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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), (in French: Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques; OCDE) is an international organisation of thirty countries, that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. It originated in 1948, as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Frenchman Robert Marjolin, to help administer the Marshall Plan, for the reconstruction of Europe, after World War II. Later, its membership was extended to non-European states and, in 1961, it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or OECD by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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One of a number of posters created by the Economic Cooperation Administration to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe.
The organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The mandate of the OECD is very broad, as it covers all economic, environmental and social issues.
It is a forum where peer pressure can act as a powerful incentive to improve policy and implement “soft law” — non-binding instruments that can occasionally lead to binding treaties.
Exchanges between OECD governments flow from information and analysis provided by a secretariat in Paris. The secretariat collects data, monitors trends, and analyses and forecasts economic developments. It also researches social changes or evolving patterns in trade, environment, agriculture, technology, taxation and other areas. The OECD is also known as a premium statistical agency, as it publishes highly-comparable statistics on a very wide number of subjects.
Over the past decade, the OECD has tackled a range of economic, social, and environmental issues while further deepening its engagement with business, trade unions and other representatives of civil society. Negotiations at the OECD on taxation and transfer pricing, for example, have paved the way for bilateral tax treaties around the world.
Between 1995 and 1997 the OECD designed the much disputed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) , which was rejected. A Swedish journalist discovered the agreement, which was until then clandestinely negotiated. It would have disburdened foreign investments of any claims on the part of the concerned regions and countries (also of social, environmental standards!)
Among other areas, the OECD has taken a role in co-ordinating international action on corruption and bribery, creating the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which came into effect in February 1999.
The OECD has also constituted a task force on spamOECD-Antispam, which submitted a detailed report, with several quite useful background papers on spam problems in developing countries, best practices for ISPs and email marketers etc appended.
Its work on the information economy [1] will lead it to organise the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy -- Shaping Policies for Creativity, Confidence and Convergence in Seoul, 17-18 June 2008, [2].
The OECD\'s headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris.
The OECD\'s structure revolves around 3 major bodies.
The OECD Secretariat is organised in Directorates:
Representatives of the 30 OECD member countries meet in specialised committees to advance ideas and review progress in specific policy areas, such as economics, trade, science, employment, education or financial markets.
There are about 200 committees, working groups and expert groups. Some 40,000 senior officials from national administrations go to OECD committee meetings each year to request, review and contribute to work undertaken by the OECD secretariat. Once they return home, they have online access to documents and can exchange information through a special network.
OECD member states (as of 2007)
There are currently thirty full members; of these, 25 (marked with *) are described as high-income countries by the World Bank in 2006.
| Founding members (1961): | |
| Joined later (listed chronologically with year of admission): | |
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The European Commission participates in the work of the OECD, alongside the EU Member States. For more information on OECD\'s work related to its member countries, visit OECD\'s country websites.OECD-Members
Currently, 25 non-members participate as regular observers or full participants in OECD Committees. About 50 non-members are engaged in OECD working parties, schemes or programmes. The OECD conducts a policy dialogue and capacity building activities with non-members (Country Programmes, Regional Approaches and Global Forums) to share best policy practices and to bear on OECD\'s policy debate. The CCNM (Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members) develops and oversees the strategic orientations of the OECD’s global relations with non-members.
Several countries have applied for the OECD membership. The Russian Federation did so in 1996. In the same year, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania made a joint declaration concerning their co-operation with the OECD, including their future membership in the Organisation. Other countries have formally applied or stated their interest.
On 16 May 2007, the OECD Ministerial Council decided to open accession discussions with Chile, Estonia, Israel, the Russian Federation and Slovenia. It was also decided to strengthen OECD’s co-operation with Brazil, ChinaWith New Zealand hoping to be the first OECD member state to have a trade agreement with China., India, Indonesia and South Africa, through a process of enhanced engagement or as full members.Chair\'s summary of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level, Paris, 15-16 May 2007 - Innovation: Advancing the OECD Agenda for Growth and Equity. Press release of the OECD, 16 May 2007. The OECD will also explore the possibilities for enhanced co-operation with selected countries and regions of strategic interest to the OECD, giving priority to South East Asia with a view to identifying countries for possible membership.
The OECD publishes books, statistics, working papers and reference materials.
The OECD releases between 300 and 500 books each year. Most books are published in English and French. The OECD flagship titles include:
All OECD books are available on SourceOECD and on the OECD online bookshop.
All OECD activities are backed-up by statistics, and given the variety of OECD activities, it is a very good source of comparable statistics. OECD statistics are available under several forms:
There are 15 working papers series published by the various directorates of the OECD Secretariat. They are available on SourceOECD as well as on many specialised portals.
The OECD is also responsible for the Model Tax Convention or the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals, two continually-updated documents which are de facto standards.
The OECD periodically releases an amended \'blacklist\' of countries it considers uncooperative in the drive for transparency of tax affairs and the effective exchange of information, officially called "The List of Uncooperative Tax Havens". [3]
August 2007 OECD Blacklist: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco [4]
July 2007 OECD Blacklist: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco [5]
March 2004 OECD Blacklist: Andorra, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco
April 2002 OECD Blacklist: Andorra, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, Vanuatu
June 2000 OECD Blacklist: Anguilla, Andorra, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Gibraltar, Granada, Guernsey/Sark/Alderney, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Seychelles, Tonga, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa
See also the black list of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.
As an international organisation the terms of employment of OECD staff are not governed by the laws of the country in which their offices are located. Agreements with the host country safeguard the organisation\'s impartiality with regard to the host and member countries. Hiring and firing practices, working hours and environment, holiday time, pension plans, health insurance and life insurance, salaries, expatriation benefits and general conditions of employment are managed according to rules and regulations proper to the OECD. In order to maintain similar working conditions to similarly-structured organisations, the OECD participates as an independent organisation in the system of co-ordinated European organisations, whose other members include NATO, the Western European Union and the European Patent Organisation.
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) |
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