Building sectoral anti-corruption agreements among competitors can be a significant challenge in Collective Action. Sectoral agreements, or sectoral pacts, aim to create conditions of fair and transparent markets through discouraging certain practices of corruption by defining clear rules among competitors.

For businesses, sectoral agreements can be more effective than working in isolation, as many companies may fear being excluded from markets of interest for daring to announce having been subject to bribe solicitation in a procurement process, for example.

There are several motivating factors for companies to look for alternatives to combat corruption from a collective approach with its competitors, including creating confidence in the market, encouraging competition on the basis of quality and price as opposed to corruption, fostering greater respect among fellow competitors, or improving the company’s own position in the sector.

In general, this type of cooperation requires firms to freely choose to participate and to engage in self-regulation. The content and scope of these agreements is defined based on the relationships within and characteristics of each business sector. For their effectiveness, the commitments made in the agreement must be feasible and should meet specific and clearly related corruption risks within the sector.

Building trust between competing companies is a slow process that demands persistence and clarity of purpose.  It requires a sustained process of cooperation among stakeholders to increase the impact and credibility of individual action and individual players bring a collective alliance with similar interests to level the playing field.

Pacts or agreements of this nature however do not end with the signing of the respective agreement. On the contrary, it is at this point that the Collective Action begins to face real challenges towards achieving its effectiveness. In facilitating a collaborative process and sustained cooperation among stakeholders that is consistent with the purpose of an anti-corruption pact between competitors in the same business sector, its particular objectives and strategies, it must aim far beyond the simple act of sharing best practices regarding corporate anti-corruption compliance programs. The commitments under these agreements, to really provide helpful and effective tools to fight corruption, should promote and secure for its adherents the following:

• The creation of a dynamic of ethical management, adapted to the reality of the sector from which integrity risks have been identified;
• The identification of effective controls to mitigate identified risks and increase the impact and credibility of individual action;
• The creation of a neutral and independent  body responsible for ensuring compliance with its commitments under the Agreement;
• The levelling of the playing field between competitors  on the basis of a fair and transparent market, by defining clear rules;
• Preservation and prioritisation of actions contributing to trust-building between the participatory companies;
• The creation of measurement indicators to assess the achievement of concrete results achieved with the anti-corruption agreement;
• Generating specialised knowledge in relation to the conditions necessary in a business sector that promote transparency and fair competition:
  1. Knowledge about risks and controls existing and required in cases, inquiries and complaints, the subject of study and research compliance instance created to enforce the Agreement.
  2. Formulation of recommendations to regulatory authorities to promote traceability on investment decisions in public-private relationships that involve the business sector leading the respective anti-corruption pact or sector agreement.

Among the key success factors for achieving the desired results from this type of Collective Action initiative, it is important to:

1. define an annual work plan;
2. maintain a collaborative work setting, with a working group composed of representatives of the companies, for an agreement of this kind can only take effect if it is the outcome of ongoing discussions and revisions among all involved parties;
3. investment of resources to address the work plan and ensure the functioning of the group to ensure compliance with the Agreement;
4. accompaniment of an expert third party to facilitate the initiative’s construction and implementation;
5. defining a review and  monitoring scheme to verify the degree of compliance with the commitments made to the Agreement and the results obtained.