This note examines the Integrity Pact (IP) methodology proposed by Transparency International to confront the problem of corruption in public procurement.
This 2016 OECD study covers:
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: A HIGH-RISK AREA FOR CORRUPTION
HOW TO ENHANCE INTEGRITY AND CURB CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
A PhD thesis by Mike Balthazar Beke looking at understanding the effect of the Integrity Pact as an anticorruption collective action tool for public procurement through the EU funds and the role of civil society organisations, businesses and contracting authorities in preventing corruption through collective action.
Notes for rapporteurs from a workshop on Thursday 16 November 2006 at the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC).
Public procurement is one of the highest risk areas for corruption. A public project contaminated with corruption is a recipe for disaster: ordinary citizens suffer from substandard facilities and services; competitive companies lose out when the bidding is rigged; and government money vanishes without making a difference. To rein in procurement corruption in, improving transparency and civic monitoring is vital.
Corruption in government procurement is a massive problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. In an ideal world, measures to combat procurement corruption would include structural changes that would open up monopolies, break cartels, and enact rational, uniform, and effective procurement laws. Sadly, the potential effectiveness of these measures is matched only by the near impossibility of their implementation any time soon. We should continue to push for comprehensive structural solutions to the procurement mess, of course.
Quality infrastructure supports sustainable growth, improves well-being and generates jobs. Recognising this, quality infrastructure is both an explicit goal and enabler of the 2030 sustainable development agenda.
Mark Pieth, Founder of the Basel Institute on Governance and author of the book Gold Laundering, offers an insight into the risks of human rights and environmental harms in gold supply chains. Where are the risks and responsibilities?
Collective Action with gold refiners, suppliers and other stakeholders, he concludes, can help to clean up the industry.
The member countries of the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific attach high priority to the fight against corruption in public procurement. In July 2004, member countries of the Initiative decided to dedicate the Initiative’s first thematic review to curbing corruption in public procurement.
In March 2017, the World Customs Organization (WCO) formally adopted Collective Action as an innovative approach to enhance integrity and combat corruption in Customs administrations – a development that we welcomed and supported.