News Stories Archives

Public Consultation on the OECD Corporate Governance Principles

Published on December 2, 2014

The OECD Corporate Governance Principles are intended to assist governments and regulators in their efforts to evaluate and improve the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for corporate governance and provide guidance for stock exchanges, investors, corporations and others to foster good corporate governance. The objective of the OECD Principles is to contribute to economic efficiency, sustainable growth and financial stability.

The principles are currently being reviewed to ensure their continuing relevance and usefulness, and to take into account recent developments in the corporate sector and capital markets. After detailed discussion on the revised draft at the October OECD corporate governance meeting, on which the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD submitted comments, the OECD is currently inviting public comments on the latest draft text. Based on the outcome of the public consultation, a revised draft will be discussed at the next OECD Committee meeting in February 2015. BIAC will continue to contribute all along the process, both during the public consultation and in the discussions at committee level.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

ILO Governing Body Tackles Differences Over Labor Standards

Published on November 21, 2014

On November 20, during the 322nd session of the ILO Governing Body (GB), agreement was reached on a way to address the ongoing dispute over whether Convention 87 contains a right to strike. Following months of intensive consultations and outreach by the Employers’ Group, its “package approach gained traction during the course of the two week session.

The GB decided to convene a three-day tripartite meeting in February 2015 on the controversial Convention 87 and its relationship with the right to strike, as well as the modalities and practices of strike action at national level.

The February meeting will bring together the three constituencies of the ILO, tasked to produce a report on which the March 2015 session will base a decision on the need for a request to be made to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the interpretation of a right to strike in Convention 87.

Speaking for the group, employers’ vice chairperson, Jørgen Rønnest said that, even though all parties made important concessions, the decision was “welcomed by the Employers for being constructive, practical and forward-looking.”

“We anticipate making further positive steps next February and March towards an ILO standards supervisory system that is fit for purpose well into the future,” Rønnest said

Read the IOE Report on the 322nd Session of the ILO Governing Body

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

Employers Reaffirm Commitment to UN Principles on Business and Human Rights

Published on June 30, 2014
(UN Photo/Pierre Albouy)
(UN Photo/Pierre Albouy)

The global business community voiced concern over last week’s vote by members of the United Nations Human Rights Council in favor of a proposal, put forward by Ecuador and South Africa, to negotiate a binding treaty on business and human rights.

Industry representatives said the vote could undermine ongoing efforts to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the so-called “Ruggie Principles” which have garnered broad support among states, businesses and civil society.

That consensus was reaffirmed on Friday by the Council’s unanimous adoption of a second resolution put forward by a “core group,” consisting of Argentina, Ghana, Norway and Russia, which renewed the mandate of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights to continue facilitating the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles by governments and corporations.

According to USCIB’s Vice President for Labor, Corporate Responsibility and Governance Ariel Meyerstein, when compared to the unanimous support for the core group’s resolution, the narrow margin of support garnered by Ecuador and South Africa’s proposal – 20 countries supporting, 14 against and 13 abstaining – clearly reflects the lack of consensus behind an intergovernmental treaty-making process.

“While there is still a remarkable degree of agreement over the ”protect, respect and remedy” framework of the Guiding Principles and the multi-stakeholder approach of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, governments are clearly split over a treaty approach.” Meyerstein said, noting that the widespread uptake of the Guiding Principles after only three years far outpaced traditional treaty-making efforts and confirmed that it was a “trusted approach, which, if given sufficient time and support from national governments as well as the business sector, will achieve considerable results on the ground.”

Meyerstein spoke from Paris, where he attended the OECD’s 2nd Annual Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct, which gathered more than 700 participants from the international community to address the application of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in implementing responsible business practices globally.

The International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network and the voice of business in the International Labor Organization and other UN bodies, also voiced its support for the Guiding Principles in the aftermath of the vote on the Ecuador-South Africa proposal, noting that:

“Notwithstanding the adoption of the Ecuador resolution yesterday, [the Guiding Principles] remain the right approach to strengthen the implementation of human rights on the ground. The IOE is fully committed to continue to collaborate closely with the UN Working Group, States and all other stakeholders to reach this aim.”

Prior to the vote, the IOE questioned the utility of devoting resources to drafting yet another treaty, particularly one, as currently proposed by Ecuador and South Africa, that targets only multinational firms but not purely domestic enterprises, and that might not be enforced in many countries where rights abuses are rampant.

