www.publishwhatyoupay.org

Newsletter: Edition 4, 2004

”Publish What You Pay, Publish What You Earn” NGO coalition launched in Chad
http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/releases/chad_declaration_french_101804.pdf
The declaration
http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/releases/chad_declaration_french_101804.pdf
of the newly formed coalition in Chad is available in French. Coordination of the 14-member coalition will be led by the National Justice and Peace Commission and La Cellule de Liaison des Associations Féminines (CELIAF). The Groupe de Recherches Alternatives et Monitoring du Projet Pétrole Tchad-Cameroun
http://www.gramptc.org/ (GRAMP/TC)
will serve as the permanent national secretariat. The PWYP/PWYE campaign in Chad is also supported by Catholic Relief Services:
http://www.catholicrelief.org/
and Intermon Oxfam:
http://www.intermonoxfam.org/


The coalition will focus on four main themes:

1. Transparency in the management of petroleum revenues in Chad

2. Transparency in the management of public funds

3. Transparency of extractive industry companies

4. Transparency of the international financial institutions


For more information on the PWYP/PWYE coalition, contact Père Raimond Madjiro: madjiro@intnet.td or Père Antoine Berilengar: dberilengar@yahoo.fr (in French)

TI Corruption Index highlights that oil-producing nations are prone to
corruption Transparency International http://www.transparency.org/
has published its 2004 Corruption Perceptions Index, stating
http://www.transparency.org/cpi/2004/dnld/media_pack_en.pdf
that corruption is seriously hampering development and the fight against
poverty in oil-rich countries around the world. The CPI, which is one of the most widely used and influential corruption indicators, revealed that at least $400 billion is lost to corruption every year around the globe with oil-producing nations among the worst offenders.

Chairman of TI, Peter Eigen, stated that oil companies could help stamp out corruption by publishing details of the fees, royalties and other payments made to governments and state oil companies. He added: ”Access to this vital information will minimize opportunities for hiding the payment of kickbacks to secure oil tenders, a practice that has blighted the oil industry in transition and postwar economies.”

- Statement by Peter Eigen: “Corruption robs countries of their potential, especially oil-rich countries”
http://www.transparency.org/cpi/2004/cpi2004.pe_statement_en.html
(Foreign Press Association, London, 20 October 2004)

- TI Press Release: Corruption is rampant in 60 countries, and the public sector is plagued by bribery
http://www.transparency.org/pressreleases_archive/2004/2004.10.20.cpi.en.html
(22 October 2004)
- Frequently Asked Questions – CPI 2004
http://www.transparency.org/cpi/2004/cpi2004_faq.en.html

Talisman Energy publishes company policy on “communicating financial
transparency”
http://www.melcrum.com/cgi-bin/melcrumɛu_viewpub.pl?pid=CRM#article7
Talisman publishes the amount of taxes and royalties it pays in every
country of operation. In this article
http://www.melcrum.com/cgi-bin/melcrumɛu_viewpub.pl?pid=CRM#article7,
originally published on the Melcrum
http://www.melcrum.com/cgi-bin/melcrumɛu_content.pl
website and re-produced with permission on the PWYP website, Talisman explains what it sees as the benefits f ”publishing what you pay” to host governments. Information on Talisman’s country-by-country payments for 2003 and 2002 are available on their website.

Spotlight on Revenue Transparency in Timor-Leste
http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/timor_leste.shtml
A range of briefing documents on the promotion of transparency in Timor-Leste are available on the PWYP website. Submissions from La’o Hamutuk http://www.etan.org/lh/default.htm
and the Network for Transparency and Economic Justice (NeTEJ) to the Timorese government with regard to the draft petroleum legislation currently under consideration are also available.

Congo Brazzaville: Government commits to participate in EITI The Government of the Republic of Congo issued a public statement
http://www.congo-site.com/pub/fr/v4x/actualites/article.php?num=2264#top
on the website www.congo-site.com http://www.congo-site.com/
declaring that it will participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative http://www.eitransparency.org/.

The PWYP Congolese coalition in response issued a press release welcoming the government’s declaration but urged that immediate and meaningful action must be taken in order to deliver on their commitment. The NGO coalition is also calling for, among other things:
- active engagement and collaboration with the government in the design
and implementation of the EITI;
- full publication of the audit of SNPC, the state owned oil company; and
- an end to confidentiality clauses in contracts.

Also see: PWYP letter
http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/releases/Mbi%20_congo_letter_112104.pdf
to Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, World Bank Country Director for South Central Africa
and the Great Lakes Region, in response to a recent World Bank press release (“The Republic of Congo Meets With its Development Partners:
Donors Praise its Economic Reforms and Vow Support 14 September 2004) which claimed that Congo Brazzaville was one of the most active African countries in meeting certain EITI “criteria”.

