C.H. Montin, Manama 11 Manama, 20 January 2014 Regulatory Impact Assessment for Better Standards International Best Practices from OECD Charles-Henri Montin, Senior Regulatory Expert, Ministry of economy and finance, Paris OECD RPC delegate

C.H. Montin, Manama 2 3 sources for best practice United Kingdom Better Regulation Impact assessment Regulatory Policy Committee Publication One-in, one-out European Union Smart Regulation RIA Impact assessment Board France Regulatory Quality Evaluation préalable Conseil d’Etat Legistics Constitutional basis for RIA

C.H. Montin, Manama 3 OECD good practices (1)  1. Political commitment and endorsement at the highest levels –Legal basis for RIA –Clear ministerial accountability  2. Allocate responsibilities for the RIA programme –Operational responsibilities with the services –Inter-service coordination –Central quality oversight

C.H. Montin, Manama 4 OECD good practices (2)  3. Target and prioritise RIA efforts –Scope of application / thresholds for when to do RIAs –Sectoral impacts  4. Develop comprehensive guidelines –Mandatory –Both on process and on technical aspects  5. Carry out sound analysis –Strategies for data collection –Consistent but flexible methodologies

C.H. Montin, Manama 5 OECD good practices (3)  6. Consultation / Transparency / Communication  7. Training, training, training  8. Apply RIA to both new and existing regulation

C.H. Montin, Manama 6 Relevance to GCC standardisation  Better Regulation principles apply to standards: –Standards are an acknowledged “alternative” to regulation with specific advantages for certain types of issues –BR tools support more evidence based decisions in the production of standards (especially RIA) –Effective consultation of stakeholders, including co- production –Feed-back from enforcement and implementation (compliance assessment) –Can be developed internationally (IRC)

C.H. Montin, Manama 7 Developing RIA practice in GCC/Bahrain  The main steps for developing RIA practice: –Define national/regional methodology –Build capacities in regulating/standards agencies –Set up quality control mechanisms or structures –Create training programme for RIA drafters –Launch pilot studies –Monitor for continuous improvement with practice.

C.H. Montin, Manama 8 Conclusions  Impact assessment has developed over the last 20 years and is now a widely used tool; UK and EU currently have best practice models  It presents challenges to operate it meaningfully (influence on decision making) but also a lot of knowledge has been shared.  Policy-makers naturally address the costs and benefits of political choices. RIA offers rigour  Good potential for supporting the development of better standards in cooperation with regional partners

C.H. Montin, Manama 9 To learn more about RIA…  RIA methodology (UK) –BR frameworkBR framework –UK Government RIA site ; RIA templateRIA sitetemplate  RIA guidelines (EU) –European Commission RIA siteRIA site –GuidelinesGuidelines  France: Guide de LégistiqueGuide de Légistique  About applying RIA to standards: –a Strategic vision for European standards (2011)a Strategic vision for European standards (2011) –RIA on standards (academic article)RIA on standards