[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2618 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2618

  To require certain multilateral development banks and other lending 
     institutions to implement independent third-party procurement 
                  monitoring, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             October 10 (legislative day, October 2), 1998

  Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require certain multilateral development banks and other lending 
     institutions to implement independent 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''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) The United States makes substantial contributions and 
        provides significant funding for major international 
        development projects through the International Bank for 
        Reconstruction and Development, the International Development 
        Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-
        American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the 
        Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment 
        Corporation, the North American Development Bank, the African 
        Development Fund, and other multilateral lending institutions.
            (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 requiring the use 
of independent third-party procurement monitoring as part of the United 
States participation in multilateral development banks and other 
lending institutions and in the disbursement of nonhumanitarian foreign 
assistance funds.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate committees.--The term ``appropriate 
        committees'' means the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Technology of the Senate and the Committee 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 the 
        person monitoring the procurement process does not render any 
        paid services to private industry and is neither owned nor 
        controlled by any government or government agency.
            (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) Multilateral development banks and other lending 
        institutions.--The term ``multilateral development banks and 
        other lending institutions'' means the International Bank for 
        Reconstruction and Development, the International Development 
        Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-
        American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the 
        Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment 
        Corporation, the North American Development Bank, and the 
        African Development Fund.

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 appropriate committees of Congress a strategic 
plan for requiring the use of independent third-party procurement 
monitoring and other international procurement reforms relating to the 
United States participation in multilateral development banks and other 
lending institutions.
    (b) Strategic Plan.--The strategic plan shall include an 
instruction by the Secretary of the Treasury to the United States 
Executive Director of each multilateral development bank and lending 
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 recipient international financial institution has 
        adopted an anticorruption plan that requires the use of 
        independent third-party procurement monitoring services and 
        ensures openness and transparency in government procurement; 
        and
            (2) the recipient country 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 Congress on the progress in 
implementing procurement reforms made by each multilateral development 
bank and lending institution and each country that received assistance 
from a multilateral development bank or lending institution during the 
preceding year.
    (d) Restrictions on Assistance.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, no funds appropriated or made available for 
nonhumanitarian foreign assistance programs, including the activities 
of the Agency for International Development, may be expended for those 
programs unless the recipient country, multilateral development bank or 
lending institution has demonstrated that--
            (1) procurement practices are open, transparent, and free 
        of corruption, fraud, inefficiency, and other misuse, and
            (2) independent third-party procurement monitoring has been 
        adopted and is being used by the recipient.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) National Security Interest.--Section 4 shall not apply with 
respect to a country if the President determines with such respect to 
such country that making funds available is important to the national 
security interest 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 important to the national security 
interest 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; and
            (4) facilitate development of a free market economic 
        system.
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