Prohibits the use of funds for nonhumanitarian foreign assistance programs (including Agency for International Development (AID) activities) unless each recipient country and each international financial institution has demonstrated that significant progress is being made toward institutionalizing: (1) procurement practices that are open, transparent, and free of corruption, fraud, inefficiency, and other misuse; and (2) independent third-party procurement monitoring of government procurement in countries that lack necessary organization, resources, and expertise.
Specifies national security, emergency humanitarian, and other exceptions to the requirements of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3116 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3116
To promote openness, transparency, and efficiency in international
government procurement through capacity building and, where
appropriate, third-party procurement monitoring, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 20, 1999
Mr. Kolbe (for himself and Mr. Matsui) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services,
and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote openness, transparency, and efficiency in international
government procurement through capacity building and, where
appropriate, third-party procurement monitoring, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Competition in Foreign Commerce
Act of 1999''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States makes substantial contributions and
provides significant funding for major international
development projects through international financial
institutions and bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.
(2) These international development projects are often
plagued with fraud, corruption, waste, inefficiency, and misuse
of funding.
(3) Fraud, corruption, waste, inefficiency, misuse, and
abuse are major impediments to competition in foreign commerce
throughout the world.
(4) Identifying these impediments after they occur is
inadequate and meaningless.
(5) Detection of impediments before they occur helps to
ensure that valuable United States resources contributed to
important international development projects are used
appropriately.
(6) Independent third-party procurement monitoring is an
important tool for detecting and preventing such impediments.
(7) Third-party procurement monitoring includes evaluations
of each stage of the procurement process and assures the
openness and transparency of the process.
(8) Improving transparency and openness in the procurement
process helps to minimize fraud, corruption, waste,
inefficiency, and other misuse of funding, and promotes
competition, thereby strengthening international trade and
foreign commerce.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to build on the excellent
progress associated with the Organization on Economic Development and
Cooperation Agreement on Bribery and Corruption by promoting the use of
independent third-party procurement monitoring as part of United States
participation in the international financial institutions and in the
disbursement by the United States of bilateral nonhumanitarian foreign
assistance funds, so as to ensure open, efficient, and transparent
government procurement practices.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate committees.--The term ``appropriate
committees'' means the Committees on Finance and on Commerce,
Science, and Technology of the Senate and the Committees on
Ways and Means and on Commerce of the House of Representatives.
(2) Independent third-party procurement monitoring.--The
term ``independent third-party procurement monitoring'' means a
program to--
(A) eliminate bias,
(B) promote transparency and open competition, and
(C) minimize fraud, corruption, waste,
inefficiency, and other misuse of funds,
in international procurement through independent evaluation of
the technical, financial, economic, and legal aspects of the
procurement process.
(3) Independent.--The term ``independent'' means that
monitoring the procurement process does not pose a conflict of
interest for the person doing so.
(4) Each stage of procurement.--The term ``each stage of
procurement'' means the development and issuance of technical
specifications, bidding documents, evaluation reports, contract
preparation, and the delivery of goods and services.
(5) International financial institution.--The term
``international financial institution'' has the meaning given
in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial
Institutions Act.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR FAIR COMPETITION IN FOREIGN COMMERCE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transmit to
the President and to the appropriate committees a plan for promoting
international government procurement reforms relating to the United
States participation in international financial institutions, including
the use of third party procurement monitoring where appropriate.
(b) Plan.--The plan shall include an instruction by the Secretary
of the Treasury to the United States Executive Director of each
international financial institution to use the voice and vote of the
United States to oppose the use of funds appropriated or made available
by the United States for any non-humanitarian assistance, until--
(1) the institution has adopted an anticorruption plan that
requires the use of independent third-party procurement
monitoring services in any case in which the country receiving
such assistance lacks the necessary organization, resources,
and expertise to ensure openness, efficiency, and transparency
in government procurement; and
(2) each country receiving such assistance institutes
specific strategies for minimizing corruption and maximizing
transparency in each stage of the procurement process.
(c) Annual Reports.--Not later than June 29 of each year, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall report to the appropriate committees on
the progress in implementing procurement reforms made by each
international financial institution and each country that received non-
humanitarian assistance from such an institution during the preceding
year.
(d) Restrictions on Assistance.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no funds appropriated or made available for non-
humanitarian foreign assistance programs, including the activities of
the Agency for International Development, may be expended for a
government procurement program unless each country eligible to receive
assistance under such programs and each international financial
institution involved has demonstrated that significant progess is being
made toward institutionalizing--
(1) procurement practices which are open, transparent, and
free of corruption, fraud, inefficiency, and other misuse; and
(2) independent third-party monitoring of government
procurement, in the case of such countries that lack necessary
organization, resources, and expertise.
SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS.
(a) National Security.--Section 4 shall not apply with respect to a
country if the President determines with respect to such country that
making funds available is in the national security interests of the
United States. Any such determination shall cease to be effective 6
months after being made unless the President determines that its
continuation is in the national security interests of the United
States.
(b) Other Exceptions.--Section 4 shall not apply with respect to
assistance to--
(1) meet urgent humanitarian needs (including providing
food, medicine, disaster, and refugee relief);
(2) facilitate democratic political reform and rule of law
activities;
(3) create private sector and nongovernmental organizations
that are independent of government control; or
(4) facilitate development of a free market economic
system.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy.
Executive Comment Requested from State.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2416-2417)
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