Jerusalem, 29-30 October 2012

 

This workshop was kindly hosted by the Israeli government on 29-30 October 2012 in Jerusalem. Representatives from the Netherlands, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Lithuania, World Bank and the OECD Secretariat as well as some 130 representatives from the Israeli administration – ministries, regulators and inspection agencies, parliament, businesses and trade unions and consumers actively participated in the workshop.

The main conclusions of the workshop confirmed that regulatory enforcement and inspections is a relatively new and underestimated element of regulatory policy that has been gaining importance recently. Only a few OECD countries have introduced significant cross-cutting reforms in this area, despite the fact that there are many opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency of inspections and therefore regulatory efficiency through better targeting of inspections and making enforcement more outcome-oriented. There is also a significant potential to relieve businesses and citizens from excessive administrative burdens.

Regulatory enforcement is a firm part of the Regulatory Governance Cycle. Therefore, better design of regulations may significantly contribute to increased regulatory compliance and more effective enforcement (e.g. simple and understandable regulations are easier to comply with and do not have to be accompanied with explanatory documents and guidance for compliance issued by inspection authorities). On the other hand, if compliance is measured and analysed properly, results of such analysis may be used in improving new and amended regulations. Inspection agencies are well placed to provide such measurement and analyses and their first-hand experience with implementing regulations should be exploited in the regulation-making process.

Reports

 

• Reform of Regulatory Enforcement & Inspections in OECD Countries, by Julie Monk, OECD expert
• Inspections Reforms: Why, How and With What Results, by Florentin Blanc, OECD expert

 

• Agenda

 

Introductory Session

• OECD Workshop on Regulatory Enforcement & Inspections, Julie Monk, OECD expert
• Better Enforcement – The Next Step for Regulatory Policy, Daniel Trnka, OECD
• Inspections Reforms – Why, How, What Results?, Florentin Blanc, OECD expert

 

Session 1. Enforcement and inspections – implementation and delivery tools for regulations

• Improving Inspections – Better Implementation and Delivery Tools, Florentin Blanc, OECD expert
• Enforcement and Inspections A Journey Towards Change BRDO and the UK context, Graham Russell, Better Regulation Delivery Office, United Kingdom

 

Session 2: Governance of inspections: Institutional set ups and governance, demand for changes

• Cooperation between National Inspectorates in the Netherlands, Laurens Smits, Inspection Council, the Netherlands
• Inspection reforms in Slovenia, Mag. Domen Bizjak, Inspectorate for Public Administration

 

Session 3: Reforming inspections

• Business Inspection Reform in Lithuania, Giedrius Kadziauskas, Vice Minister of Economy, Lithuania
• Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections The Business Perspective, Natanel Haiman, Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC)

 

Session 4: Improving effectiveness and efficiency of inspections

• Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Inspections, Graham Russell, Better Regulation Delivery Office, United Kingdom
• Regulatory reform and Business inspections - Dutch approach, Rogier de Boer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculature and Innovation

 

Session 5: Evaluating effectiveness – creating feedback with the regulatory framework

• Evaluating Effectiveness of Inspections and Enforcement - Challenges and Ways Forward, Florentin Blanc, OECD expert
• Evaluating Effectiveness - The New Israeli Law: "Increasing Enforcement of Labor Laws", Michal Alfasi, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor