Windsor, Canada June, 2000

It is an honor for me to take part in this ceremony in which the Canadian government will deposit the instrument of ratification of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption.

This action, without a doubt, confirms once more Canada’s commitment to one of the most important collective actions in the Americas. Corruption is, one of the biggest threats to the consolidation of democracy, economic and social development. Corruption in turn constitutes an obstacle and a real challenge for all the States. It is precisely because corruption is an enemy that transcends all national frontiers, that it requires an effective and well coordinated action from all affected parties.

Conscience of this, in the Miami Summit, heads of State and Governments committed themselves to negotiate, within the framework of the OAS, a hemispheric treaty for the international cooperation against the fight of this problem.

The Convention is the outcome of this process. Not only was it the first international juridical instrument in this area, but it is still the only instrument that expresses a complete and integral conception of the subject.

The Convention is the most important treaty at the Inter-American level for the extradition of persons, judicial cooperation, the exchange of evidence and the seizure and forfeiture of property, in relation to crimes of corruption.

In relation to the investigation or supply of information by financial and banking institutions, the Convention represents a big advance within the purpose of preventing bank secrecy from being utilized to conceal corrupt individuals.

In relation to the right to asylum, the Convention arrives at a compromise between the values protected within the right to asylum and those that are inherent within the fight against corruption.

Moreover, as a result of this treaty all States have assumed a commitment to punish transnational bribery and illicit enrichment.

The Convention has become a navigational chart of our collective efforts. In fact, this is how the American States understand it, and for this reason the OAS General Assembly adopted an Inter-American program for the cooperation against corruption, and the General Secretariat, in fulfilling the mandates of the Inter-American program, has been assisting States in the process of implementing the Convention.

I would like to highlight that during the last few months, Members States of the OAS, within the framework of the working group on Probity and Public Ethics, have made important advances in this field. For instance, it has designed a questionnaire to evaluate the advances made by countries in the implementation of the Convention. The working group also organized a special session with government representatives, international organizations, representatives from the private sector and organizations of civil society to analyze the steps taken this far and to continue with the definition and coordination of future actions.

As a result of this process, States have elaborated a draft resolution, that has a complete view of the subject, to be considered in this General Assembly. This draft resolution has adopted two issues of special importance in which Canada participated and took an active role.

The first issue deals with the mandate given to the Permanent Council, of our Organization, to analyze the follow up mechanisms, with a view to formulate recommendations, before the end of the year, with regards to the best model that could be utilized by States Party to follow up the implementation of the Convention. The second topic, proposed by Canada, deals with the importance of analyzing the responsibility of the private sector in the prevention and fight against corruption in order to start, through this topic, to adopt within the framework of our organization a subject of mayor transcendence: the issue of corporate social responsibility.

I am sure that, the ratification of this Convention is going to allow Canada to consolidate its leadership role, a role that it has been undertaking in this field, and, that in a few months, we can bring to the heads of State and Governments in Quebec, a new proposal that will permit us to continue to further strengthen hemispheric cooperation in the fight against corruption.