Canada establishes new standards for extractive companies

Canada will now establish a new mandatory reporting standards for Canadian extractive companies.

The Africa Progress Panel welcomed the announcement together with the plenary vote in the European Parliament approving EU Transparency and Accounting Directives, a press release issued on June 12, 2013 has said.

The vote in the European Parliament creates a binding legal requirement for EU-listed and large privately owned oil, gas, mining and logging companies to publish all payments over €100,000 to governments in every country where they operate. This brings the EU in line with similar extractive industry transparency rules in the United States, under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, that will take effect this year.

“This is a good day for transparency and is a major step towards a world where developing countries are paid fair prices for their mineral resources,” Caroline Kende-Robb, Executive Director of the Africa Progress Panel said.

“These developments, coming only days before the G8 Summit in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland next week, increase the chances that the G8 Summit will provide agreements for strong action to improve rules to fight tax avoidance an evasion, and ensure transparency in extraction deals,” she added.

By Dorcas Appiah