The Guillotine of Administrative Regulations and the Nine Administrative Handbooks of General Application to promote efficiency of Mexican Federal Government Mr. Uriel MARQUEZ Head of Unit Policies for the Improvement of Public Management The Ministry of Public Administration of Mexico Winning project in the category of “Preventing and combating corruption in the public service” United Nations and Africa Public Service Day and Forum June 2011, Tanzania

To enable Mexican families to live better To have a government that is efficient and effective A government organized around the citizens Our vision

Economic and Social Environment The late-2000s global financial crisis. Deadly AH1N1 swine flu outbreak. Floods affect the south and east of the country. In the five years leading to 2009 oil production decreased by more than 20%. A third of tax revenue depends on oil production. Mexico cannot afford to waste public resources and needs to improve government capacity to solve problems. 2009

Competitivennes of a country limited by corruption 0.91 Correlation coefficient 0.91 between competitivennes and corruption

Bureocracy generates red tape Correlation factor 0.90 between innefficiency of bureocracy and red tape to citizens and businesses.

On September 2nd, 2009, within the framework of the Third State of the Union, President Felipe Calderón committed to undertake a wide-ranging regulatory reform in order to: Make citizens´ life easier. Make citizens´ life easier. Promote growth and economic development. Promote growth and economic development. Better public governance. Better public governance. With this strategy, the government was seeking to: Fight the paralysis generated by excessive regulation. Fight the paralysis generated by excessive regulation. Close the door to the discretionary creation and Close the door to the discretionary creation and implementation of provisions that cause opacity implementation of provisions that cause opacity and unnecessary costs for the government and for and unnecessary costs for the government and for the citizens. the citizens. Eradicate corrupt practices. Eradicate corrupt practices. Diminish the Public Administration costs in order to Diminish the Public Administration costs in order to apply these resources in priority tasks of the country. apply these resources in priority tasks of the country. The purpose

First step: creation of an inventory of the governmental rules in force. Second step: all the agencies comprising the Federal Public Administration identified duplicated rules, processes and inefficient activities, excessive costs and bureaucratic procedures that were generating unnecessary costs to citizens. Third step: Base Zero Regulation. Standardize processes in order to simplify internal administration and to Standardize processes in order to simplify internal administration and to reduce costs of government (Guillotine of Administrative Regulations). reduce costs of government (Guillotine of Administrative Regulations). Facilitate governmental procedures and services in order Facilitate governmental procedures and services in order to serve citizens in a better manner (Guillotine of Substantive Regulations). to serve citizens in a better manner (Guillotine of Substantive Regulations). Eliminate administrative burden to businesses Eliminate administrative burden to businesses (The economic regulatory reform). (The economic regulatory reform). The task

The Guillotine of Administrative Regulations consisted in the elaboration and publication of nine Handbooks of General Application, which aim to optimize the governmental operation in the areas of: 1. Governmental Acquisitions. 2. Auditing. 3. Internal Control. 4. Public Works. 5. Financial Resources. 6. Human Resources. 7. Material Resources. 8. Information and Communication Technologies. 9. Transparency. To achieve this end, nine working teams were created with representatives of various entities and agencies who were responsible of researching the leading management practices in these subjects. Using this research as a starting point, nine Handbooks were elaborated to standardize the application of all the processes in the Federal Public Administration. The outputs

As a strategy to review the first draft of the handbooks, a consultation with 147 leader agencies of the Federal Public Administration was carried out, in order to receive comments and contributions from public officials responsible for operating the administrative processes in the matters regulated by each handbook. In the nine Handbooks, a total of 17,759 comments were addressed: 51.24% were on technical-administrative issues % on legal-normative % on edition. Once the consultation period finished, the analysis and classification of the comments received during the consultation was carried out, followed by the incorporation of the appropriate comments to the adequate draft handbook, and finally the drafts of the handbooks were refined and edited. The process

To strengthen the Guillotine of Administrative Regulations, on August 10, 2010 President Calderón issued an Agreement instructing the agencies and entities of the Federal Government to restrain from issuing regulations in the areas covering the administrative handbooks. This agreement also included provisions designed to establish exceptions for the issuance of new regulations, ordering the removal of all the rules that are opposed to the handbooks, and requiring agencies to define their inventory of internal rules. The agreement also enabled the Ministry of Public Administration to carry out surveillance to ensure compliance with the provisions of the presidential agreement. The supporting tools

