Every OECD member country and every non-OECD country that has committed itself to the OECD Guidelines (PDF: 624 KB, in German) is required to set up a National Contact Point (NCP).
The tasks of the NCP are:
- to raise awareness for the Guidelines among employers, employees and civil society, and to promote their application;
- to act as neutral mediators to settle disputes between the different parties in the case of complaints and indications regarding potential breaches of the Guidelines by German companies;
- to work together with other NCPs and the OECD in further developing the Guidelines, and, if necessary, to respond to the procedures which fall with in the responsibility of other NCPs;
- to answer general inquiries and specific questions arising from the application of the Guidelines.
The German NCP is based at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). In accordance with the affirmations in the 2015 G7 Schloss Elmau Summit Declaration and the National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights (NAP, 2016), the German NCP 2016 was reorganised and assigned directly to the Director-General for External Economic Policy at the Economic Affairs Ministry. It was also equipped with additional staff and given its own budget. In their Hamburg Summit Declaration of 2017, the G20 Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their support for out-of-court complaints mechanisms such as the NCP.
Close collaboration with ministries, social partners and civil society
The federal ministries whose remit touches upon the Guidelines have formed a group (Interministeriellen Ausschuss (IMA) OECD-Leitsätze) where they regularly discuss these matters. In this body, all the decisions and measures of the NCP, current issues relating to the OECD Guidelines, and their further dissemination and the working methods of the NCP are closely coordinated and agreed by way of consensus. Chaired by the lead ministry, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the members of the group at present are the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development. If necessary, additional ministries may be called upon to provide specific expertise.
The NCP and the ministries are furnished with advice by the OECD Guidelines Working Group. This group holds regular meetings with representatives of trade unions, industry associations and NGOs for discussions of fundamental issues relating to the OECD Guidelines and how to raise awareness of these and to promote compliance.
The current addresses and contact details of the NCPs can be found here.
The Annual Reports by the NCPs can be found here (in German). Please click here (in German) to read the reports by the Federal Government.