Azerbaijan: latest on EITI implementation

After long and often difficult period of negotiation, a ”Memorandum of
Understanding on Implementation of EITI in Azerbaijan” will shortly be signed by the State Commission on the EITI, extractive companies and the NGO coalition “Strengthening Transparency in the Extractive Industries”
http://www.eiti-az.org/.

The MOU sets out the schedule and conditions by which the government and
oil companies will submit reports to an auditing firm, the ways in which
payments and revenues data will be compared by the auditor, and how the final results will be publicized in the public domain. All parties have
agreed to appoint a multi-stakeholder committee that will select the auditor. The MOU also guarantees that stakeholders will review how to
make individual company reporting possible in future; for the time being
all company payments will be aggregated together against the wishes of the NGO coalition. The coalition believes that aggregation undermines one of the main purposes of the EITI – to build trust and enhance accountability – and that it will not allow them to properly monitor the receipt and expenditure of oil revenues.

Equatorial Guinea: Spanish groups call on EU to take strong stance on transparency
Parties from across the political spectrum in Spain and their affiliated unions have written a letter http://www.asodegue.orgɔctubre1804.htm
to the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles
http://www.europarl.eu.int/president/homeɛn/default.htm, asking him
to take a clear stance on revenue transparency in Equatorial Guinea in
the wake of the Riggs Bank scandal and evidence of ”the lack of transparency surrounding oil exploitation” in the country.

Also see: Spain calls on EU to warn Equatorial Guinea
http://www.afrol.com/articles/14576 Afrol News (18 October 2004)

The recent U.S Senate sub-committee investigation
http://govt-aff.senate.gov/_files/071504miniorityreport_moneylaundering.pdf
revealed that state oil revenues and money from U.S. oil companies were paid into bank accounts at the Washington D.C. branch of Riggs Bank owned by
President Obiang, his family members and other EG government officials.
In total these bank accounts contained some US$400-700 million, a
significant proportion of the country’s income from oil extraction. The
committee’s report concluded
that Riggs Bank was in violation of U.S. banking laws for failing to report suspicious financial transactions. The committee also recommended that all oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea should be required to publish what they pay.


Iraq
See: Iraq Revenue Watch briefing: Independent Audits Point to U.S.
Mismanagement of Iraqi funds
http://www.iraqrevenuewatch.org/reports/062404.shtml
(28 September 2004) and Iraq Revenue Watch report: Disorder, Negligence and
Mismanagement: How the CPA Handled Iraq Reconstruction Funds
http://www.iraqrevenuewatch.org/reports/reports/092404.shtml
(September 2004)


Nigeria
The IMF Article IV report on Nigeria
http://www.imf.orgɛxternal/pubs/ft/scr/2004/cr04239.pdf includes an analysis of the government’s approach to implementing the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative.


Kazakhstan.-
See: The coalition of NGOs ”Oil Revenues - Under Public Oversight!”
submission on the EBRD country strategy for Kazakhstan. Also see:
www.publicoversight.kz

Angola.-
Angolan Catholic bishops have called for the creation of an oil fund in order to ensure that future generations of Angolans benefit from oil revenue windfalls. Bishops from the Justice, Peace, and Migration Commission, which is part of the Angola and Sao Tome e Principe Episcopal Conference, stated last week at their meeting in Luanda that
the oil fund is critical to ensure the effective management of oil revenues in the interest of national development.


New PWYP coalition members:

Association des Refugies Sans Frontieres (Cameroon)

Centre International pour la paix en Afrique centrale (DRC)

Children First http://www.childrenfirst.org.za/ (South Africa)

Civil Society Against Corruption (Kyrgyzstan)

CIPCRE http://www.cipcre.org/
(Cameroon)

Comité pour l´Annulation de la Dette du Tiers-Monde
http://www.cadtm.org/ (France)

e5-European Business Council for Sustainable Energy http://www.e5.org/

Espoir Pour Tous
(DRC)

Human Development Centre – Tree of Life (Kyrgyzstan)

Ikamva Lisezandleni Zethu http://www.ikamvayouth.org/ (Cameroon)

ITAD http://www.itad.kabissa.org/ (Liberia)

Project for Learning (Nigeria)

Regenwald http://www.regenwald.org/(Germany)

Save Earth Nigeria http://senigus.interconnection.org/


Recent media reports of interest

“Oil wealth can cause corruption”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3758798.stm
BBC NEWS (20 October
2004)


“The Oil Grab”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1321715,00.html The
Guardian (9 October 2004)


“CHAD: Trying to make oil wealth work for the poor”
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43576&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
IRIN (8 October 2004)


“An African microstate confronts the curse of oil”
http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?key=SAO%20TOM%C9
by Stanley A. Weiss, IHT (7 October 2004)

“Why Africa keeps fighting over oil”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1001/p06s02-woaf.htm
by Michael Peel, The Christian Science Monitor (1 October 2004)


