PARIS: Most countries committed to an anti-corruption standard did not take action against any companies or people last year, the OECD complained Wednesday, saying it is time they got serious. “The US and Germany continue to set the benchmark in the fight against corruption that more countries must follow,” OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said. “It's encouraging that France, Switzerland and the UK were active last year in sanctioning bribery.” The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a statement: “Most governments are not meeting their international commitments to clamp down on bribery and corruption in international business.” Only five of the 38 countries which had signed the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention had “sanctioned individuals or companies in the past year,” it said. However, 260 investigations were under way. The OECD said that since the convention came into force in 1999, action for committing bribery abroad had been taken against 199 individuals and 91 companies, but most of the 38 countries had yet to “sanction any individual or company.” Gurria said that “despite some progress in the past year, we need to see clearer signs that all countries are committing the political leadership and resources that effective enforcement requires.” The program put pressure on non-signatory countries China, India, Indonesia and Russia to cooperate. Russia applied in February 2009 to join the convention and China made foreign bribery a crime in February this year.