Results on regulation inside the government (RIG) and regulation applied to businesses and citizens (RABC) guillotine 31 % reduction of procedures and services

Fewer rules will promote structural changes within the government, fostering a cultural change in public servants minds which will encourage the performance and achievement of objectives over any bureaucratic requisite. The outcomes Likewise, the Regulation Inside Government (RIG) reform of Mexico promotes: Implementation of public policies and the achievement of objectives at the Implementation of public policies and the achievement of objectives at the lowest cost. lowest cost. Set standards and promote a culture of resource savings and efficency. Set standards and promote a culture of resource savings and efficency. Transparency and accountability at the Mexican Federal Government. Transparency and accountability at the Mexican Federal Government. The success of this project was based upon the open participation of all stakeholders.

1.Political commitment at the highest level. 2.Objectives to achieve. 3.Organisation of the stages. 4.Collaboration with regulators. 5.Participation of involved agents and society. 6.Cost-benefit analysis and Risk assessment. 7.Training and support for implementation. 8.Communication to the general public and Periodic reviews of the regulatory stock. 9.Controlling the flow of new regulations. 10.Measuring of results. The best practice Activities undertaken by the Mexican government on the simplification of regulation inside the government: A methodical way which can be adopted by other countries to implement a similar simplification effort.

“….the review of Mexico’s experience is one of the first and most comprehensive contributions to the evaluation of these practices”. All in all, the actions of the Ministry of Public Administration were largely comparable in depth and sophistication to the international experience of review of RIG, and were consistent with the international experience of review of RABC, with some exceptions. Stop the flow of new regulation. Stop the flow of new regulation. Implement periodic reviews of RIG to keep the handbooks updated. Implement periodic reviews of RIG to keep the handbooks updated. Measure the economic benefits and saving. Measure the economic benefits and saving. Promote among states and municipalities similar exercises. Promote among states and municipalities similar exercises. The best practice

Next steps: integrate processes with technology Next step: link the objectives and processes associated to the regulation inside the government (RIG) and those of the regulation applied to businesses and citizens (RABC)

1,931 saving actions have been reported, grouped into 26 models of administrative efficiency. Best Management Practices 1 Warehouse administration 14 Water saving 2 Insurance administration 15Automatization 3 Travel & subsistence allowances administration 16 Banking to support citizen´s transactions 4 Vehicle, fuel & lubricants administration 17 Electronic logbook 5 Acquisitions categories 18 Energy efficiency 6 Acquisitions, consolidated purchasing 19 Virtual office 7 Acquisitions, market knowledge 20 Resources optimization 8 Acquisitions, open contracts 21 Telephony & communications optimization 9 Acquisitions, multi-annual contracts 22 Real Estate rationalisation 10 Acquisitions, negotiation of contracts for travel & subsistence allowances 23 Rationalisation of paper consumption 11 Acquisitions, purchasing planning 24 Organizational redesign 12 Acquisitions, IT services 25 Outsourcing services 13 Acquisitions, IT use 26 Electronic invoice & payment Next steps: The updating of the handbooks

“Fewer rules, better results” The conclusion

Rationalise government spending, transfering savings to: The intensification of social programs with proven effectiveness in combating The intensification of social programs with proven effectiveness in combating poverty. poverty. Expand Mexicans' access to health and education services. Expand Mexicans' access to health and education services. Increase resources for infrastructure projects. Increase resources for infrastructure projects. Austerity measures have produced significant savings: 2009 $4,500 million dollars 2010 $2,500 million dollars Savings account to 10 % of administrative cost The economic benefits of austerity and regulation base zero 2012 target: 20 percent reduction in administrative & operating costs 2012 target: 20 percent reduction in administrative & operating costs. These expected savings account to current social benefits and agricultural support programs

Mr. Uriel MARQUEZ Head of Unit Policies for the Improvement of Public Management The Ministry of Public Administration of Mexico 2011 United Nations and Africa Public Service Day and Forum June 2011, Tanzania THANK YOU!!