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National contact points that pass judgement on companies alleged to have breached the OECD’s guidelines for multinational enterprises need advisory boards to help them reach their decisions, according to a body that monitors them.
OECD Watch says the NCPs, which have been set up in all countries that are signatories to the guidelines on responsible business behaviour, often lack the expertise to make complex decisions on alleged instances of non-compliance by companies.
Patricia Feeney, spokeswoman for the non-profit body, said that some NCPs had developed good practice, but ‘fundamental problems still exist’, partly because in most countries the national contact point is a single government department.
She told a conference on the guidelines in Brussels last month that NCPs also ought to have regular stakeholder meetings and be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. More than 70 instances of alleged ‘non-observance’ of the international guidelines have been filed with NCPs to date, with most of the complaints made by pressure groups.
OECD Watch says the NCPs, which have been set up in all countries that are signatories to the guidelines on responsible business behaviour, often lack the expertise to make complex decisions on alleged instances of non-compliance by companies.
Patricia Feeney, spokeswoman for the non-profit body, said that some NCPs had developed good practice, but ‘fundamental problems still exist’, partly because in most countries the national contact point is a single government department.
She told a conference on the guidelines in Brussels last month that NCPs also ought to have regular stakeholder meetings and be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. More than 70 instances of alleged ‘non-observance’ of the international guidelines have been filed with NCPs to date, with most of the complaints made by pressure groups.
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