OECD Guidelines Chapter 7: Combating Corruption
The OECD Guideline on combating corruption is the only non-voluntary guideline of the Guidelines. Corruption is illegal under Dutch law, even when it is practiced abroad. It is the duty of Dutch officials to report corruption to be prosecuted. The OECD wants to counter corruption as much as possible.
Enterprises should not, directly or indirectly, offer, promise, give, or demand a bribe or other undue advantage to obtain or retain business or other improper advantages. Enterprises should also resist the solicitation of bribes and extortion.
- Never offer, promise or give undue financial or other advantage to public officials or the employees of business partners in order to obtain business or retain other improper advantages.
- Not offer, promise or give undue financial or other advantages to public officials or the employees of business partners: for example, by promising a part of the contract fee. Bribing authorities is prohibited by law. In practice this means that you won’t use subcontracting agreements, orders and labour agreements to divert questionable payments
- Enterprises should not use third parties such as agents and other intermediaries, consultants, representatives, distributors, consortia, contractors and suppliers for diverting undue pecuniary advantages. Rewarding intermediaries is reasonable, however make sure you openly communicate about their payment. It’s advisable to keep a list of intermediaries you regularly use and reward, in order to always be able to present this. This is especially advisable when working on government contracts.
- Openly reject any kind of bribery and extortion. Publicly speak against improper practices and show how your business deals with these matters. By fostering openness and dialogue with the public you promote your company’s awareness of the fight against bribery and extortion, and how to deal with it.
- Create awareness amongst your employees regarding the company policy on bribery and extortion. Explicitly draw attention to company rules regarding corruption. Training you staff on this policy is also advisable: by implementing disciplinary actions, such as suspension or redundancy you can enforce policy compliance.
- Use a management control system against bribery and extortion. Implementing control mechanism within the accountancy prevents keeping transactions, invoices and documents off the books.
- Never make illegal contributions to candidates for public office or political parties or to other political organizations.
