The OECD and APEC, with many Southeast Asian countries in its membership, and have acknowledged the role of implementing good regulatory practices as key to achieving open and competitive markets, and a key driver of economic efficiency and consumer welfare. Notably, the partnership developed an Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform (read more here), approved and endorsed in 2005 by the respective executive bodies of APEC and the OECD, which serves as a guide for economies to conduct a voluntary self-assessment on their progress in developing regulatory policy, competition, and market openness.

Regular exchange of information continues to take place between the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee and the APEC Economic Committee and the Sub-Committee of Standards and Conformance. The OECD also contributes to the organisation and provides substantive inputs to the annual APEC Conference on Good Regulatory Practices, presenting at the event in both 2018 and 2019.

 

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Co-operation between APEC and OECD on regulatory policy and governance began in 1999. The co-operation was substantiated by an APEC‑OECD Agreement on joint work on regulatory reform that was endorsed at the APEC Ministerial Meeting in November 2000 in Brunei Darussalam – launching the APEC-OECD Co-operative Initiative on Regulatory Reform.

In 2005, the OECD and the APEC published the Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform. The Checklist synthesises APEC and OECD principles on regulatory reform; integrates assessment of competition, rule-making and market openness to provide a coherent whole-of-government view; and integrates governance perspectives – transparency, accountability and performance. It was utilised in five economies producing a Synthesis Report from the results of self-assessment.

Building upon the Checklist, in 2011 APEC Honolulu Leaders’ Declaration - Annex D on Strengthening Implementation of Good Regulatory Practices - called on all APEC economies to take steps by November 2013 to:

• Develop, use or strengthen processes, mechanisms or bodies to enable a whole of government approach in the development of regulations, including coordination across regulatory, standards, and trade agencies.
• Develop, use or strengthen mechanisms for assessing the impact of regulations, which involves effective and consistent use of the tools and best practices for developing new and reviewing existing regulations.
• Implement the principles related to public consultation of the 2005 APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform and the 2004 Leaders’ Statement to Implement the APEC Transparency Standards.

The APEC Economic Committee is currently responsible for good regulatory practices within APEC member countries and regularly invites the OECD to participate in its meetings to provide an update on OECD latest tools for regulatory policy and discuss potential future co‑operation.

 

For further information, please contact Mike Pfister and James Drummond

 

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