Foreword

OECD members have long recognised the potential benefits of more sustainable and responsible purchasing practices. To advance this agenda, in 2019 the OECD launched a programme to further integrate Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) considerations and risk-based supply chain due diligence into public procurement policies and processes. The OECD Working Party of Leading Practitioners on Public Procurement and the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct jointly manage this programme.

This report contributes to the research and analysis component of this multi-phased programme. In addition to analysis and research, this programme provides a platform for policy makers and practitioners to share lessons learned and agree on ways to increase the uptake of RBC objectives in public procurement.

The report analyses how countries incorporate RBC objectives into public procurement policies and practices. A survey to procurement policy makers and central purchasing bodies of countries adhering to the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement and to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises formed the basis of this analysis. The analysis also takes into account views from National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct (NCPs), business, industry associations, civil society and trade unions. The Working Parties on Responsible Business Conduct and of Leading Practitioners on Public Procurement discussed the recommendations of the report in a joint working party meeting on 28 October 2020.

This publication is a result of joint efforts between the OECD Infrastructure and Public Procurement Division (IPP) within the Public Governance Directorate and the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) within the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, under the direction and oversight of Elsa Pilichowski and Greg Medcraft. It has been prepared jointly by Erika Bozzay, Tessa Cullen, Lena Diesing, Pauline Göthberg, Shivani Kannabhiran, and Gabriela Villa Aguayo, under the supervision of Edwin Lau, Paulo Magina, Mathilde Mesnard and Cristina Tebar Less.

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