Press Release - Statement by NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden on U.S. Admittance as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Candidate Country

We are pleased that today the International Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) accepted the U.S. Candidacy Application at their Board Meeting in Oslo, Norway.

Two years ago, at the launch of the Open Government Partnership, President Obama announced the U.S. commitment to implement EITI, an international standard aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in the payments that companies make and the revenues governments receive for their natural resources such as oil, gas, and mining.

The United States is first G-8 country to achieve candidate status and become an EITI implementing country, joining a group of 41 countries around the world that are working actively to improve the management of their oil, gas, and mining sectors.

As an EITI Candidate Country, the United States, through the Department of the Interior, will continue its work toward increasing revenue transparency and accountability in relevant industry sectors, ensuring that American taxpayers receive every dollar due for the extraction of the nation's natural resources, and making the U.S. government more open and more accountable to the American people.