“As Prof. Ruggie observed on multiple occasions in response to the Ecuador proposal, there is unfortunately no reason to believe the proposed binding instrument would enjoy a different fate in any of the jurisdictions where there are already deficits in human rights treaty ratification and enforcement and the rule of law,” Meyerstein said.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Honoring Ed Potter at the IOE Leaders Summit

Published on June 20, 2014
Ed Potter (Coca-Cola) addressed the ILO Conference in Geneva on June 10.
Ed Potter (Coca-Cola) addressed the ILO Conference in Geneva on June 10.

The 103rd International Labor Conference wrapped up last week in Geneva, concluding the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) high-level deliberations that brought together government delegates from the organization’s 185 member states, representatives from workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations to discuss a wide range of employment and workforce development issues.

During the International Organization of Employers (IOE) Leaders’ Summit, the Employers’ Group paid tribute to Ed Potter, the employers’ spokesperson, thanking him for his many years of expertise and service to the employer cause at the International Labor Conference.

Potter serves chairs USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee and is the director of global workplace rights at The Coca-Cola Company. After three decades of championing business at the ILO Conference, Potter will retire next year. His work in this year’s discussion on forced labor was described as “masterful.”

At the proposal of Peter Woolford of the Canadian Employers’ Council, Potter received a standing ovation from the Employers’ Group at the IOE Leaders’ Summit for his many years of dedication, expertise and service. Looking back at 1980, when Potter’s ILO Conference career kicked off, Woolford reminisced that the Berlin Wall still stood, Lech Walesa was making waves in Poland, two guys were working in a garage in California on something that would become a fruit-branded personal computer, and Swedish pop band Abba was at the top of the charts; appropriately with “Super Trouper.”

USCIB held a dinner on June 11 in Geneva at the Cercle de la Terasse, hosted by USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, in honor of both Potter and USCIB Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg, who had been reelected as U.S. member of the ILO Governing Body. Robinson and USCIB Vice President for Labor Affairs Ariel Meyerstein toasted Potter and Goldberg “for their decades of service representing business and employers, working in tripartite partnership to promote economic growth, job creation and social development.”

Guests included ILO Director General Guy Ryder, IOE Secretary General Brent Wilton, IOE Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja, and other colleagues from the government, business, and trade union communities.

Read the IOE’s Report on the 103rd International Labor Conference.

Staff contacts: Ronnie Goldberg and Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor & Employment Committee

Save-the-Date: BIAC Workshop on Women’s Entrepreneurship, June 24 Paris

Published on May 14, 2014

4731_image001We invite you to join us for the upcoming workshop, “Putting All our Ideas to Work: Women and Entrepreneurship,” which will take place at the OECD in Paris from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24.

Organized by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, this event will feature innovations in finance, as well as company initiatives to foster women’s entrepreneurship.  It will also serve as a forum for best practice and policy frameworks. A detailed agenda will be available shortly.

This workshop marks the second phase of BIAC’s work on women’s economic empowerment.  It follows the BIAC/AmCham Report, Putting all our Minds to Work:  Harnessing the Gender Dividend, which focused on women in management. In the coming weeks, BIAC intends to release the results of a survey based on the follow-up to that report.

USCIB Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg chairs the BIAC Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs (ELSA) Committee, under the auspices of which this work is being undertaken.  USCIB is also engaged in ILO activities related to women’s economic empowerment. We invite any members wishing to receive information on or participate in USCIB’s gender work to please notify Rachel Spence at rspence@uscib.org.

Staff Contacts: Ronnie Goldberg and Justine Badimon 

OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct

Published on March 3, 2014

OECD Forum on Integrity

BIAC will participate in the OECD Forum on Integrity on March 19, held as part of the OECD’s second annual Integrity Week (March 17-21), which includes a series of events relating to anti-corruption and integrity (click here). The forum will provide a platform for government officials as well as experts from international organizations, business and civil society to discuss best practices plus recent developments and projects relating to anti-corruption and integrity building. Klaus Moosmayer, chair of the BIAC Task Force on Anti-Corruption/Bribery will be part of the panel on new anti-corruption and integrity projects. On the same day, the BIAC Task Force will organize a luncheon discussion with the participation of the Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery to discuss BIAC’s strategic contribution to the OECD in this area.

