OECD and Soft Law
Unlike many other inter-governmental organizations like the United Nations or the European Commission, the OECD cannot legislate or enforce laws and doesn't have the power to coerce a country, member or not, to alter its policy.
However, it can have an influence on national policies through soft laws, by issuing "recommendations", "guidelines" and other "manuals", that countries or companies can refer to. Some of these guidelines have become de facto standards, such as the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals or the OECD Model Tax Convention.
Also, negotiations and agreements between representatives of member countries can happen at the OECD, and have direct consequences in national laws.
Read more about this topic: Organisation For Economic Co-operation And Development Controversy
Famous quotes containing the words soft and/or law:
“In marble halls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal-clear,
A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. In marble walls as white as milk (Riddle: An Egg)
“It seems to be a law in American life that whatever enriches us anywhere except in the wallet inevitably becomes uneconomic.”
—Russell Baker (b. 1925)