Under Jair Bolsonaro, who pledged to end corruption, Brazil was downgraded in an assessment that followed how governments implemented one of the major international agreements to combat corruption created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Among the numerous setbacks, the review cites political interference by the Executive in the country’s anti-corruption bodies, the loss of independence of the Attorney General and Federal Police, the termination of Task Forces, and a lack of transparency. Brazil has become one of the nine countries with the worst drop in grades in recent years.

Commitment to the OECD is one of the main focuses of Bolsonarism’s foreign policy. To be admitted, however, the country will need to provide evidence that it has taken steps to comply with the OECD Convention against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. It is one of the most important instruments of international anti-corruption legislation.

However, an independent assessment released by Transparency International on Tuesday reveals that Brazil, which signed the agreement in 2002, has suffered a deterioration in its implementation.

“The main weaknesses, particularly in the private sector, are the inadequacy of whistleblower complaints and protection mechanisms, the inadequate definition of foreign bribery that does not take into account private corruption, and the political interference in the work of law enforcement. The hallmark of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has serious consequences for anti-corruption efforts,” the report said. .

Bolsonaro’s intervention is actually attracting international attention. “Bolsonaro has changed the command of the Federal Police four times since he took power, allegedly in an effort to exert greater control over law enforcement. The government between 2019 and 202,” he emphasizes.

Therefore, according to the global assessment report, Brazil has moved from a “moderate” application in the assessment published in 2020 to a “limited” application of transnational anti-bribery mechanisms.

The report covers the period from 2018 to 2021 and evaluated 43 signatory countries in addition to China, India, Hong Kong and Singapore, which are not part of the agreement but are responsible for a significant portion of international trade.

The aim of the agreement is to combat a specific type of corruption that is highly harmful to international trade and economic development: bribery of foreign public officials by multinational companies or exporters to support their business in the global market.

Bolsonaro undone advances

According to the assessment, the current situation marks a turning point in the fight against corruption in the country. “Brazil was on a declining trajectory in the classification of the 2018 report (skipping two categories from “no application” to “moderate application”), stability (“moderate”) in the 2020 report, and now on a regression 2022 report (limited application)”, published in Berlin states the assessment.

“The downgrade in the current report is due to the decrease in the number of investigations, lawsuits and convictions in transnational bribery cases. During the period under review, Brazil launched only 5 investigations, initiated a process and only concluded. Two cases related to the imposition of sanctions related to transnational bribery,” he warned.

Among the main factors that led to the downgrade of Brazil’s rating are:

(1) Loss of independence of institutions operating in the control of international corruption, in particular the Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Police and the Office of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation (DRCI, under the Ministry of Justice);

(2) Ending the Task Force model (which is essential for investigating complex international corruption cases) without replacing it with adequate structures of teamwork and inter-agency cooperation;

(3) transferring the authority to investigate corruption and money laundering cases when associated with election crimes (eg, bribery funds) to Electoral Justice with less structure and expertise to prosecute complex crimes;

(4) legal ambiguity and legal shortcomings in tools vital to combating transnational corruption, such as tolerance agreements, asset recovery and victim compensation, and whistleblower protection;

(5) There is little transparency of data on investigations against cross-border bribery and sanctions imposed by the CGU, particularly in the case of tolerance agreements.

“The numerous setbacks in the fight against corruption over the past five years have worsened the ability of Brazilian institutions to penalize cases of transnational bribery, which will undoubtedly adversely affect the country’s accession to the OECD,” said Guilherme France. Transparency International Brazil consultant.

“We hope that the OECD Anti-Bribery Working Group will identify among the key conditions for this engagement the restoration of the autonomy of control agencies in Brazil, including the Federal Police and the Federal Ministry of Public Affairs, and the strengthening of the investigation and prosecution mechanisms. the criminal prosecution of complex corruption cases that cross borders. “, says

Aras led to “strong drop in corruption investigations”

The report makes clear its disappointment with the attorney general, Augusto Aras. According to the party, his tenure was tarnished “for unconstitutional omissions within the government of President Jair Bolsonaro” and “unwillingness to investigate senior officials of the federal government”.

The accusations also point to Aras “dismantling the task force model in the Federal Ministry of Public Administration (MPF), which has led to a sharp decline in corruption investigations across the country”. If task forces are disbanded, the party stresses that in many states the planned replacement structures are not properly implemented.

“Moreover, the large number of legal actions filed by both the National Council of the Public Ministry and the Federal Court of Auditors against MPF prosecutors, who were members of the Lava Jato working group and now face unprecedented and disproportionate penalties, are also of great concern.” , aforementioned. “This has had a chilling effect on prosecution,” he warns.

OECD concerned about the situation in Brazil

The report is published as the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Working Group (WGB) meets in Paris. “It will be up to this committee, along with other thematic groups of the organization, to express an opinion for the chancellor or make reservations about Brazil’s participation in the entity,” Transparency said.

“Concerned about Brazil’s failures to comply with the Convention in 2019, the WGB sent a dedicated high-level mission to the country to verify the situation on the ground. The scenario continued to deteriorate and for the first time in the body’s history, it will continue to be tracked as a critical case at the end of 2020. “He created a subgroup to specifically monitor the situation in Brazil.”

Last Thursday, the 6th, the Bolsonaro government held a press conference to announce that the first memorandum for joining the bloc has been submitted to the OECD. still does not fit.

According to the government, Brazil has adhered to 108 and 230 of the agency’s main normative instruments and has already requested adherence to 45 other instruments.

However, Transparency International regrets that the self-assessment document has been kept confidential, “meaning that the Brazilian society’s government cannot verify the portrait of a country it has submitted to the OECD.”

“However, it is important to emphasize that the OECD assessment will consider not only the existence of norms aligned with the organisation, but also their effectiveness. What the report shows is that, with regard to transnational bribery, Brazil has completely failed. To ensure the correct implementation of these measures,” he adds.

“The main weaknesses, particularly in the private sector, are the inadequacy of whistleblower complaints and protection mechanisms, the inadequate definition of foreign bribery that does not take into account private corruption, and political interference in the work of law enforcement. The hallmark of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has serious ramifications for anti-corruption efforts.

Brazil was one of the nine countries that scored worse in this edition of the report, along with the United Kingdom, Israel (in the “active” to “medium” category), Italy, Spain, Sweden, Portugal (“moderate” to “limited”). ” “), Denmark and Lithuania (less than “limited”)
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