Acknowledging that corruption is a threat to markets, trust in government, and the rule of law, and that fighting corruption requires governments and business to work together, the G20 AntiCorruption Action Plan for 2013-2014 states that building “on our commitments made in Seoul and Cannes, we will continue to promote integrity, transparency, accountability and the prevention of corruption in the public sector, including in the management of public finances”, for example by:

“ensuring we have in place systems of procurement based on transparency, competition and objective criteria in decision-making to prevent corruption, and by the end of 2014, continuing our analytical work in this area and developing and sharing good practices in the field of public procurement anticorruption policies, measures and legislation including, for example, electronic procurement”

In order to pursue this objective, the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) requested the OECD to develop the Compendium of good practices in integrity in public procurement. The proposed outline including the methodology and topics for the compendium were approved in the June 2013 ACWG meeting in Ottawa, and the presentation of country examples was approved during the October 2013 ACWG meeting in Paris.

This Compendium of good practices follows the principles agreed upon in the first Monitoring Report, endorsed by the G20 leaders in Cannes in 2011. Country examples present ways to detect and prevent integrity risks, and to promote the application of objective criteria, as well as factors for successful implementation of good practices in a specific country context. in line with the Action Plan, the compendium focusses on two areas: 1) transparency in procurement and fighting red tape; and 2) mechanisms for integrity and accountability.

This Compendium supports G20 countries in mapping good practices and sharing lessons learned in order to shape the global debate and set example for fighting corruption and promoting integrity in public procurement while implementing national standards. The Compendium also helps countries address emerging issues such as promoting integrity in the organization of major public events.

Sharing lessons learned from good practices also support efforts to foster trust in government and public spending.