U4 Helpdesk Query

U4 helpdesk reply

Through your question and the attached brief you solicit good examples/best practices for:

• Introducing a transparency component by PoDE, directly related to enterprise development (including developing internal and external codes to counter bribery);
• Introducing a simple transparency "certification" of i) enterprises and ii) selected government agencies (initially limited to the enterprises attending a course and signing a statement not to involve in corruption). Certification could include full acceptance of "transparency audits", obligation to report pressure by officials on report cards, clear statement of applicable rules/information disclosure. Later, it could entail rewarding the participating agencies and penalties/exclusion for non-compliance.

Here is an overview of resources we found to be relevant to your query:

I. "Transparency Certification" of the Private Sector (Enterprises)

I.1. Transparency International's Initiatives
Initiatives undertaken by TI that can be considered either similar or relevant to the suggested idea of "transparency certification" by PoDE include:

A. TI Business Principles
Transparency International and Social Accountability International have facilitated the initiative for the Business Principles for Countering Bribery. These were developed in a partnership project undertaken with a Steering Committee drawn from companies, academia, trade unions and other non-governmental bodies.

The Business Principles have been designed for use by large, medium and small enterprises. They apply to bribery of public officials and to private-to-private transactions. The purpose of the document is to provide practical guidance for countering bribery, creating a level playing field and providing a long-term business advantage.

For the first time, there is a practical tool to which companies can look for a comprehensive reference to good practice to counter bribery. It is hoped that the Business Principles will become an essential tool for businesses and encouraged that companies consider using them as a starting point for developing their own anti-bribery systems or as a benchmark.

The Business Principles have been pitched at a good practice level to attract the widest possible acceptance. The Business Principles reflect the views of the Steering Committee and do not necessarily reflect the policies of its individual members on particular topics. As a "living document", the Business Principles are expected to evolve over time to reflect changes in anti-bribery practice as well as the lessons learned from their use and application by business.

It is hoped that companies will find the Business Principles to be of value and that those using them will contribute to their further development.

B. TI Colombia's Business Ethics Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises
The specific objectives of the project are:

• To promote a more ethical approach to business as a management tool.
• To build mechanisms to promote organisational excellence and to improve
  corporate ethics.
• To discourage corrupt practices at private SMEs.
• To improve relations between private enterprises and the interest groups
  they work with in order to raise productivity and enhance the overall business
  environment in Colombia.
• To raise the awareness of business people about ethical practices in management.
• To encourage business to make concrete commitments to social responsibility
  and the development of better ethical practices.
• To promote the consideration of ethical principles in corporate decision-making.
• To develop management models for implementing more ethical practices.

See full description of the project, including its aim, objectives, implementation stages, results and recommendations along with contact details.

C. TI Integrity Pacts
The Integrity Pact is a tool developed by Transparency International to help governments, businesses and civil society fight and/or prevent corruption in the field of public contracting.

At its core, the Integrity Pact is a binding agreement between the procurement agency and all bidders to refrain from corruption at all stages of the procurement process. It establishes contractual rights and obligations, and thus eliminates uncertainties as to the quality, applicability and enforcement of criminal and contractual legal provisions in a given country. The concept can be applied anywhere in the world.

This pact is expected to extend to the execution stage of the contract. In case of violation of any of the principles set out in the agreement, bidders face a set of sanctions, including loss of contract.

The Integrity Pact has already been successfully implemented in several countries and a variety of projects. Click here for more information on the concept, including an overview of its applications up to December 2002.

I.2. Government Initiatives
An example of government initiatives aimed at regulating the transparency of companies using certification and declaration methods includes Ontario Securities Commission's recent announcement to introduce initiatives improving the transparency and disclosure practices in companies. In October 2002, Finance Minister Ecker introduced legislation that would provide the OSC with the rule-making authority necessary to mandate certifications of CEOs and CFOs (declaring that adequate level of financial disclosure in the company was met). Adequate measures are also suggesting for regulating compliance with accounting and auditing standards, etc.

I.3. Non-governmental Initiatives
IMNC - Mexican Institute for Standardisation and Certification is involved in exercises of certification of business integrity management as part of QMS. IMNC is an organisation dedicated to promoting an integral culture upon quality, environment, occupational health, safety and conformity assessment systems and the application of ethical values, integrity and transparency. (E-mail: direccion@imnc.org.mx)

IMNC's integrity vision is to:

• increase the public and private institutions confidence through the application of business management upon QMS.
• help diminish corruption in public institutions and private organisations
• improve the integrity transparency among organisations and interested parties
• promote social accountability

I.4. Other initiatives: by the Private Sector (companies themselves)
A collection of codes of conduct, ethics and business practice guidelines regulating private sector actors (enterprises, multinationals, etc.) and aimed at increasing their transparency and accountability can be found at TI's good practices database.

The collection contains full electronic texts and brief synopsises of over 15 codes. It includes both codes adopted by the companies themselves and standards issued by international organisations (EBRD, OECD, ICC, etc.) as guidelines for the companies.

In addition, TI's Source Book has a chapter on The Private Corporate Sector, where issues of transparency of the corporate sector are discussed. The chapter also looks at the effectiveness of codes of conduct for the private sector and suggests some indicators concerning the effectiveness of the private sector as an integrity pillar.

II. "Transparency Certification" of Government Agencies

When considering the scope of such certification, in particular what kind of a "statement of transparency" or "code of transparent, ethical conduct" should the agencies commit to as part of their certification, the following resources can be consulted as possible models.

II.1. Codes of Conduct and Good Practices
TI's "good practices" database (http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/bp) contains codes and standards regulating the conduct of the public sector (civil servants, employees of government agencies) aimed at increasing their ethics and transparency level, such as UK's Standard of Best Practice for Openness (in government agencies). It contains over 20 similar codes from different countries. Full electronic texts can be found at the following link:
http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/Wtiban/bpvodocs.cgi

In addition, TI's Source Book has a chapter on Public Service Ethics and Integrity Testing. Its Chapter on "Public Procurement: Where the Public and Private Sectors Do Business" can also be of relevance.

II.2. Measuring Transparency (in government)
You may also be interested in a tool developed by the Freedom of Information Citizen Center in Japan to measure Transparency in Government Agencies (particularly, Municipal and Central Government). The project objectives are:

• to increase the level of transparency in municipal and central government;
• to publish credible benchmarks on key 'access to information' indicators on a regular basis to influence public policy on the issue of transparency in government. See TI's toolkit, page 10.
  

Another measurement tool example is IMF's Fiscal Transparency Tool. Anyone can use the fiscal transparency framework developed by the IMF to conduct assessments of public sector financial transparency and accountability in any particular country. There is in fact already an example of the Code being used by NGOs. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), in conjunction with the Washington DC-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), has produced a detailed and high quality assessment of the transparency of South Africa's fiscal management practices. A relevant reading on this is a 9th IACC paper by Murray Petrie, Chief Executive, Transparency International (New Zealand), consultant to the IMF on fiscal transparency: "The IMF Fiscal Transparency Code: A Potentially Powerful New Anti-Corruption Tool".

II.3. The "Report Cards" System
With relevance to your suggestion of including obligation to report pressures by officials on report cards (in your attached project brief), the following resources can be consulted:

• An initiative by the Public Affairs Centre in Bangalore, India on Report Cards as an Aid to Public Accountability.
• An initiative by TI Bangladesh on "Report Card Survey".