1.Introduction
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a Global Best Practice Standard
adopted by the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) to promote revenue Transparency
and Accountability in the country’s mining and petroleum sectors. The NEC Decision No. 90/2013
approved for PNG to sign up to the EITI and endorsed the Minister responsible for Treasury
matters to lead its implementation.
In 2014, the EITI International Board made a decision to accept PNG as an EITI candidate country.
The PNGEITI National Secretariat was therefore established in 2015 to provide administrative
support to the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and it has been operating out of the Department
of Treasury to date.
The NEC Decision 80/2019 endorsed The National Policy for Transparency and Accountability in
the Extractive Sector in Papua New Guinea and noted the commencement of the process to develop
a legislation for the establishment of a Statutory Commission as an independent administrative
body to manage and coordinate EITI Implementation in PNG.
PNGEITI’s objectives are consistent with the Government’s priorities through the objectives of
the National Policy on Transparency and Accountability in the Extractive Sector 2019.
2. Background
In EITI implementing countries, companies involved in the extraction of natural resources (oil,
gas and minerals) are required to report on what they pay to their governments, and
governments are required to publish what they receive from these companies. In a given financial
year, the data provided are then reconciled by an Independent Administrator (IA) and are
published in the Annual EITI Country Report for public information, which is the core function of
the EITI in implementing countries.
The Annual EITI Country Report covers activities and revenues received from the extractive
sector in the form of taxes, levies, royalties, permits and social voluntary contributions of the
sector to the government. The reconciliation process covers payments made by extractive
companies to the government and the receipts of these payments by governments.
The PNGEITI National Secretariat endeavours to engage a Legal Consultant to undertake a
Comprehensive Audit of reporting requirements of relevant resource legislations, and link up
with the EITI Standard/requirements to identify the gaps, and make propositions to adequately
capture the gaps in the proposed PNGEITI Commission Bill.
This Terms of Reference (TOR) therefore outlines the tasks for an external Legal Consultant to:
I. Perform an audit of existing reporting requirements of the Mining Act, the Oil & Gas Act
and relevant legislations relating to the extractive sector;
II. Identify gaps in the reporting requirements of these legislations in contrast with that of
the EITI standard and its requirements; and,
III. Draft propositions to be included in the EITI Commission Bill to bridge the reporting gaps.
The PNGEITI National Secretariat has taken significant steps towards its establishment as an
independent entity and a draft of its establishment law, the PNG EITI Commission Bill (PNGEITC)
has been formulated. Extensive stakeholder consultations have been carried out across the
country to capture the comments and views of the stakeholders regarding the Bill. The Bill also
went through various drafts with the legal Technical Working Group (TWG), and is now in its final
stages of a thorough audit and gap analysis. Draft propositions from this audit will be included in
the EITI Commission Bill to provide the basis of the establishment of the PNGEITI Commission.
- Objectives
The main objective of this assignment is to:
I. Engage a Legal Consultant with relevant knowledge and experience in the PNG Extractive
sector;
II. Carry out an extensive legal audit of the existing reporting requirements of relevant
legislations in the PNG mining and oil and gas space;
III. Do a comparative analysis on the findings with EITI standard and its requirements, and
identify gaps;
IV. Draft propositions to bridge the reporting gaps identified; and,
V. Produce and provide an Audit Report of this assignment.
4. Work Scope, Tasks and Expected Deliverables
The Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks during the period;
I. Identify all relevant legislations governing reporting within the Mining, and Oil and Gas
sector;
II. Comprehend the EITI Standard and its Requirements and its application to the relevant
legislations;
III. Provide a work plan specifying the activities that are to be undertaken in producing a
comprehensive legal audit report;
IV. Consolidate and prepare a comprehensive audit report that identifies gaps, overlaps, and
inconsistencies in the current legislative framework governing reporting in the Extractive
sector in Papua New Guinea in contrast to the EITI Reporting requirements and standard;
and,
V. Draft propositions to bridge the reporting gaps;
refer attachment
