(The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises form part of the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. The following reproduces the amendments to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and related Council Decision adopted by the forty-two governments adhering to the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises on 25 May 2011 on the occasion of the 2011 OECD Ministerial Meeting. Cited here because more and more media companies are "multinational enterprises")
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General policies
Enterprises should take fully into account established policies in the countries in which they operate, and consider the views of other stakeholders. In this regard:
A. Enterprises should:
- Contribute to economic, environmental and social progress with a view to achieving sustainable development.
- Respect the internationally recognised human rights of those affected by their activities.
- Encourage local capacity building through close co-operation with the local community, including business interests, as well as developing the enterprise?s activities in domestic and foreign markets, consistent with the need for sound commercial practice.
- Encourage human capital formation, in particular by creating employment opportunities and facilitating training opportunities for employees.
- Refrain from seeking or accepting exemptions not contemplated in the statutory or regulatory framework related to human rights, environmental, health, safety, labour, taxation, financial incentives, or other issues.
- Support and uphold good corporate governance principles and develop and apply good corporate governance practices, including throughout enterprise groups.
- Develop and apply effective self-regulatory practices and management systems that foster a relationship of confidence and mutual trust between enterprises and the societies in which they operate.
- Promote awareness of and compliance by workers employed by multinational enterprises with respect to company policies through appropriate dissemination of these policies, including through training programmes.
- Refrain from discriminatory or disciplinary action against workers who make bona fide reports to management or, as appropriate, to the competent public authorities, on practices that contravene the law, the Guidelines or the enterprise?s policies.
- Carry out risk-based due diligence, for example by incorporating it into their enterprise risk management systems, to identify, prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse impacts as described in paragraphs 11 and 12, and account for how these impacts are addressed. The nature and extent of due diligence depend on the circumstances of a particular situation.
- Avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts on matters covered by the Guidelines, through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur.
- Seek to prevent or mitigate an adverse impact where they have not contributed to that impact, when the impact is nevertheless directly linked to their operations, products or services by a business relationship. This is not intended to shift responsibility from the entity causing an adverse impact to the enterprise with which it has a business relationship.
- In addition to addressing adverse impacts in relation to matters covered by the Guidelines, encourage, where practicable, business partners, including suppliers and sub-contractors, to apply principles of responsible business conduct compatible with the Guidelines.
- Engage with relevant stakeholders in order to provide meaningful opportunities for their views to be taken into account in relation to planning and decision making for projects or other activities that may significantly impact local communities.
- Abstain from any improper involvement in local political activities.
B. Enterprises are encouraged to:
1. Support, as appropriate to their circumstances, cooperative efforts in the appropriate fora to promote Internet Freedom through respect of freedom of expression, assembly and association online.2. Engage in or support, where appropriate, private or multi-stakeholder initiatives and social dialogue on responsible supply chain management while ensuring that these initiatives take due account of their social and economic effects on developing countries and of existing internationally recognised standards.
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Disclosure
- Enterprises should ensure that timely and accurate information is disclosed on all material matters regarding their activities, structure, financial situation, performance, ownership and governance. This information should be disclosed for the enterprise as a whole, and, where appropriate, along business lines or geographic areas. Disclosure policies of enterprises should be tailored to the nature, size and location of the enterprise, with due regard taken of costs, business confidentiality and other competitive concerns.
- Disclosure policies of enterprises should include, but not be limited to, material information on: a) The financial and operating results of the enterprise; b) Enterprise objectives; c) Major share ownership and voting rights, including the structure of a group of enterprises and intra-group relations, as well as control enhancing mechanisms; d) Remuneration policy for members of the board and key executives, and information about board members, including qualifications, the selection process, other enterprise directorships and whether each board member is regarded as independent by the board; e) Related party transactions; f) Foreseeable risk factors; g) Issues regarding workers and other stakeholders; h) Governance structures and policies, in particular, the content of any corporate governance code or policy and its implementation process.
- Enterprises are encouraged to communicate additional information that could include: a) value statements or statements of business conduct intended for public disclosure including, depending on its relevance for the enterprise?s activities, information on the enterprise?s policies relating to matters covered by the Guidelines; b) policies and other codes of conduct to which the enterprise subscribes, their date of adoption and the countries and entities to which such statements apply; c) its performance in relation to these statements and codes; d) information on internal audit, risk management and legal compliance systems; e) information on relationships with workers and other stakeholders.
- Enterprises should apply high quality standards for accounting, and financial as well as non-financial disclosure, including environmental and social reporting where they exist. The standards or policies under which information is compiled and published should be reported. An annual audit should be conducted by an independent, competent and qualified auditor in order to provide an external and objective assurance to the board and shareholders that the financial statements fairly represent the financial position and performance of the enterprise in all material respects.
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Consumer interests
When dealing with consumers, enterprises should act in accordance with fair business, marketing and advertising practices and should take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality and reliability of the goods and services that they provide. In particular, they should:
- Ensure that the goods and services they provide meet all agreed or legally required standards for consumer health and safety, including those pertaining to health warnings and safety information.
- Provide accurate, verifiable and clear information that is sufficient to enable consumers to make informed decisions, including information on the prices and, where appropriate, content, safe use, environmental attributes, maintenance, storage and disposal of goods and services. Where feasible this information should be provided in a manner that facilitates consumers? ability to compare products.
- Provide consumers with access to fair, easy to use, timely and effective non-judicial dispute resolution and redress mechanisms, without unnecessary cost or burden.
- Not make representations or omissions, nor engage in any other practices, that are deceptive, misleading, fraudulent or unfair.
- Support efforts to promote consumer education in areas that relate to their business activities, with the aim of, inter alia, improving the ability of consumers to: i) make informed decisions involving complex goods, services and markets, ii) better understand the economic, environmental and social impact of their decisions and iii) support sustainable consumption.
- Respect consumer privacy and take reasonable measures to ensure the security of personal data that they collect, store, process or disseminate.
- Co-operate fully with public authorities to prevent and combat deceptive marketing practices (including misleading advertising and commercial fraud) and to diminish or prevent serious threats to public health and safety or to the environment deriving from the consumption, use or disposal of their goods and services.
- Take into consideration, in applying the above principles, i) the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers and ii) the specific challenges that e-commerce may pose for consumers
For the full text, please see oecd.org
