Transparency International examined 47 countries that account for approximately 85 percent of world exports. ‘Expulsion of Corruption 2022’ published its report.
Turkey has also been examined in the study, which has followed countries’ fight against corruption in international trade since 2009.
In the report prepared within the scope of the Anti-Bribery Convention of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which criminalizes bribery of foreign public officials within the scope of trade and sets legally binding standards in this regard, Turkey was included in the category of “little/never implement” the law.
It was noted that sanctions against corruption in exports in 47 countries examined were at their lowest level since 2009.
The report points out that due to corruption cases in many countries of the world, public funds are illegally diverted towards private profits and multinational giant companies affect the decision-making processes of governments.
This year, only Switzerland and the USA were “actively” investigating and sanctioning such cases in proportion to their export shares.
These two countries account for only 11.8 percent of global exports.
The 20 countries that account for almost 40 percent of global exports impose “little” or “no enforcement” sanctions against exports of corruption.
25 countries, which make up 32 percent of exports, impose “medium or limited” sanctions against companies that give bribes.
Delia Ferreira Rubio, Head of Transparency International, said: “Governments face enormous challenges today, such as economic turmoil and the climate crisis. However, leaders should not ignore that intercontinental corruption intensifies these challenges.”
“In cases of widespread corruption in overseas markets, large corporations and their supporters illegally profit at the expense of economic development, democracy and human rights.”
TURKEY HAS BEEN WARNED MANY TIMES BEFORE
Turkey, whose export share is 1 percent, is among the countries that “implement little or no sanctions” against corruption.
It is stated that Turkey, which has not recorded any changes since the 2020 report, has only launched an investigation against companies that pay bribes abroad, and there are no cases where sanctions have been imposed.
According to Transparency International, Turkey has been warned many times by authorized working groups about the deficiencies in its legal framework on corruption.
In this context, Turkey was also called upon to strengthen its legislation regarding the liability of legal persons for foreign bribery and to implement adequate protection for whistleblowers.
According to the 2020 Report of the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), released in March 2021, Turkey was the country most unsuccessful in the implementation of recommendations by lawmakers, judges and prosecutors.