At the Fourth Plenary Meeting of Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development held in December 2015 at the OECD in Paris, participating governments, industry and civil society agreed to pursue the dialogue on how contracts can be designed to withstand the test of time. Participants identified an increasing frequency in the demand for the re-negotiation of extractive contracts, and noted the instability that this demand can create in respect of investment and sustainable economic growth. Consequently, participants discussed different contractual mechanisms to deal with change with the objective of working towards a set of guiding principles that host governments and investors can use as a common reference to build mutual trust during contract negotiations, and structure extractive contracts for the long term.

This document is an output of the multi-stakeholder Negotiation Support Forum, an integral part of the OECD Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development’s Work Stream 3 on “Getting Better Deals”. The Negotiation Support Forum comprises a multi-stakeholder group of subject matter experts from government, the private sector, civil society and international organisations.

The Guiding Principles for Durable Extractive Contracts (Guiding Principles) set out eight principles and supporting commentary that host governments and investors can use as a common reference for future negotiations of enduring, sustainable and mutually beneficial extractive contracts. They aim to provide guidance for the content and negotiation of durable extractive contracts that can reduce or eliminate the drivers of renegotiation and can provide adaptive and flexible provisions that can automatically adjust to prevailing market conditions. An initial draft of the Guiding Principles was prepared by the OECD Development Centre, serving as Secretariat, and was discussed at the Seventh Meeting of the Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development held on 30 November 2016 at the OECD in Paris. Following that meeting, the Guiding Principles were revised by the OECD Development Centre and benefitted from the input of the Friends of the Negotiation Support Forum, who met via teleconference to review subsequent drafts on 31 January, 28 March and 2 May 2017. As part of the consultation process, an informal expert workshop was held on 7 April 2017 at the OECD in Paris. Subsequently, a draft of the Guiding Principles was submitted for consideration during the Multi-Stakeholder Consultations of the Eighth Meeting of the Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development held on 17 June 2017 at the OECD in Paris, and further revised following teleconferences on 25 July and 30 November 2017. The current version reflects thorough and inclusive consultation and convergence built within the Friends of the Negotiation Support Forum working group and participants in the Negotiation Support Forum.

The OECD Development Centre invites public comment on the advanced draft of the Guiding Principles for Durable Extractive Contracts. Comments received will inform any further revisions for purposes of the finalisation of the Guiding Principles by the OECD Development Centre, supported by the Friends of the Negotiation Support Forum.