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Costa Rica Adopts the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

OECD.CostaRica [1]This a guest post from Juan Carlos Tristan, an attorney at BLP Legal [2] in Costa Rica.

On May 10, 2017, the Costa Rican Congress approved the country’s adoption of the “Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions” (the “OECD Anti-Bribery Convention”).

This decision undoubtedly [3] represents a significant step towards the implementation of the highest international standards for the control and regulation of business ethics and corruption; specifically, the imposition of penalties for bribery (a key component of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention).  Under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, Costa Rica will need to develop tools to codify, prevent, detect, investigate, and sanction bribery of foreign officials by Costa Rican persons and companies engaged in international business.

This represents an important step in the process started by Costa Rica in 2012 for its ultimate integration into the OECD. To carry out this process, the OECD requires Costa Rica to make certain efforts to implement tools and practices for Costa Rican public servants.

Among the steps already taken by Costa Rica was the approval several months ago of the “Transnational Bribery Crime” reform bill, which the country codified in article 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Illicit Enrichment in the Exercise of Public Service Law. Accession to the OECD Convention would be another step.

This is another example of the country’s commitment to ensure the implementation of the Action Plan, regarding the commitments included in the OECD Road Map, including the adherence to an important legal regime and the commitment to submit to different public policy reviews.

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