Recommendation of the Council for OECD Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (2021 Anti-Bribery Recommendation)

The revised Recommendation of the Council for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (“2021 Anti-Bribery Recommendation”) seeks to address challenges, good practices and cross-cutting issues that have emerged in the global anti-corruption landscape since 2009. It updates the 2009 revised Recommendation, which in turn updated the 1997 Revised Recommendation of the Council on Bribery in International Business Transactions.

The 2021 Anti-Bribery Recommendation was adopted on 26 November 2021 on the proposal of the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions.

Among the new sections and recommended practices that have been added are three endorsements of anti-corruption Collective Action, including recommendations that member countries consider using Collective Action approaches to:

• support awareness-raising in the private sector (IV.ii)
• address the demand side of bribery (IX.iv)

The document also recommends that business organisations and professional associations consider “promoting Collective Action” where appropriate, as part of providing advice on resisting exhortation and solicitation (B.4).

Citation: OECD, Recommendation of the Council for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, OECD/LEGAL/0378.