Le Conseil d'Administration a convenu que la Mongolie a réalisé des progrès satisfaisants dans la mise en oeuvre de la Norme ITIE 2016.

Decision reference: 2018-14 / BM-39
Decision basis: 2016 EITI Standard, Requirement 8.3 EITI Validation deadlines and consequences

13 February 2018

Décision du Conseil d'administration

Le Conseil d'administration est arrivé à la conclusion suivante:

Le Conseil d’administration de l’ITIE convient que la Mongolie a pleinement mis en place les mesures correctives issues de la première Validation du pays. La Mongolie a donc accompli dans l’ensemble des progrès satisfaisants dans la mise en œuvre de la Norme ITIE.

Le Conseil d’administration reconnaît le travail pionnier de la Mongolie pour garantir à ses citoyens une divulgation régulière et accessible des informations sur le secteur minier, ne serait-ce qu’à travers le portail de données de l’ITIE Mongolie https://e-reporting.eitimongolia.mn/. La deuxième Validation a confirmé les efforts déployés par la Mongolie pour utiliser le rapportage ITIE comme un diagnostic permettant d’entraîner des réformes dans la gestion des licences extractives et la participation de l’État dans le secteur extractif, y compris les dépenses quasi fiscales, les transferts infranationaux et les dépenses sociales. Malgré la persistance d’un certain décalage entre les règles et la pratique dans la gouvernance des industries extractives, le Conseil d’administration considère que le dernier Rapport ITIE reflète adéquatement les problèmes pratiques qui se posent dans ce secteur. L’amélioration progressive de la cohésion et de la supervision du Groupe multipartite se reflète dans la qualité du Rapport ITIE 2016, bien que le Conseil d’administration encourage les parties prenantes à continuer à renforcer le dynamisme de leurs activités de diffusion et de sensibilisation, et leur évaluation d’impact.

Le Conseil d’administration se félicite des efforts en cours visant à garantir la divulgation systématique stipulée par les Exigences 2 à 6 relatives au rapportage ITIE. Le Conseil prend note de ces développements et se réjouit de travailler avec les parties prenantes mongoles sur ces questions.

Le Groupe de travail multipartite devra continuer à veiller au respect des Principes et des Exigences ITIE. Lorsque des préoccupations sont soulevées quant à savoir si la mise en œuvre de l’ITIE est tombée sous le niveau requis, le Conseil d’administration se réserve le droit de demander à ce pays de procéder à une nouvelle Validation. Conformément à l’Exigence 8.3.b, les parties prenantes peuvent adresser une requête au Conseil d’administration de l’ITIE si elles considèrent qu’une révision du statut de la Mongolie est nécessaire. Si ce n’est pas le cas, conformément à l’Exigence 8.3 .D.i, la Mongolie sera revalidée dans trois ans, la prochaine Validation commençant le 13 février 2021.

Contexte

La Mongolie a été acceptée en tant que pays candidat à l’ITIE en septembre 2007 et désignée conforme aux Règles de l’ITIE en octobre 2010. La première Validation de la Mongolie au titre de la Norme ITIE a commencé le 1^erjuillet 2016. Le 11 janvier 2017, le Conseil d’administration de l’ITIE a jugé que la Mongolie avait accompli des progrès significatifs dans la mise en œuvre de la Norme ITIE 2016. Le Conseil d’administration a alors défini huit mesures correctives liées aux Exigences suivantes : la gouvernance du Groupe multipartite (1.4), les octrois de licences (2.2), le registre des licences (2.3), la participation de l’État (2.6), y compris les transactions liées aux entreprises d’État (4.5) et les dépenses quasi fiscales des entreprises d’État (6.2), la qualité des données (4.9), les transferts infranationaux (5.2), les dépenses sociales (6.1) et les résultats et impact de la mise en œuvre (7.4). Le Conseil d’administration a demandé à la Mongolie de mettre en place ces mesures correctives, pour évaluation lors d’une deuxième Validation devant commencer le 11 janvier 2018.

La deuxième Validation de la Mongolie a commencé le 11 janvier 2018. La Validation a été menée conformément à la procédure sur laquelle s’était mis d’accord le Comité de Validation^{^[1]} et au plan de travail 2018^{^[2]}.

