OECD Working Groups

Within the OECD, officially supported export credits are primarily managed by two Working Groups operating under the Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD). The Export Credits and Guarantees Working Group (ECG) discusses and coordinates the national policies of its members regarding export credits, focusing on good governance issues such as anti-bribery measures, environmental and social due diligence, and sustainable lending practices. Currently, there are three key recommendations related to good governance and officially supported export credits:

1. OECD Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits – commits parties to taking specific and coordinated actions to prevent bribery in export transactions and ensures that official export credit providers do not finance transactions tainted by corruption (more information about Eximbanka’s activities in this regard can be found here).
2. Recommendation of the Council on Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence – sets out common approaches for addressing the environmental and social impacts of projects, including measures for conducting due diligence, benchmarking projects against international standards, and applying conditions to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or remedy potential adverse impacts (more information about Eximbanka’s activities in this regard can be found here).
3. Recommendation of the Council on Sustainable Lending Practices and Export Credits – ensures that export credits for public sector borrowers in low-income countries do not contribute to unsustainable debt, aligning with the joint Debt sustainability analysis of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (more information: Recommendation of the Council on Sustainable Lending Practices and Officially Supported Export Credits).

The second Working Group is an independent group of Participants of the OECD Arrangement (hereafter referred to as the Participants), where the rules of the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (hereafter referred to as the OECD Arrangement) are formulated.
Eximbanka represents the Slovak Republic in both Working Groups, which meet at regular plenary sessions two to three times a year. These sessions involve discussions and approvals of changes to existing rules and proposals for their potential revision. During the Participants’ meetings (as well as in decisions made by the Participants through written procedures), the European Union is represented unanimously by the European Commission. All decisions on amendments to the OECD Arrangement are made by consensus.

Currently discussed topics within the OECD
The main topic of discussion at the Participants’ meetings is the revision of Article 6 of the OECD Arrangement. The revision concerns the provision of officially supported export credits for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector. The proposed revision aims to potentially expand these restrictions to include transactions related to the exploration, extraction, transportation, storage, and distribution infrastructure for coal, oil, natural gas, or unabated methods of energy production from these sources.
ECG is also discussing the revision of the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence (hereafter referred to as the “Recommendation”). The revision focuses on updating definitions, setting GHG emission thresholds, as well as the possible extension of the Recommendation’s scope to transactions not covered by the OECD Arrangement.