For further information, please contact Shaun Donnelly (sdonnelly@uscib.org).

Last year, the OECD launched the annual Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct to strengthen international dialogue on responsible business conduct and contribute to the effective implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs).

This year’s Global Forum, which will take place in Paris on June 26-27, will take stock of the efforts in global responsible business conduct since the 2013 meeting, with a particular focus on developments in emerging economies and challenging investment environments.

Business participation in the forum is being organized through BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.

The forum will feature sessions on responsible investment in the textiles sector, stakeholder engagement in the extractive sector as well as responsible business conduct along agricultural supply chains and in the financial sector. The Forum will also include a session on the grievance mechanism of the OECD MNE Guidelines, as well as regional side-events.

The Global Forum will take place back-to-back with the meeting of National Contact Points of the MNE Guidelines, which will include a consultation with stakeholders, as well as other high-level events.

For further information on the Global Forum click here. Active business participation is encouraged. If you would like to participate, please contact Hanni Rosenbaum at BIAC (rosenbaum@biac.org).

 

Staff contact: Rachel Spence

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

BIAC Survey on Business and Gender Diversity

Published on October 10, 2013

USCIB would appreciate your input for the BIAC Survey on Business and Gender Diversity, which should take just a few minutes to complete.

BIAC (the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD) and Deloitte are partnering on this survey to gauge the extent of change in advancing women into more senior positions that may have occurred within companies and within markets. They also wish to assess the development and impact of government and regulatory support to these efforts over the last few years.

The survey comes in follow-up to a 2012 BIAC report, produced in conjunction with the American Chamber of Commerce in France, entitled Putting All Our Minds to Work: Harnessing the Gender Dividend, which presented a business case for promoting female talent, with examples of how businesses in OECD member countries are advancing women’s empowerment.

The BIAC survey will remain open until October 31.

Staff contact: Justine Badimon

At ILO Employers Urge Steps to Reduce Informal Economy

Published on September 24, 2013
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting

At an International Labor Organization meeting earlier this month in Geneva, business representatives from around the world joined government and trade union officials in contributing perspectives on ways to reduce participation in the untaxed, unregulated “informal” economy.

Under the banner of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network, the business delegation stressed that a key factor contributing to the prevalence of informality is the cost of doing business in a country. Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, took part and helped prepare the employers’ closing statement.

“Entrepreneurs and enterprises in the informal economy struggle to do business in a situation of legal uncertainty and insecurity, and are faced with numerous economic constraints,” stated Michael Chiam of the Malaysian Employers’ Federation. “They need the tools to buy and sell their products legally, to own property and commercial use of property, to enter into legal contracts, to establish a business identity, to raise capital, to sell shares, to legally export. In essence, to have the official recognition of their property and business ownership.”

According to Greene, the discussion is part of an effort expected to lead to an ILO recommendation on informality in 2015 that will serve as one of the key UN instruments on the issue. “It will, we hope, help push the UN’s effort to develop new Sustainable Development Goals in the right direction,” he said. “Informality can reflect a fundamental lack of effective governance, and good national governance will be critical to assure the success of the SDGs.”

Greene said that, from the employers’ perspective, the ILO has a key role to play in addressing the issue of informality, because promoting employment and sustainable enterprises, as well as fundamental principles and rights at work, are at the very heart of the ILO’s mission.

At the Geneva session, business representatives criticized the narrow focus of an ILO questionnaire on labor markets, which they said had led to unhelpful proposals for formalizing workers and upgrading workers’ rights, but not addressing issues surrounding business formation and entrepreneurship. A focus solely on labor rights, they argued, would actually serve as a disincentive to formalization. They said a wider range of measures should be taken into consideration, including promoting effective national institutions and administration, implementing judicial reform, and easing business registration and licensing.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee

UN and Business Must Make Common Cause in Post-2015 Agenda UN Official Declares

Published on September 19, 2013
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson

The business community and the United Nations must rediscover their sense of shared purpose and “reconnect in building a world where international peace and prosperity reinforce each other,” according to UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson.

Eliasson spoke at last night’s USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner. His remarks came as USCIB and its allied business groups seek to provide business input into the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, which aims to expand upon the Millennium Development Goals agreed in 2000.