Plus particulièrement :

Le Groupe multipartite a été informé du début de la Validation et a été invité à faire part au Secrétariat de tout commentaire et inquiétude concernant la mise en œuvre de l’ITIE et les progrès dans la mise en œuvre des mesures correctives.
Le Secrétariat international de l’ITIE a mené une étude documentaire, évaluant les progrès accomplis dans la mise en œuvre des sept mesures correctives identifiées par le Conseil d’administration de l’ITIE. L’étude documentaire a suivi la procédure standard pour la collecte des données et la consultation des parties prenantes conformément aux procédures de Validation. L’évaluation initiale du Secrétariat conclut que la Mongolie a mis en œuvre l’ensemble des mesures correctives et a accompli des « progrès satisfaisants » sur les exigences concernées.
Le projet d’évaluation a été envoyé au Groupe de travail multipartite de Mongolie (MSWG) pour commentaires le 22 janvier.
Suite à la réception de ces commentaires, l’évaluation du Secrétariat sera finalisée pour examen par le Conseil d’administration de l’ITIE par le truchement du Comité de Validation.
Le Comité de Validation examinera l’évaluation du Secrétariat et les commentaires du Groupe multipartite. Le Comité décidera ensuite s’il est nécessaire de demander des informations supplémentaires, de s’en remettre au Validateur indépendant ou s’il est en mesure de faire une recommandation au Conseil d’administration.

