British firms resorting to bribery abroad

Campaign group Transparency International (TI) has claimed that British companies are using bribes to win business abroad, in direct contravention of international law.

According to the Bribe Payers Index (BPI) 2002, released by Transparency International on 14 May, companies throughout Europe are using bribes in order to secure overseas contracts, despite laws forbidding firms from making corrupt payments to foreign officials.

"The laws are not being properly enforced," said TI Chairman Peter Eigen. "Our new survey leaves no doubt that large numbers of multinational corporations from the richest nations are pursuing a criminal course to win contracts in the leading emerging market economies of the world.

TI's Bribe Payers Index is based on surveys conducted in 15 emerging market economies by Gallup International Association. Companies from Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium were among the firms least likely to engage in the use of bribes. However, topping the worldwide list of the companies most likely to resort to making corrupt payments is Russia, followed by China, Taiwan and Korea.

TI Advisory Council Chairman Kamal Hossain also pinpointed the sectors in which bribery was most liable to occur. He explained: "The BPI shows that the most flagrant corruption is seen in the public works/construction and arms and defence sectors, which are plagued by endemic bribery by foreign firms. In a new study by the UK chapter of TI, it is estimated, for example, that foreign bribery is associated with tens of billions of dollars of defence deals."

Overall, the TI survey showed that most of the respondents did not believe that corruption is getting significantly worse in their countries, but the BPI results on this general matter were "not encouraging."

(CL)