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There are two main categories of legal instruments associated with the OECD -- those that concern the administration of the Organisation and those that result from its substantive work.
The principal texts governing the Organisation are the 1960 Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and its associated Protocols. Other texts relating to the functioning of the OECD are the Rules of Procedure and the Financial Rules
The Convention on the OECD
The OECD was established on 14 December 1960 when the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which had been formed in 1948 to administer aid under the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II, was reconstituted as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in order to "strengthen the tradition of co-operation and apply it to new tasks and broader objectives". Thirty countries are now Parties to the Convention, the twenty "founder" Members and a further ten who have subsequently become Members. Some countries have made "Declarations" concerning principally the territorial application of the OECD Convention.
Associated Protocols
Supplementary Protocol No. 1 to the Convention on the OECD concerns participation by the European Community in the work of the Organisation.
Privileges and Immunites (P&I)
Supplementary Protocol No. 2 to the Convention on the OECD (14 December 1960) sets out the Privileges and Immunities enjoyed by the Organisation, including those provided for in Supplementary Protocol No. 1 to the Convention for European Economic Co-operation on the Legal Capacity, Privileges and Immunities of the Organisation (16 April 1948). The Organisation has entered into bilateral P&I Agreements with all countries that have become Members since 1960 and also with a number of non-member countries.
The "OECD Acts"
In addition to the above, the Organisation's governing body, the Council, has the power to adopt legal instruments, usually referred to as "the OECD Acts".
The Convention states that "in order to achieve its aims, the Organisation may: (a) take decisions which, except, as otherwise provided, shall be binding on all Members; and (b) make recommendations to Members".
Decisions are legally binding on all those Member countries which do not abstain at the time they are adopted. While they are not international treaties, they do entail the same kind of legal obligations as those subscribed to under international treaties. Members are obliged to implement Decisions and they must take the measures necessary for such implementation.
Recommendations are not legally binding, but practice accords them great moral force as representing the political will of Member countries and there is an expectation that Member countries will do their utmost to fully implement a Recommendation. Thus, Member countries which do not intend to do so usually abstain when a Recommendation is adopted, although this is not required in legal terms.
Other legal instruments are also developed within the framework of the Organisation.
Declarations: solemn texts setting out relatively precise policy commitments are subscribed to by the governments of Member countries. They are not formal Acts of the Organisation and are not intended to be legally binding, but they are noted by the OECD Council and their application is generally monitored by the responsible OECD body.
Arrangements and Understandings: instruments, negotiated and adopted in the framework of the Organisation by some Member countries. They are not Acts of the Organisation and are not legally binding, but they are noted by the OECD Council and their implementation is monitored.
International Agreements: concluded in the framework of the Organisation, they are legally binding on the Parties.
All OECD Decisions, Recommendations and Other Instruments in Force are available in our Database.
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