UPDATE: Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome Lose EITI Candidate Status
April 19 2010 - 3:46AM
Dow Jones News
Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe have lost their
status as candidates to become Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative countries while Mongolia is a step closer to compliance,
the board of EITI said in a statement late Friday.
The board said there were insufficient grounds for the two
countries to merit an extension to a deadline they were given in
2008 to complete external verification of their progress under the
initiative, which aims to improve transparency and accountability
in the extractives sector.
In the case of Equatorial Guinea, a lack of political will has
been the main obstacle to progress.
"Equatorial Guinea has not demonstrated sufficient commitment to
the goals and spirit of the initiative," said Alfred Lahai
Brownell, a campaigner with Publish What You Pay Liberia and EITI
board member. "All stakeholders should nevertheless remain engaged
in Equatorial Guinea and the country should be encouraged to
demonstrate renewed commitment to transparency and accountability,"
he added.
In Sao Tome and Principe, the EITI process has effectively been
on hold for some time and oil production hasn't yet commenced.
EITI is a multi-stakeholder initiative comprised of governments,
companies, civil society groups, investors and international
organizations. It is a voluntary initiative that is implemented by
countries whose governments sign-up.
PWYP is a global civil society coalition that helps citizens of
resource-rich developing countries hold their governments
accountable for the management of revenues from the oil, gas and
mining industries.
Mineral-rich Mongolia, where an investment agreement was
recently agreed between the government, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN.T)
and Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) for the $4 billion Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi
copper-gold project, meanwhile had its validation report approved
and its candidate status renewed. EITI said the country is close to
compliance and needs to undertake a number of remedial measures
within the next six months before it can be reassessed.
Azerbaijan and post-conflict Liberia were designated as
compliant in 2009.
A further 16 countries were unable to meet the deadline but were
granted an extension following a case-by-case review which teased
out the specific difficulties countries have faced in meeting the
deadline, the EITI board said. Their difficulties were judged to be
"exceptional and unforeseen."
"The board did not take the granting of these extensions
lightly, and the responsibility now falls upon countries to prove
they can fulfil their side of the bargain within their extension
periods," said Radhika Sarin, Publish What You Pay International
Coordinator and EITI board member. "At the next EITI board meeting,
most countries will face a rigorous test to remove any suspicion
that they are free riding on the brand of EITI."
-By Andrea Hotter, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9413;
andrea.hotter@dowjones.com
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