“The oil revenue bonanza”
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3222581&subjectID=381586&emailauth=%2527%252FU74QLGE%2523%2540XP%250A
What might oil producers do with all that extra cash?” and “Tackling the oil curse:
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3220349&subjectID=381586&emailauth=%2527%252FU74Q%252C%255FI%2521%2540Y4%250A
Petroleum producers cannot afford to squander the windfall from the current oil
boom” The Economist (23 September 2004)


”The resource curse
http://www.odiousdebts.orgɔdiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=11370>:
Can Iraq avoid the pitfalls that other oil-rich countries have fallen
into?” by Nancy Birdsall and Arvind Subramanian, Australian Financial
Review (10 September, 2004)

“U.S. Oil Firms Entwined in Equatorial Guinea Deals”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1101-2004Sep6.html
by Justin Blum, Washington Post (7 September 2004)

“Frustration as oil windfall spending neglects the poor”
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43013
IRIN (3 September 2004)


”Oil riches must benefit Africa too - The lessons from Equatorial Guinea”
http:/ɔbserver.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,6903,1293100,00.html
The Observer (29 August 2004)


”We can now cure Dutch disease. For some nations, natural resoures are a
curse - but it needn´t be so”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1285235,00.html
by Joseph Stiglitz, The Guardian (18 August 2004)


Upcoming event: European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility

At the upcoming European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility

http://www.csr2004.nlɛnglish/

Pax Christi Netherlands
http://www.paxchristi.nl/ and Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa http://www.niza.nl/ are organising a workshop on Business in Conflict Areas which will examine “How to make companies engines for peace.”

Based on expert analyses of Colombia and Angola, the workshop will present ways to ally the interests of the private sector with the importance of peace. Aimed at practical recommendations for action, best and worst field practices are addressed and existing policies scrutinised. Distinguished government, business and NGO speakers share their experiences. How can companies contribute to the transformation of war economies? Which dilemmas do they face? How can governments remove economic drivers of violent conflict? Participants are explicitly invited to join in the discussion.



For information, please contact Madita Splint, splint@paxchristi.nl

Resources and other information

Reminder: ORDER UPCOMING REVENUE WATCH PUBLICATONS
http://www.revenuewatch.org/reports/091504.shtml
Revenue Watch http://www.revenuewatch.org/
is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of three books addressing the management of oil, gas, and mining revenues in natural resource-rich countries. Follow this link http://www.revenuewatch.org/reports/091504.shtml
to pre-order electronic or paper copies of RW´s guidebook for civil monitoring of oil and gas revenues, our reporter´s handbook, or our guide for investors.
Each publication and its shipping are free of charge.

Oxfam Australia Mining Ombudsmen Annual Report 2004
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/miningɔmbudsman/2004/index.html
The Mining Ombudsman details community complaints of human rights abuses and environmental degradation as a result of Australian mining companies operations. The 2004 Annual Report
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/miningɔmbudsman/2004/index.html
examines why the Australian mining industry needs an independent
complaints mechanism and what it would look like. It details progress in
cases from Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Indonesia and Fiji
involving environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Also see:
Oxfam Australia Mining Campaign
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/mining/index.html.

”Rush and Ruin: The Devastating Mineral Trade in Southern Katanga, DRC”
Global Witness, September 2004

Sao Tome e Principe Advisory Project
http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/cgsd/STP/
on Sustainable Development Strategies and Petroleum Revenue Management

New UNRISD Resource Guide on Regulating Corporations
http://www.corporate-accountability.org/docs/unrisd_guideCSR.pdf


World Development Report 2005
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITEƐXTERNALƐXTDECƐXTRESEARCHƐXTWDRSƐXTWDR2005/0,,contentMDK:20259914%7EmenuPK:477673%7EpagePK:64167689%7EpiPK:64167673%7EtheSitePK:477665,00.html
References to PWYP on p. 52 (“Shining the light on government–firm dealings in natural resources and infrastructure”) and p. 184 (“Privatizing international cooperation on corporate social responsibility”).


Global Compact Office responds to the Joint Civil Society Statement on
the Global Compact and Corporate Accountability
http://www.corporate-accountability.org/news/gc_0803kell.pdf
Georg Kell, head of the Global Compact Office, wrote a letter to Global Policy Forum in response to the Joint Civil Society Statement on the Global Compact and Corporate Accountability. In it he claims that the Global Compact is an ”ongoing experiment” and not the suitable instrument to generate legally binding instruments on corporate regulation which he sees as a task of the respective national governments.


Consultations on Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on
TNCs
http://www.ohchr.orgɛnglish/issues/globalization/business/reportbusiness.htm
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is currently preparing a report on he ”Responsibilities of transnational corporations and related business enterprises with regard to human rights”. Organisations are requested make submissions on existing initiatives and standards relating to the responsibility of transnational corporations and related business enterprises with regard to human rights, the scope and legal status of these initiatives, and the identification of any outstanding issues. The final report will be submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in March 2005.



Foro Solidario Por Guinea Ecuatorial
Miembro de PWYP




Fuente: PWYP

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