The gala dinner, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, honored Fred Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp., who received USCIB’s top award before an audience of several hundred USCIB members, diplomats and business representatives from around the world.

“There is more than just an overlap between United Nations development goals and private sector interests,” Eliasson stated. “We share common ground. If we can get, during the next two years, an acceleration of reaching these goals, then we will create the political momentum to move ahead and address sustainability, poverty and the rule of law.”

USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (president, chairman and CEO of McGraw Hill Financial) urged business and the UN to work together to map out an ambitious – and achievable – post-2015 development agenda. “This represents a historic opportunity to forge a global consensus in support of public-private activities to lead growth and create a more robust, inclusive world economy,” he said.

McGraw said business will seek to promote several fundamental objectives in the context of the post-2015 agenda. These include setting goals that are achievable in every country, putting a focus on improving national governance, implementing sound macro-economic and fiscal policies, establishing effective national institutions, and providing adequate incentives for business to contribute.

L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Well deserved accolades for FedEx’s Smith

FedEx’s Smith accepted USCIB’s International Leadership Award on behalf of his company’s employees around the world. “Let me commend USCIB for the important work you are doing,” he said. “I think all of us in this room believe in the power of access, of connecting people, of ideas. Improving people’s lives through global growth has been an important and valuable mission. We are shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this important work.”

Smith is the 32nd individual to receive the USCIB award, which was presented most recently to Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical. The award recognizes efforts to expand world trade and investment, and to improve the competitive environment for American business globally.

Smith founded FedEx Corp. in 1973, and it has grown into a $44-billion global transportation, business services and logistics company. McGraw praised him for his vision and leadership. “Fred Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and open skies agreements for aviation around the world,” said McGraw. “Most recently, he has advocated for vehicle energy-efficiency standards and a national energy policy. FedEx is consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers and inspires its employees to remain absolutely, positively focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.”

USCIB’s global network turns out

Among those attending this year’s event were members of the executive board of the International Chamber of Commerce, the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, as well as the heads of ICC chapters from around the world. The secretaries general of each of USCIB’s affiliated global business groups – ICC, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – also attended the gala.

The dinner marked a starting point for a series of events organized by USCIB, ICC and other business-related groups to focus industry attention on the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda. Among the highlights will be USCIB-organized “door-knock” consultations on October 26 for USCIB members with key government delegations and the UN secretariat.

That same day, USCIB will convene a Green Economies Dialogue luncheon roundtable on economic and green growth considerations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers at the roundtable will include representatives from academia, important governments and the UN to consider policy options that work within the global marketplace.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner

Fedex website

US Business to Meet With Government and UN Representatives in New York

Published on August 27, 2013

USCIB will hold “UN Door Knock” consultations on September 26 for USCIB members to meet with important government delegations and highlight key business recommendations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Green Growth. As the global community looks to set a new blue print for development, building on the MDGs and Rio outcomes, business is making a strong case to bring forward policies that drive economic growth, environmental stewardship and social development.

USCIB’s UN Door Knock consultations will signal the strong interest of U.S. business in a well-designed UN gameplan for development that involves and incents business. The meetings will also make the case for enhanced business engagement in the UN.

The Door Knock will be hosted by Pfizer and will begin with an orientation breakfast for USCIB Members. The day will consist of a series of consultations with representatives of the UN, the United States, Japan, and the European Union.

USCIB will also convene an International Business Green Economies Dialogue (GED) Luncheon Roundtable. This event will discuss the ways in which the SDGs can contribute to enabling frameworks for development, poverty eradication andgreener economic activity through innovation, investment and partnership
at national and international levels. It will highlight practicality for and the contribution from U.S. companies doing business in globalized marke

The GED luncheon roundtable will feature panel sessions on:

  • SDGs and Enabling Frameworks at the National
    Level—Job Creation and Infrastructure
  • SDGs and Enabling Frameworks at the International Level—Finance, Investment and Technology Deployment

The Roundtable will include invited speakers from government (Brazil, U.S., Kenya, Colombia), academia (Resources for the Future, MIT, UC San Diego) and the private sector (International Organization of Employers, USCIB).

To register for this event, please email Kira Yevtukhova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org). Please note that participation in this event is restricted to USCIB members and invited guests.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy