The OECD has published a peer review of Uruguay’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct, concluding that the body has a formal legal basis and interagency structure but is not functioning effectively in practice. The review identifies insufficient resources, low visibility, limited promotional activity and untested case-handling capacity as the main weaknesses, and rates visibility, compatibility with the Guidelines and parts of the institutional set-up as areas where improvement should be prioritised. The report says the NCP, created in 2021 and housed in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, currently has one part-time staff member devoting 25% of their time to the role, down from 0.45 full-time equivalent previously. The interministerial commission met in 2022 but not from 2023 to 2025, and the advisory body has never met. The NCP has not received any specific instances since its creation, while its case-handling procedures are available only in Spanish and have not been updated to reflect the 2023 OECD Guidelines. The review also points to outdated and incomplete website content, limited use of social media, low stakeholder awareness of the NCP’s grievance mechanism and only limited evidence of support for wider government policy coherence on responsible business conduct. The OECD recommends that Uruguay first increase resources, including appointing at least one full-time staff member, and relaunch the NCP’s operations. It also calls for a review of the interministerial commission’s composition, revised rules for the advisory body, updated case-handling procedures aligned with the 2023 Guidelines, stronger promotion tailored to Uruguayan stakeholders, and broader engagement across government, including with officials responsible for public procurement, export credits, state-owned enterprises, tourism and environmental policy. The report says a first evaluation could be carried out one year after the relaunch.
OECD2026-07-15
OECD peer review finds Uruguay’s responsible business conduct contact point under-resourced and largely inactive, urges full-time staffing and relaunch
The OECD’s peer review of Uruguay’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct finds it is under-resourced and only partly functioning in practice despite having a formal legal basis and interagency structure. Key gaps include one part-time staff member, no specific instances handled, an inactive advisory body and procedures not aligned with the 2023 OECD Guidelines. The OECD recommends a relaunch, at least one full-time staff member, updated procedures and stronger promotion and policy coordination.