The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct
The “OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct” (more simply “Guidelines”), updated version of June the 8th, 2023, , OECD (2023) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, OECD Publishing, Paris, are recommendations addressed by governments to multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries. They provide non-binding principles and standards for responsible business conduct in a global context, consistent with applicable laws and internationally recognised standards. The Guidelines are the only multilaterally agreed code of responsible business conduct that governments have committed to promoting.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also encouraged to observe the Guidelines to the fullest extent possible.
Enterprises are called upon, where feasible, to encourage their business partners, including suppliers and subcontractors, to apply principles of responsible business conduct in line with the Guidelines.
The Guidelines describe responsible conduct in relation to the main social and environmental risks that business activity entails in the global market.
Part I contains a description of the expected behaviours from enterprises and is divided into the following chapters: Concepts and principles. General principles. Disclosure of information, Human Rights, Employment and Industrial Relations, Environment, Combating Bribery, Bribe solicitation and Extortion , Consumer Interests, Science and Technology, Competition, Taxation. Alongside the description of expected conduct, there is also an indication of the legal and non-legal tools that companies can refer to in each area.
The description of expected behaviors is accompanied by an indication of the instruments, both regulatory and non-regulatory, to which the company can refer in the various areas.
Part II is dedicated to the nature, activities, and institutional relationships of the NCP for RBC. In particular, it describes the specific instance mechanism (Submission to the NCP for RBC) the remedial tool that is a distinctive feature of the system.
A key characteristic of the Guidelines is the implementation mechanism, consisting of an international network of National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct (NCPs for RBC) dedicated to promoting the Guidelines, and a remedial instrument (the so-called specific instance mechanism) which offers NCP-facilitated mediation to resolve disputes between stakeholders and enterprises, based on the Guidelines.
The official versions of the Guidelines are in English — OECD (2023) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, OECD Publishing — and French.
The updated version presented on June the 8th, 2023, translated into Italian, is now available: OECD (2024), Linee guida OCSE per le imprese multinazionali sulla condotta responsabile d’impresa, OECD Publishing, Paris
The mission of the Italian NCP for RBC is the promotion and practical dissemination of this standard in Italy.
Useful links:
- Full text of the OECD Guidelines in English (2023), official updated version presented on 8 June 2023: OECD (2023), OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/81f92357-en.
- Official Italian translation: OECD (2024), Linee guida OCSE per le imprese multinazionali sulla condotta responsabile d’impresa, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/cdce11ac-it