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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000023 
 
SENT FROM USOECD 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 1295: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KCOR OECD GM SW JA RS UK FR
SUBJECT:  OECD:  DOC GC Cameron Kerry Leads U.S. Delegation to 
December 9, 2009 Anti-Bribery Conference 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) Summary:  U.S. Department of Commerce General Counsel 
Cameron Kerry led the U.S. delegation to an OECD Conference on 
December 9, 2009, which commemorated International Anticorruption 
Day, the ten-year anniversary of the entry into force of the OECD 
Anti-Bribery Convention, and the roll out of a new OECD Anti-Bribery 
Recommendation.  Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke delivered opening 
remarks via a live video link from a Washington D.C. Transparency 
International (TI) event, and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton 
delivered a pre-recorded video message, both of which were well 
received by the international audience of over 200 attendees.  Each 
emphasized the importance of enhanced enforcement of the Convention 
as well as accession to the Convention by key trading partners such 
as China and Russia.  Mr. Kerry participated in the opening 
roundtable discussion, delivered an effective closing statement and 
recorded a short news interview with the BBC.  Both Mr. Kerry and 
Secretary Locke's remarks were quoted in the International Herald 
Tribune and the New York Times.  The US Mission to the OECD will 
continue to keep the focus on implementation and outreach to new 
signatories in support of U.S. anti-bribery efforts.  End Summary. 
 
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OECD CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN BRIBERY 
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¶2. (SBU)  The December 9 OECD Anti-Bribery Conference coincided with 
the ten-year anniversary of the entry into force of the Anti-Bribery 
Convention, and in addition commemorated both International 
Anti-corruption Day and the roll out of a new OECD Anti-Bribery 
Recommendation.  The event was well attended with over 200 
participants.  Opening remarks for both the Paris OECD event, and a 
sister event sponsored by Transparency International in Washington, 
were transmitted by digital video to both audiences.  A video by 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the participants to both 
events, congratulating the OECD and signatory countries for their 
accomplishments, but emphasizing that there were continuing 
challenges.  Next, OECD Secretary Angel Gurria's remarks on the role 
of the organization were broadcast live from Washington. Secretary 
of Commerce Gary Locke then spoke, emphasizing the importance of 
enforcement.  The two events then proceeded with independent agenda. 
 
¶3.  (U) Mr. Kerry participated as one of eight panelists on a high 
level roundtable on "Who Pays the Price," [of foreign bribery], 
moderated by African BBC correspondent Mr. Dumor.  The roundtable 
focused on the victims of international bribery, ranging from 
companies who are solicited for bribes to poor people in developing 
countries who do not have clean drinking water as a result of the 
price exacted by corrupt practices. Former Transparency 
International founder and current President of the Extractive 
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Peter Eigen said that "all 
of us are victims," and explained the roles of TI and the EITI in 
fighting bribery and corruption through transparency.  Mr. Kerry 
fielded several questions, and in his answers emphasized the point 
that we are all victims and therefore must all work together to 
fight corruption by enforcing our antibribery laws. 
¶4.  (SBU)  Former Nigerian prosecutor Nuhu Ribadu spoke powerfully 
of the sacrifices that everyday citizens are forced to make while 
living with bribery and corruption in his home country, and 
criticized Nigerian and other leaders for stealing from the poorest 
of the poor.  He also focused blame on the companies that are 
responsible for bribing leaders, destroying the possibility of 
democracy in poor African countries.  These illicit funds contribute 
to many social ills, as well as provide financial means for 
adversaries to engage in numerous conflicts in Africa.  Ribadu sang 
the praises of the United States for leading by example, not only by 
enforcing its foreign bribery law, but also by helping other 
countries with mutual legal assistance.  He added that the 
reputation of U.S. firms was excellent -- Nigerians knew when they 
dealt with U.S. companies that they would be dealing in a 
straightforward and honest way. 
¶5.  (SBU)  By contrast, France's legal authorities as well as French 
firms came in for a remarkable amount of blunt and unvarnished 
criticism, both from roundtable participants and the audience. 
Ribadu strongly criticized the French for "not lifting a finger" to 
help him when he was a prosecutor requesting French MLA.  Some 
French members of the audience stood up and gave first-hand accounts 
of how bribery had ruined their overseas business, but that they had 
gotten no help from French authorities.  French company Total 
 
PARIS 00000023  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
(participating in the round-table) attempted to portray itself as a 
victim of bribery, and was roundly chastised by several speakers. 
TI Vice-President Akere Muna was especially critical of Total, 
saying that it was absurd that it would call itself a victim, adding 
that African leaders could not be expected to turn down bribes in 
the face of such poverty.  The Areva representative defended Total, 
saying that there are different levels of victims and that companies 
are now doing their best to address bribery by having effective 
compliance programs.  The French employers' association 
representative MEDEF also highlighted what it is doing to educate 
French companies in this area with various publications, including a 
booklet for small and medium sized businesses.  A fellow panelist 
from General Electric Europe pointed out that countries needed not 
only to have compliance programs but active enforcement of those 
programs for them to have any meaning, and governments needed to 
have active enforcement programs as well. 
¶6. (SBU) Mr. Kerry delivered the roundtable closing remarks, 
amplifying points raised in Secretary Locke's opening remarks.  He 
said that his presence, as well as Secretary Lock's and Clinton's 
opening remarks, illustrated the importance of combating bribery and 
corruption to the United States.  He explained that while we believe 
that promoting the rule of law by prosecuting foreign bribery will 
enhance exports and improve trade and economic conditions worldwide, 
it will do more than that: it will improve everyday living 
conditions for those who live in societies that have been brought 
down by corruption, where it has become a part of every day life. 
He said that all of us need to recommit ourselves today to the fight 
against corruption. He noted that major trading countries, such as 
China, had a responsibility to criminalize the bribery of foreign 
public officials and accede to the Convention.  He pointed out that 
only the Russian Federation had elected to participate in the event 
-- China and other major exporting countries had not sent 
delegations. 
¶7.  (SBU)  Kerry said that current parties to the OECD Anti-Bribery 
Convention needed to do their part and enforce their laws, and not 
make decisions about whether to enforce their laws based upon 
national economic interests (he was alluding to the U.K. BAE Saudi 
Arabia case).  He added that they needed to improve their 
implementing legislation where it has been found lacking, 
particularly concerning corporate liability.  He noted that 
companies need to proactively design and implement strong ethics and 
compliance programs and that civil society groups, such as 
Transparency International, also need to be watchdogs, and inform 
governments and the public when things are going wrong. He quoted 
President Obama's Ghana speech stating that no "person wants to live 
in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of 
brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny.... 
And now is the time for that style of governance to end." 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  Mr. Kerry's remarks were well received, both by 
the audience and fellow panelists.  The event itself clearly touched 
a nerve, with many impassioned comments coming from the floor.  Both 
Secretary Locke and Mr. Kerry were quoted in the International 
Herald Tribune and the New York Times the next day, and an OP-ED by 
Secretary Locke was published on December 9 in the Huffington Post. 
By multilateralizing the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the OECD 
Anti-Bribery Convention continues to be one of the most important 
examples of where US leadership at the OECD has leveled the 
international paying field for US companies and taken the fight 
against international corruption to a new level.  The US Mission to 
the OECD will continue to support efforts to enhance implementation 
of the Convention, both through the Working Group on Bribery and 
through Public Diplomacy efforts.  The Mission will also work the 
enhance outreach efforts to potential new signatory countries, such 
as the Russian Federation (which has applied to accede to the OECD 
and must sign the Convention as part of that process) and China. 
MONROE