Fighting facilitation payments

Every day, companies and organisations are met with demands for facilitation payments in their business affairs, such as when they seek to cross borders, obtain licences and permits, transport goods, or apply for a service. The payments are often smaller amounts demanded by a government official to speed up the performance of a routine process to which the organisation is already legally entitled.

Despite the relatively small amounts demanded each time, the combined demands for facilitation payments represent a considerable sum and cost precious time for the individual company or organisation. However, individual companies and organisations often have very limited leverage to combat and oppose these demands successfully.

FAFPI is a collective multi-stakeholder response to the frustration of the individual company or organisation of not being able to address facilitation payments on its own.

FAFPI members work to change the rules of the game by creating solid internal company and organisational policies and gathering data on when and where they meet demands for facilitation payment. Data submitted through FAFPI will be shared with our partners (e.g. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local civil society groups) who, through their various channels, can address the issue with their local counterparts in order to terminate the demands.

FAFPI consists of two parts. The first is Best Practice, where members exchange experience and best practice on fighting facilitation payments. The other is Collective Action, in accordance with which, members report the demands for facilitation payments they meet, through the FAFPI reporting tool.