OECD

The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was created after World War II to manage American and Canadian aid for Europe's reconstruction. In 1961, the OEEC became the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Its 32 member states produce two thirds of the world's goods and services and have a common commitment to democracy and market economy. The OECD covers economic and social issues including macroeconomics, trade, development, education and science and innovation.

OECD Member Countries

The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Guidelines are supported by all 32 of the OECD Member countries and ten non-Member adhering countries (Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Peru, and Romania).

What is the OECD Investment Committee?

The OECD Investment Committee is responsible for the OECD liberalisation instruments in the field of international investment and services. It interprets and implements the 1976 Declaration and Decisions on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises and is the guardian of the Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and Current Invisible Operations.

The Committee: 1) promotes the liberalisation of policies towards international capital movements, international direct investment and multinational enterprises (MNEs), and trade in services; 2) fosters international co-operation in these fields and 3) promotes better understanding of the policy issues at stake. In pursuit of these goals, the Committee:

provides a forum for discussion of current issues among policy makers and administrators from Member countries and participating non-Member countries. Views are also exchanged with business, labour, non-member countries and other groups through consultation procedures, roundtables and conferences;
monitors the observance of the "rules of the game" set out in the OECD Codes of Liberalisation and the Declaration and Decisions on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises and provide a forum for dispute resolution under these instruments; and prepare, when necessary, statements of "clarifications" or interpretation of the rules of the game for which they are responsible, including the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
conducts country-by-country or horizontal "peer reviews" of policies relating to the instruments and make recommendations to promote liberalisation;
assesses whether candidates for OECD Membership are willing and able to meet the obligations of the OECD instruments;
develops new rules of the game where necessary and appropriate;
prepares critical analysis of trends in investment flows and a wide range of policy issues for consideration by policymakers, and where appropriate for publication to a wider audience.

Members of the Committee are delegates from OECD member countries. Argentina, Brazil and Chile participate in Investment Committee meetings as Observers. As signatories to the OECD Declaration and Decisions on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia participate in Committee meetings relating to the Declaration and Decisions.

The Investment Committee was formed in April 2004 following the merger of the Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (CIME) and the Committee on Capital Movements and Invisible Transactions (CMIT)
Further information about the Committee, including the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship(s); membership, observers or other participants; date of creation, duration and mandate, can be found in the Directory of Bodies under Financial and Enterprise Affairs.

The Investment Committee and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

The institutional set-up of the Guidelines consists of three elements: the National Contact Points (NCPs), the OECD Investment Committee and the advisory committees of business and labour, Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) and Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC).

The Investment Committee, which consists of governmental representatives of the OECD member states, assists NCPs in carrying out their activities and makes recommendations on how they can improve their performance. If there is a dispute about the applicability of the Guidelines, the Investment Committee may be asked to consider an amendment to the text or a clarification of a particular clause. This clarification can only be sought by member countries, TUAC or BIAC and not by NGOs.

The Investment Committee is not a tripartite review committee. BIAC and TUAC have a mere consultative function. The Investment Committee cannot pronounce itself on the question whether a particular company has or has not respected the Guidelines in any given case which weakens the corrective function of the supervisory mechanism of the Guidelines. In the case of non-observance no sanction can be imposed upon a member country or company. Relatively few requests have been brought before the Investment Committee for clarification. Between 1976 and 2002, thirty cases were submitted. Besides the clarification task, the Investment Committee conduct periodic reviews of the experiences with the provisions of the Guidelines.

OECD website

OECD Guidelines website

OECD Investment Committee website