ECA Watch leaves OECD consultation meeting in protest over lack of substantive dialogue

On November 5 2007, ECA Watch walked out of an OECD Export Credit Working Party (ECG) "consultation" with civil society organizations (CSOs).

NGO representatives from 12 OECD member countries expressed regret regarding their decision to walk out, given the lack of substantive comment on policy proposals made by ECA Watch over the past decade, including during the November 5 meeting. In a letter to the ECG Chair, ECA Watch members reiterated their willingness to participate in constructive dialogue to improve the environmental and social policies of OECD export credit agencies (ECAs)

ECA Watch presented a 6 page memorandum on ECA-supported projects and policies that highlights a number of problems identified during a decade of project monitoring problems which include: ineffective peer review of OECD ECA policies and projects; lack of a credible consultation process with CSOs and communities affected by ECA supported projects; incoherence of ECA policies and practices with those of other OECD Directorates in the areas of bribery, sustainable development and debt; lack of respect for the OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and monitoring and compliance issues with the OECD facilitated ECA Arrangement and WTO requirements on "break-even", i.e. that ECA interest rates and insurance premiums should cover costs in the long run and not provide taxpayer subsidies to exporting corporations.

Following the meeting, ECA Watch members have met with and contacted a number of OECD member Ministries, Embassies and other OECD Secretariat officials to discuss their concerns regarding the failure of many ECAs to follow OECD policies. We have received a number of positive responses to our concerns.

ECA Watch has shared 4 key issues of concern with other parties:

1. Members of the ECG show a lack of coherence with OECD policies and objectives, particularly relating to transparency, bribery, environment and development concerns.
2. Many ECAs seem to be unable to balance various public interests against the private interests of their corporate clients. We recommend that the ECG apply, on a regular basis, transparent peer review procedures (country examinations), similar to those carried out by other OECD committees.
3. The ECG and its members must substantially increase the transparency of their operations and procedures, possibly through consultations not only in plenary sessions, but more frequently in the framework of working groups dealing with specific sectoral/thematic issues;
4. Meaningful dialogue requires two-way communication and ECA Watch greatly regrets that the ECG and its members have never responded in a substantive manner to many of our recommendations and suggestions.

ECA Watch left the consultation meeting hosted by the ECG, not because the ECG has not adopted our positions, but rather, because we do not receive substantive responses to the issues that we raise in our efforts to ensure ECA compliance with stated commitments and international best practices.

In its reply to the ECA Watch letter regarding the failure of ECG consultations, the OECD ECG Chair noted that..."Members agreed to continue to engage with CSOs, where appropriate deepen bilateral contacts with CSOs and consider further modalities for peer reviews and future CSOs consultations. In addition, the ECG’s Environmental Practitioners will consider at their next meeting how CSOs could contribute to the building of a body of experience in the implementation of the 2007 Recommendation on the environment."

ECA Watch looks forward to exploring improved consultation processes with the ECG Secretariat and in other OECD, national and international fora.