This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from the European Commission. The Anti-Corruption Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International and funded by the European Union.
Query
Can you provide information regarding best practices in EITI implementation? More specifically could you inform us about good practices related to (i) financial and non-financial data collection; (ii) materiality threshold definition; (ii) sectors included in the EITI reporting in member countries?
Content
1. Overview of EITI requirements
2. Best practices in EITI implementation: Improving quality and the amount of information collected and published
3. References
Summary
The implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) involves a series of activities aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in resource rich countries. To date, 35 countries are implementing EITI and the results are very mixed. The EITI standard sets the basic requirements to be followed by implementing countries. These include the establishment of a multi-stakeholder group (MSG) responsible for overseeing the implementation, the timely publication of EITI reports, the publication of comprehensive reports and the provision of contextual information about the sector.
Some countries have opted for a basic implementation of EITI standards, while others for an extended implementation. Experience shows that countries that have broadened the scope and innovated in the implementation have achieved better results and managed to foster reforms in the sector.
For example, countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia have innovated in several requirements. Nigeria conducts physical, financial and product audits of the information provided by reporting entities. Ghana has included data on payments made to subnational governments in the report, which is particular relevant in the mining sector. Finally, Liberia has included other relevant extractive sectors such as forestry and agriculture in its report.
Authors
Maíra Martini, Transparency International, [email protected]Reviewers
Marie Chene, Transparency InternationalDieter Zinnbauer, Ph.D., Transparency InternationalDate
10/02/2014
