"A “4x10” plan for why and how to unlock the potential of the OECD Guidelines", Jun 2016

In June 2016, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises ("the Guidelines)– the OECD’s flagship instrument on responsible business conduct – will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Periodic updates to the Guidelines have sought to keep them relevant and in step with changing times. The most recent update in 2011 extended the scope of the Guidelines and achieved improvements in the areas of human rights, due diligence, and value chain responsibility. Although governments adhering to the Guidelines have made a legally-binding commitment to set up National Contact Points to further their effectiveness, implementation remains patchy at best. On the occasion of this milestone anniversary, governments must demonstrate their commitment to making the Guidelines a relevant tool for governing today’s global economy. This briefing provides a “4 x 10” bullet-point plan highlighting four key features that give the Guidelines the potential to help ensure businesses behave responsibly. It also includes ten actions that governments must take to unlock that potential and to advance their legally binding obligations to further the effectiveness of the Guidelines.

In order to effectively implement the Guidelines, ensure that they remain a relevant instrument forpromoting responsible business conduct, as well as avoid and remedy adverse impacts, OECD Watch is calling on governments adhering to the OECD Guidelines to:

1. Structure the NCP to operate effectively and impartially
2. Provide the NCP with adequate resources
3. Attach consequences to ensure that the Guidelines are taken seriously
4. Increase the accessibility of the NCP to victims of corporate abuse seeking remedy
5. Protect the activists using the NCP system
6. Instruct NCPs to make determinations of (non-)compliance if mediations fail
7. Maximize transparency of the NCP
8. Instruct the NCP to follow up on case outcomes
9. Advocate for a revision of the Procedural Guidance for NCPs
10. Accelerate the number of NCP peer reviews