OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria will tomorrow open talks with Israeli government leaders on three major disputes that are liable to hold up Israel's accession to the organization. Israel is due to join the OECD in two months, but Gurria is about to make it clear to the government that unless Israel meets all the stipulated conditions, the timetable will not be met.
Belying the official position of the Israeli government, which asserts that all the obstacles to Israel's accession to the OECD have been cleared, with only technical details still outstanding, the OECD wants Israel to deal with three unresolved issues.
Gurria will make this point in meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, and Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer, among others. Gurria and Lieberman are also due to sign an agreement will also sign an agreement regulating the immunities and rights granted to missions of both parties.
Paralleling Gurria's visit, the OECD will publish to reports on Israel, one on macroeconomics issues, and the other on employment and welfare.
The first demand by the OECD, which has been reported on extensively in recent weeks, concerns Israel's compliance with the OECD's intellectual property norms and legislation in member states. The most acute problem concerns pharmaceutical patents and when it is permissible to begin marketing of generic versions of drugs.
The second, less well known but equally acute, demand concern Israel's obligations under the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Although Israel signed the convention last year, the OECD says that implementation is still patchy. Specifically, the OECD demands that Israel abolish the Ministry of Defense's right to censor the results of investigations of bribes paid by Israeli companies to officials.
The OECD's third demand is liable to ignite partisan political battles within Israel. The OECD demands that official statistics, at least those sent to the organization, exclude territories that it does not consider part of Israel, specifically eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, as well settlements in the West Bank.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 18, 2010
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