MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS OF THE FOLLOW-UP MECHANISM FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

Washington, D.C., January 14 to 18, 2002

1. Background

As agreed upon in the informal meetings held among the representatives of the States Parties to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the first Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism for the Implementation of said treaty was held at OAS Headquarters, in the city of Washington, D.C., United States of America, between January 14 to 18, 2002.

This meeting was attended by the delegates of the twenty-two (22) States Parties to the Convention which are members to the Follow-up Mechanism in accordance with the register that is annexed to this document.

This Meeting had before it documents prepared by the General Secretariat, a list of which is annexed to this document.

2. Work Development

A.  Practical Analysis Seminar of International Monitoring Mechanisms

The meeting was inaugurated by the OAS Secretary General, Cesar Gaviria. The text of his speech is annexed to this document.

During the first day, a seminar was held, organized by the Secretariat in accordance with the agreement established in the informal meetings among the States Parties, whose purpose was present, from a practical point of view, the organization and operation of four international monitoring mechanisms, as well as facilitate an understanding of the developments made and experiences obtained within their frameworks, and provide the Committee with assessment criteria and useful information for its decisions.

The international monitoring mechanisms in the seminar were as follows:

1. Mutual Monitoring Mechanism of Implementation of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and of the 1997 Revised Recommendation, both adopted within the OECD framework.
2. Mutual Monitoring Mechanism of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe.
3. Mutual Monitoring Mechanism of the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering (FATF-GAFI).
4. Multi-lateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM), of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission (CICAD-OAS), in regard to drug abuse.

Annexed to these minutes is a document that was prepared by the Secretariat related to the Seminar.

The seminar was closed by the Chairman of the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics and Permanent Representative of Nicaragua to the OAS, Ambassador Lombardo Martinez, and by the Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs of the OAS General Secretariat, Dr. Enrique Lagos.

B.  Committee of Experts Sessions

At the beginning of the first session of the Committee of Experts, elections for Chairman and Vice-Chairman for this first meeting were held. As Chairwoman, the lead expert designated by Nicaragua to the Committee, Mrs. Haydee Acosta, was elected, and as Vice-Chairman, the lead expert designated by the United States of America to the Committee, Mr. Richard Werksman, was elected.

Following the elections, the agenda for this meeting was approved, which is annexed to these minutes.

In development of the first agenda item, the Secretariat made a presentation, through the Director of the Department of Legal Co-operation and Information, Mr. Jorge Garcia-Gonzalez, regarding the background and actions taken in starting the Follow-up Mechanism’s activities and documents prepared for this meeting.

In fulfillment of the second agenda item, during the following working sessions and based on a draft prepared by the Secretariat, the Committee discussed and approved its Rules of Procedure and Other Provisions, whose text is annexed to these minutes.

Afterwards, in development of the third agenda point, the Committee decided that, during the first round the following provisions of the Convention, whose implementation by the States Parties shall be reviewed:

1. Article III, paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 9, and 11;
2. Article XIV; and
3. Article XVIII.

The Committee has decided that in the next meeting, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Other Provisions adopted, it shall, among other issues, consider and adopt the methodology and questionnaire for the review of said provisions; determine the duration of the first round, the number of meetings that will be held within its framework and the number of States Parties that shall be reviewed in each meeting; adopt an impartial methodology in setting the dates for review of each States Parties information; select, as a minimum, the States Parties that shall be reviewed in the next Committee meeting and the composition of the subgroups that will be in charge of the preliminary review; finally, adopt the 2002 Working Plan.

As for the fifth agenda item, the Committee elected by consensus as its Chairman for the first term projected in its Rules the lead expert of Uruguay to the Committee, Dr. Carlos Balsa. The election for Vice-Chairman was deferred until the next meeting.

In the final agenda item "other business", the lead expert from Nicaragua asked to have inserted into the minutes the offer of her country to host the next Conference of States Parties meeting.

Before the adjournment of the Committee of Experts meeting, the Secretariat read these minutes, which were adopted by consensus.

Washington, D.C., January 18, 2002.