Bal Harbour, FL
In many countries, commerce is routinely distorted and compromised by widespread corruption. Bribes are often the price of admission to business contracts or licenses.
U.S. companies and their subsidiaries are properly subject to the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it a crime to bribe foreign government officials. Unfortunately, America's major trading competitors not only fail to prohibit foreign bribery; some even subsidize it by permitting their companies to treat bribes as tax deductions.
Because such corruption undermines economic progress and often jeopardizes democratic institutions, the United States should act with other major trading states in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to combat bribery.
The AFL-CIO urges the Clinton Administration to continue its efforts to persuade other OECD nations to take effective steps against bribery in international economic transactions. The AFL-CIO joins with the Trade Union Advisory Committee to promote implementation of the OECD Council's Recommendation on Bribery in International Business Transactions, passed last May. Moreover, we will encourage unions in other nations to press governments to act effectively against corruption.