NEWS RELEASES
CORRUPTION OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS ACT COMES INTO FORCE
February 12, 1999
CORRUPTION OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS ACT
COMES INTO FORCE
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Anne McLellan and International Trade Minister
Sergio Marchi announced that a new law, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, has been adopted by Parliament and will come into force
on February 14, 1999.
The new law makes it a criminal offence to bribe a foreign public official in the course of business. Businesses convicted under the Corruption of
Foreign Public Officials Act would face heavy fines, and individuals could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail.
The legislation reinforces Canada's leadership role in fighting corruption and promoting good business practices at an international level and
confirms the Government's commitment to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business
Transactions. The involvement of the Canadian business community has also been important in creating a strong and effective Convention that
will help to level the playing field in international commercial transactions.
The Convention, negotiated at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was signed by all 29 OECD member
countries (includes Canada, the United States, most European countries, Japan and South Korea) and five non-member countries (Argentina,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile and the Slovak Republic) in December 1997. Each signatory government is committed to having its own legislation that
would make it a crime to bribe foreign public officials in international business transactions.
Five of the ten OECD countries with the largest share of OECD exports were required to ratify the Convention in 1998 to trigger its entry into
force. When Canada ratified the Convention in December 1998, it became the key fifth country needed, and the Convention will take effect on
February 15, 1999. To date, other countries that have also ratified the Convention include: Iceland, Japan, Germany, Hungary, the United
States, Finland, the United Kingdom, Norway, Bulgaria and South Korea.
The Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act is available under "Government Bills" on the Parliamentary Internet site at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/ government/S-21/S-21_4/S-21_cover-E.html.
A guide to the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act provides background information and will be available on the Department of Justice
website:
http://canada.justice.gc.ca. For printed copies, call (613) 957-4222.
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For further information, media may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Pierre Gratton
Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
(613) 992-4621
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
Doug Breithaupt
Criminal Law Policy Section
Department of Justice Canada
(613) 957-4743
Leslie Swartman
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332
This document is also available on the Department of Justice Canada website: http://canada.justice.gc.ca and on the Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade website: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca.
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