The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are an annex to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. They are recommendations providing principles and standards for responsible business conduct for multinational corporations operating in or from countries adhered to the Declaration. The Guidelines are legally nonbinding. Originally, the Declaration and the Guidelines were adopted by the OECD in 1976. They were revised in 1979, 1982, 1984, 1991, 2000 and 2011.
Contents
Basic elements
The Guidelines cover business ethics on:
National Contact Points
According to the OECD Council decision each adhering country has to set up a National Contact Point, an entity responsible for the promotion of the Guidelines on a national level. It handles all enquiries and matters related to the Guidelines in that specific country, including investigating complaints about a company operating in, or headquartered in that country. Some are based in a relevant government department; some are independent structures comprising government officials, trade unions, employers unions and sometimes non-governmental organisations.
OECD Investment Committee
OECD Investment Committee is the OECD body responsible for overseeing the functioning of the Guidelines and implementation of all OECD investment instruments. The Committee consists member states' senior officials from treasuries, economics, trade and industry, and foreign affairs ministries and central banks. All OECD member states are members of the Investment Committee. Argentina and Brazil are observers while Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia participate in the work of the Committee on issues related to the Guidelines.