The Participants to the Export Credit Arrangement

The Participants are the "owners" of the Arrangement on Guidelines for Officially Supported Export Credits. The Participants effectively came into being with agreement of the Arrangement in 1978.

The status of the Arrangement has always been one of "useful ambiguity". Although widely known as the "OECD Arrangement" and in spite of the fact that it is serviced by the OECD Secretariat, the Arrangement is not an OECD act. It is, rather, a "Gentleman's Agreement" between certain countries which are all Members of the OECD.

In this context, the status of the Participants is similar to that of the Arrangement; it is not an OECD body, yet it meets under the auspices of the OECD and with support from the OECD Secretariat. Although the Participants do not report to the OECD Council, the Council provides the budget for the activities relating to the maintenance and further development of the Arrangement. The Participants do, however, report to OECD Ministers who in turn provide instructions and guidance as necessary.

In effect, the Participants negotiate and implement rules (the Arrangement) in support of their policy objectives related to officially supported export credits. First and foremost, this means encouraging competition for export sales based on the price and quality of the goods and/or services being exported rather than the cost of official export credit financing.

GUIDELINES FOR USE IN CONSIDERATION OF REQUESTS FOR OBSERVERSHIP TO THE PARTICIPANTS

Meetings of the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits