Regulatory reform

Regulatory reform concerns improvements to the quality of government regulation.

At the international level, the "OECD Regulatory Reform Programme is aimed at helping governments improve regulatory quality - that is, reforming regulations that raise unnecessary obstacles to competition, innovation and growth, while ensuring that regulations efficiently serve important social objectives".^[1]

Examples

Indonesia

The OECD produced a report in September 2012 reviewing Indonesia's regulatory reform programme, focusing on Indonesia's administrative and institutional arrangements for ensuring that regulations are effective and efficient.^[2]

United Kingdom

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 aimed in part to "make provision for the reduction of legislative burdens".^[3] Part 5, "Reduction of legislative burdens", made provision for "sunset and review provisions" in secondary legislation, i.e.

• a power to review the effectiveness of the legislation within a specified period or at the end of a specified period
• provision for the legislation to cease to have effect at the end of a specified day or a specified period
• a power to consider whether the objectives which it was the purpose of the legislation to achieve remain appropriate and, if so, whether they could be achieved in another way.^[4]

The Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 sought to improve the regulation of businesses requiring certain environmental permits within Scotland whilst strengthening existing environmental protection.

United States

• Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review, amended by Executive Order 13422 of January 18, 2007
• The Office of Regulatory Affairs was established in 1980
• Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980
• H.R. 5 (bill), the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017.^[5] Some policy advocates argue that this bill should "more aptly ... be named the 'Filthy Food Act'".^[6]

References