Bribery Accord Signed Deal Attacks Kickbacks Intended To Win Contracts

The United States and 33 other countries signed a convention Wednesday aimed at eradicating bribery in international business.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, speaking at the signing ceremony in Paris, called the accord “a victory for good government, fair competition and open trade.”

Washington has been a driving force behind the agreement reached by members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and five additional countries.

But even some of those signing the accord admit to its shortcomings, while praising it as a first effort to end the widespread practice of kickbacks to win contracts.

The accord makes bribery a criminal offense in some cases, but not all, depending upon national laws, and does not apply to foreign political parties or private individuals. But it does make bribery of foreign public officials an extraditable offense.

The agreement takes effect by the end of 1998. Signatory countries must first get it ratified by their national parliaments.

Peter Clark, of the U.S. Justice Department fraud section, said national laws, like those in Germany and Italy where corporate bribes are not a criminal offense, take precedence over the convention.