A/RES/53/176 Page 2 transnational corporations,2 consideration of which helped call attention to and raise international awareness of the adverse consequences of corruption and bribery in international commercial transactions, Taking note of the Rules of Conduct to Combat Extortion and Bribery in International Business Transactions of the International Chamber of Commerce, Recalling its resolution 51/191 of 16 December 1996, by which it adopted the United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions, and its resolution 52/87 of 12 December 1997, by which it called for further measures to implement the Declaration, 1. Welcomes recent multilateral initiatives to combat corruption including, inter alia, the InterAmerican Convention against Corruption,3 adopted by the Organization of American States, the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Dakar Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Organized Transnational Crime and Corruption,4 the Manila Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Transnational Crime,5 and the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of member States of the European Union; 2. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Promotion and maintenance of the rule of law: action against corruption and bribery”;6 3. Commends the work of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Centre for International Crime Prevention of the Secretariat in combating corruption and bribery in international commercial transactions, including the convening of an open-ended meeting of governmental experts; 4. Calls upon Member States to take all possible measures to further the implementation of the United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions7 and relevant international declarations and to ratify, where appropriate, existing instruments against corruption; 5. Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other competent bodies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and agreed work programmes, to assist Member States, at their request, in implementing national programmes to strengthen accountability and transparency and in implementing relevant conventions, declarations and instruments to combat corruption and bribery in international commercial transactions, and, in that context, welcomes the valuable work done by the United Nations Development Programme in the field of governance; 2 E/1991/31/Add.1. 3 See E/1996/99. 4 See E/CN.15/1998/6/Add.1, chap. I. 5 See E/CN.15/1998/6/Add.2, chap. I. 6 A/53/384. 7 Resolution 51/191, annex. /...