Assessment of EITI requirements

Not met
Partly met
Mostly met
Fully met
Exceeded

Scorecard by requirement View more	Assessment View more
Overall Progress
MSG oversight
1.1Government engagement
There are regular, public statements of support from the government. A senior individual has been appointed to lead on the implementation of the EITI, and senior government officials are represented on the MSWG and National Council. Government has provided funding to implementation. However, the lack of full government participation in outreach and dissemination events and the recurrent gaps in funding for EITI implementation are a concern.
1.2Company engagement
Companies are actively and effectively engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process. Industry representatives are taking part in outreach and efforts to promote public debate especially on regional level. The Minerals Law and model Production-Sharing Contract provide an enabling environment for company participation in the EITI and there do not appear to be any legal obstacles preventing company participation.
1.3Civil society engagement
Civil society are fully, actively and effectively engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process. Stakeholders are taking part in outreach and efforts to promote public debate especially on regional level. There is an enabling environment for civil society participation in the EITI.
1.4MSG governance
Each constituency publicly codified its MSWG membership nominations procedures in January 2018. The lack of safeguards in the MSWG’s decision-making has been resolved through revisions to the MSWG’s ToR in November 2017. Attendance at MSWG meetings has improved over 2017 and the MSWG ensured strong quorum rules in its revised ToR. There is growing constituency coordination on key issues ahead of MSWG meetings.
1.5Work plan
The MSWG has been formed and includes self-appointed representatives from each stakeholder group with no suggestion of interference or coercion. Although the mechanism for civil society nominations on the MSWG restricts selection of members outside the PWYP and MECC coalitions, there is no evidence that non-member NGOs that would have liked to participate have been constrained from doing so. The ToR for the MSWG addresses the requirements of the EITI Standard, but stakeholders have highlighted certain deviations in practice, particularly related to voting. Certain MSWG decisions appear to be passed despite objections of one of the stakeholder groups, for instance in relation to data quality assurance procedures. Attendance of MSWG members is also inconsistent, with delegation of attendance to different representatives being common. these weaknesses have affected EITI implementation and contributed to inconsistent multi-stakeholder oversight of the technical aspects of EITI reporting, in particular with respect to data quality.
Licenses and contracts
2.2License allocations
The 2016 EITI Report discloses which mining, oil, and gas licenses were awarded and transferred during the year, highlighting any non-trivial deviations from the applicable legal and regulatory framework governing license awards and transfers. The extensive work on assessing deviations in practice constitutes a good example of increasing awareness of how criteria are assessed during the allocation process.
2.3License register
The 2016 EITI Report provides guidance on accessing license coordinates in the oil and gas sector. Having made efforts to secure dates of applications for licenses held by material companies, he MSWG disclosed dates of application for 251 of the 661 mining licenses and eight of the 11 PSAs held by material companies in the 2016 EITI Report. It has been transparent about obstacles hindering disclosure of dates of application for licenses awarded under the previous system and included activities in its 2018 work plan to secure remaining dates of application.
2.4Policy on contract disclosure
The 2014 EITI Report clarifies government contract disclosure policy and provides a review of actual disclosure practice. There has been follow up by the MSWG to develop a contracts portal, amend the model oil and gas PSAs to remove confidentiality clauses and to disclose all PSAs.
2.1Legal framework
The 2014 EITI Report address the relevant laws, regulations and fiscal regime.
2.5Beneficial ownership	Not assessed
The MSWG has considered beneficial ownership disclosure in detail at several MSWG meetings and has conducted initial work on disclosure of legal ownership information (which includes some beneficial ownership disclosures) in the 2013 and 2014 EITI Reports.
2.6State participation
The 2016 EITI Report clearly defines a set of nine SOEs making material payments to government and describes their statutory financial relations with the state, including loans and guarantees, as well as non-trivial deviations in the year under review.
Monitoring production
3.1Exploration data
The 2014 EITI Report includes a detailed description of the extractive industries, including informal activities, and of significant exploration activities.
3.2Production data
The 2014 EITI Report includes volumes of production in mining and crude oil. While the location of mining production is provided for only some mining licenses, it is possible to reconstitute the location of production using the EITIM data portal.
3.3Export data
The 2014 EITI Report includes volumes of production in mining and crude oil. While the location of mining production is provided for only some mining licenses, it is possible to reconstitute the location of production using the EITIM data portal.
Revenue collection
4.3Barter agreements	Not applicable
The 2014 EITI Report details infrastructure provisions and notes that no barters exist.
4.6Direct subnational payments
The MSWG has considered subnational direct payments, disclosed and reconciled them in the 2014 EITI Report, disaggregated by payment stream. However, there is confusion between SOEs’ “subnational direct payments” and “subnational transfers”.
4.7Disaggregation
While the 2014 EITI Report does not present all data disaggregated by revenue stream and by company, the EITIM data portal provides access to this level of disaggregated information.
4.9Data quality
The 2016 EITI Report provides a detailed description of the approach to ensuring the reliability of reconciled data, including review of audit and assurance procedures and practices, a description of the assurance procedures and an assessment of the materiality of non-complying entities. The report includes a clear statement by the IA of the comprehensiveness and reliability of the reconciled data.
4.1Comprehensiveness
The MSWG has agreed a definition of materiality and materiality thresholds. Although the IA does not provide an assessment of the comprehensiveness of the 2014 EITI Report, it is possible for readers to assess the materiality of omissions and reach conclusions about the overall comprehensiveness of the EITI Report.
4.2In-kind revenues	Not applicable
The 2014 EITI Report states that the two producing oil and gas PSA operators commercialise the state’s share of in-kind revenues (Profit Oil). There are no in-kind revenues in mining. The value of cash proceeds from the sale of the state’s Profit Oil is provided.
4.4Transportation revenues
The MSWG has considered whether government receives transportation revenues in the mining sector and disclosed revenues collected by Erdenes Mongol, even if a materiality threshold for such revenues is not explicit (it is only implied as 0). The MSWG does not seem to have considered the existence of transportation revenues in oil and gas however although we understand that no SOEs (under the EITI Standard’s definition) collected transportation revenues.
4.5SOE transactions
The 2016 EITI Report clearly distinguishes SOE-specific transactions from other types of payments from SOEs (e.g. common taxes). Dividends from SOEs were below the MSWG’s materiality threshold for selecting revenue streams and were thus unilaterally disclosed.
4.8Data timeliness
The eReporting system has had a significant impact on timeliness of reporting and reconciliation of payments now takes place within 12 months of the end of the fiscal year under review.
Revenue allocation
5.1Distribution of revenues
The 2014 EITI Report discloses how revenues are allocated.
5.2Subnational transfers
The 2016 EITI Report provides the detailed formulas for calculating GLDF transfers to LDFs of aimags as well as direct royalty transfers by the Ministry of Finance to LDFs of aimags. The values of planned subnational transfers according to the formula and actual 2016 transfers are provided for both aimags, the direct recipients of subnational transfers, and for soums, who receive transfers from aimags. While the discrepancies between planned and realised transfers are only explained in general, the disaggregation of data by aimag and soum allows for traceability of extractives revenues at the subnational level.
5.3Revenue management and expenditures	Not assessed
The 2014 EITI Report discloses the management of earmarked revenues.
Socio-economic contribution
6.1Mandatory social expenditures
The 2016 EITI Report provides a clear differentiation between mandatory and voluntary social expenditures, distinguished from other types of payments such as quasi-fiscal expenditures by SOEs. The results of the MSWG’s reconciliation of mandatory social expenditures are provided, disaggregated between cash and in-kind (with the nature and value of in-kind expenditures provided) and highlighting the identity of the few non-government beneficiaries. The 2016 EITI Report included material voluntary social expenditures.
6.2Quasi-fiscal expenditures
The 2016 EITI Report describes the MSWG’s definition of quasi-fiscal expenditures (consistent with the EITI Standard’s), its assessment of their materiality and reporting of SOEs’ unilateral disclosures of material quasi-fiscal expenditures in 2016.
6.3Economic contribution
The 2014 EITI Report expands on previous EITI Reports’ description of the contribution to the economy. It includes, in absolute and relative terms, the size of the extractive industries, their contribution to government revenue, exports and employment.
Outcomes and impact
7.2Data accessibility	Not assessed
EITI data is accessible, references international classifications, machine-readable and actively disseminated through the eReporting website.
7.4Outcomes and impact of implementation
The 2017 annual progress report provides a summary of the MSWG’s follow-up on past recommendations from Validation and EITI Reports, as well as a narrative account of efforts to strengthen implementation and general observations on the impact of EITI implementation. Stakeholders were given an opportunity to provide input to drafting the annual progress report.
7.1Public debate
The MSWG has sought to ensure the EITI Report is comprehensible, accessible and actively promoted, particularly through aimag and soum level reports. EITI information has generated public debate, particularly at the subnational level.
7.3Follow up on recommendations
Recommendations of EITI Reports are followed up on by the MSWG, even if they are not consistently implemented.