains of privacy protection and security of information systems and networks. The nature and the mechanisms of their involvement, and the organisations concerned, vary widely according to the subject and the type of work being conducted. They range from full participation in the activities of the Committee to informal contacts between Secretariats on specific projects.
Several CSOs active in the areas of privacy protection, free speech, civil liberties, etc. have participated alongside member governments and the representatives of business in expert groups preparing OECD Guidelines. The first such experience
was the negoti a t ion o f the Guidelines on Cryptography Policy (over 1996-1997) and more recently (2001-2002) the revision of the Guidelines on the Security of Information Systems and Networks. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of
11 September 2001, this work was particularly sensitive with all participants striving to ensure that the updated Guidelines struck the right balance between security, economic imperatives, privacy and the rights of citizens. As a matter of routine, Consumers International, the body representing the consumers associations
across the globe, participates in all substantive activities of the Committee on Consumer Policy – these have included the drafting of the Guidelines on Consumer Protection for Electronic Commerce in 1999 and a number of workshops and seminars.

In its work on electronic commerce and the digital economy, the OECD organises major global highlevel  conferences each year or so which are influential in shaping the overall policy framework for the information society. The OECD works closely
with a loose consortium of CSOs known as “The Public Voice” which participates in the event and sometimes organises its own conference back to back with that of the OECD. The Public Voice includes CSOs from the domains of privacy, consumer protection, trades unions, human rights and free speech and, more recently, development (bridging the “digital divide”, etc.) and is animated by EPIC (the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based non-profit
organisation). The Public Voice participated in the last conference in Dubai in 2001 and plans to do so at the next one in Honolulu in January 2003. More
information is available at www.oecd.org/dsti/sti/it/.

x) Territorial Development

The Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Directing Committee has engaged in consultations with civil society for over 10 years. These consultations take place through the LEED Partners Club, a network of nearly 100 regional and local government bodies, development agencies, NGOs and voluntary institutions and foundations. Since 2000, the Partners’ Club functions principally
through three consultative fora, which were created to channel the interests of the different organisations comprising the Club: the Forum on Cities and Regions, the Forum on Social Innovations and the Forum on Entrepreneurship. The Partners Club has been most active in complementing the Committee’s work on local issues in areas such as youth employment and selfemployment, enterprise and job creation and social cohesion at a local level, and Partners have mainly contributed through their participation in expert groups and seminars. More information is available
at www.oecd.org/tds/.

xi) Nuclear energy

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) policy of interaction/co-operation with civil society is in a developmental stage, with ad hoc contacts being established with CSOs and stakeholders as part of specific activities in the NEA programme of work. These activities concern general nuclear energy issues, radioactive waste management, radiological protection and nuclear regulation. In 2002, the NEA completed a study on “Society and nuclear energy: Towards a better understanding”, which is due to be published early in 2003. In 2003-4, a project will be undertaken to review member country experience of communication and consultation with civil society in connection with nuclear energy policy decisions.
Concerning radioactive waste management, a Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) was set up in 2000 to exchange opinions and experience across institutional and non-institutional boundaries, and to analyse lessons learnt regarding stakeholder
interaction and public participation in the field. In addition to regular meetings of the FSC, two workshops have been held in national contexts in which representation of civil society featured prominently (one in Finland in 2001 and the other in Canada in 2002). In the field of radiological protection, two important workshops have been held in relation to civil society issues in recent years. The proceedings of the workshops have been published under the titles: The Societal Aspects of Decision-Making in Complex Radiological Situations and Better Integration of Radiation Protection in Modern Society.

The results of NEA work in this area are also providing valuable input into the current review of international radiological protection regulations. NEA member countries have found that nuclear regulatory bodies, in fulfilling their responsibilities
to inform the public about their role in contributing to nuclear safety, face increasing communication needs, notably in terms of interface with the public. A Working Group on Public Communication of Nuclear Regulatory Organisations was set up in
2001. As part of its forthcoming programme of work, the Group plans to hold a workshop at the end of 2003 or the beginning of 2004 on “Building and Measuring Public Confidence in the Nuclear Regulator”.