February 2002, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises were adopted in their original form in 1976 as one part of the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. They have a wide endorsement and therefore carry considerable normative value. Not only have all 29 Member countries (and four non-OECD countries) endorsed the revised Guidelines (2000) and enhanced implementation procedures but they have also been welcomed by the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Crucially, multinational companies, represented through the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC), have given them their support. The Guidelines make explicit reference to other instruments, which are seen as complementary and relevant. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UHDR), the ILO Conventions and the Rio Declaration.
The Guidelines provide a set of recommendations on responsible business conduct addressed by governments to multinational enterprises operating in or from the 33 adhering countries. The new text ‘reinforce[s] the economic, social and environmental elements of the sustainable development agenda’. What distinguishes the OECD Guidelines from other, largely private initiatives is that adhering governments - of countries that are the source of most of the world’s direct investment flows and home to most multinational enterprises - have clearly stated that they are the only multilaterally endorsed and comprehensive code that they are committed to promoting. Another critical aspect of the OECD Guidelines is that adhering governments are obliged to monitor their implementation and to put a mechanism in place – the National Contact Point – to carry out this important task.
This paper examines the relevance of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to the mining sector and how they might help foster investment that promotes sustainable development. It is divided into five sections: section I sketches the expansion of mining interests outside of the OECD area in the 1990s; section II looks at globalisation and the challenges facing the mining industry; section III sets the OECD Guidelines in the context of industry led and other initiatives; section IV provides an overview of current concerns and the relevance of the framework of the Guidelines and the implementation procedures; section V sets out some preliminary observations about recent experiences with the implementation procedure and offers some proposals about the way forward.
