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Guyana appointed member of EITI Contract Transparency Committee
Guyana was recently appointed as one of the members of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)’s Contract Transparency Committee. This development occurred at the recently concluded EITI Global Conference in Paris.
GY-EITI Head, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat
During an interview with Kaieteur News yesterday, head of the EITI Chapter here, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat, said that the invitation was extended to Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, and he accepted. Guyana will be represented on that committee by Dr. Jadoopat.
Further, the GY-EITI Head said, “The new 2019 EITI Standard (that was launched at the Global Conference) stipulates that as of January 1, 2021, EITI Implementing countries will be required to disclose all contracts governing exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and other mineral resources.
“The 2016 Standard only encouraged governments to disclose but the 2019 Standard has made it a requirement.”
Dr. Jadoopat said that if Guyana is to remain an EITI Implementing country, it has to satisfy the requirements of the EITI Standard, including the new ones.
In the area of transparency for contracts, which is just one aspect of the 2019 Standard, implementing countries are required to disclose information related to all contract and license awards and transfers; provide a description of the process for transferring or awarding the license; disclose the technical and financial criteria used; offer information about the recipient(s) of the license that has been transferred or awarded, including consortium members where applicable; and release any material deviations from the applicable legal and regulatory framework governing license transfers and awards.
In cases where governments can select different methods for awarding a contract or license (e.g. competitive bidding or direct negotiations), EITI members must provide the description of the process for awarding or transferring a license.
There must also be an explanation of the rules that determine which procedure should be used and why a particular procedure was selected.
Where there are gaps in the publicly available information, the 2019 Standard dictates that these should be clearly identified. It also notes that any significant legal or practical barriers preventing comprehensive disclosure of the information set out above, should be documented and explained, including an account of government plans to overcome such barriers and the anticipated timescale for achieving them.
Where companies hold licenses that were allocated prior to the period covered by EITI implementation, implementing countries are encouraged to disclose the information on whether these licenses were awarded through a bidding process.
The government is also required to disclose the list of applicants and the bid criteria.
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