Export insurance business is managed in accordance with the multilateral agreement on official credit insurance:

•    through the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, and OECD recommendations related to anti bribery, assessment of social and environmental impacts, and sustainable finance practices;
•    through European Union directives and regulations, that include the transposition of the OECD Arrangement in EU law.

The main purpose of the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits  is to provide a framework for officially supported export credits and to promote transparency and create fair conditions to encourage competition among exporters based on quality and prices of goods and services exported rather than on the most favourable officially supported export credits.
The Arrangement sets the financing terms and conditions (repayment term, repayment profile, minimum premium rate, minimum interest rate, etc.) to be applied when providing officially supported export credits.

The OECD Recommendation on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits encourages members to take measures to prevent bribery in officially supported export contracts.
Bpifrance Assurance Export applies OECD recommendations via an anti-bribery system and Ethics Charter, which set forth verification and due diligence duties for agency stuff during the analysis of insurance requests and over the entire term of the policy.

Bpifrance Assurance Export also applies the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence in its analyses. The purpose of this recommendation is to ensure that export credits meet local regulations in the host country and applicable international standards, mainly those developed by the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

In accordance with this Recommendation, Bpifrance Assurance Export has established an assessment and monitoring procedure for the environmental and social impacts of export credits subject to insurance requests. For more details on this procedure, see our Corporate Social Responsibility document.

In the interest of supporting trade with lower-income countries, without creating future debt burden, the members of the OECD’s Export Credit Group developed Principles and Guidelines to Promote Sustainable Lending Practices in the Provision of Official Export Credits to Lower-Income Countries. The purpose is to ensure that export credits granted to government buyers or officially supported in lower-income countries support the borrowing country’s economic and social progress without endangering its financial future and long-term development prospects.

Lastly, Bpifrance Assurance Export also takes part in negotiations aimed at defining and advancing these rules, under the aegis of:
–    OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
–    EU: European Union
–    The Paris Club: International cooperation on agreements with indebted countries