UNITED NATIONS: U.S. Seeks U.N. Declaration Against Bribery

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 23 1996 (IPS) - The United States is seeking a U.N. declaration that would commit the 185 members of the world body to outlaw bribery and corruption in international business deals.

“Bribery distorts markets and hinders economic development,” says Ambassador Victor Marrero, a senior diplomat with the U.S. delegation.

The United States proposes criminal penalties for bribery and also seeks a prohibition against tax-deductible bribes paid to foreign public officials. Marrero told delegates that the proposed declaration was part of his country’s initiative to combat the practice of commercial bribery the world over.

“Bribes undermine democratic accountability,” he said, pointing out that a U.N. declaration should help encourage member- states to deal with such unethical practices.

The eight articles in the proposed declaration include a call for transparent accounting standards and practices as well as codes of conduct prohibiting bribery and the soliciting of bribes.

The declaration also seeks accurate records of payments for transnational commercial activities and urges multilateral cooperation on criminal investigations relating to bribery.

In April, the 26-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), under intense U.S. pressure, took steps to restrict the practice of bribery in international business dealings.

The Paris-based club of industrial nations committed its members to rewriting existing tax rules that have long encouraged bribery of foreign officials. The new rules would make payoffs ineligible for tax deductions.

“This is a sea change, a very important step in breaking the international chain of corruption,” said David Aaron, the U.S. representative at OECD. “It takes governments out of the business of subsidising corruption by giving tax breaks for bribery.”

The United States is perhaps the only major Western nation that bars companies from paying bribes to foreign officials. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 designates this activity a crime.

The current U.S. move to delegitimise bribery around the world is interpreted here as an attempt to remove the “unfair” advantage most Western nations have over the United States in international business deals.

“Last year, from April 1994 to May 1995, the U.S. government learned of almost 100 cases in which foreign bribes undercut U.S. firms’ ability to win contracts valued at 45 million dollars,” U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said recently.

Washington, he said, wants “to level the playing field and make the rules fair by eliminating this pernicious practice.”

In March, Washington also succeeded in its campaign to establish an Inter-American Convention against Corruption. The Convention was set up by the Organisation of American States (OAS) and comprises mostly of Latin American countries.

Washington has said it plans to put the issue of bribery and corruption on the agenda of a major ministerial meeting of the newly established World Trade Organisation WTO) in Singapore in December.

Enrique Tejera-Paris of Venezuela, the country that co- sponsored the U.S. resolution, says corruption is a threat that requires a collective response.

The Inter-American Convention against Corruption has been “a major accomplishment,” he said. “Venezuela cannot overlook the problem, because it has a tradition to actively pursue and punish those responsible for corruption and those involved in ill-gotten gains.”

Norma Dumont of Argentina says her country has been involved in a longstanding battle against corruption.

“That issue is one of the most disturbing challenges facing the international community, as corruption goes beyond national borders and does not distinguish between North and South,” she added.

The U.N. Crime Congress in Cairo refuted the argument last year that corruption occurs mostly in developing nations.

“Corruption is not limited to Third World countries but often has its roots in the entrepreneurial practices in liberal democracies,” Antonio di Pietro, an Italian magistrate argued. “Corruption is like a coin,” he said, “It has two sides: one side is the corruptor and the other the corrupted.”

He questioned how it was that — far from being prosecuted — entrepreneurs from industrialised countries who handed over bribes to civil servants abroad are actually used by their governments.

Since the price of corruption comes out of the pockets of consumer, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that bribery distorts the role of government and is costly to society.

“Governments can minimise the opportunities for individuals to engage in corruption by reducing the role of the state in the economy,” argues the IMF.

Despite U.S. moves for a U.N. declaration against bribery, Washington has ironically opposed a proposal to create a U.N. convention against money laundering.

Washington also shot down a proposal last year for a U.N. summit to combat the illicit production and sale of narcotic drugs.