A common APEC-OECD agenda on regulatory reform
APEC and OECD economies have embraced similar concepts of regulatory quality as the foundation for further progress on regulatory reform. In the 1997 Report, Ministers from OECD countries reached agreement on a broad set of principles for regulatory reform, covering economic regulations, social regulations, and government formalities. The September 1999 APEC declaration for supporting growth through strong and open markets included APEC Principles to Enhance Competition and Regulatory Reform.
An APEC-OECD Agreement on joint work on regulatory reform was developed in the Fall 2000 and was endorsed at the APEC Ministerial Meeting on 12-13 November 2000 in Brunei Darussalam. The first phase of the joint work was organised around a series of related events in Singapore, Chine, Mexico, and Korea (see 1st phase of the programme). During the concluding workshop in Korea in 2002, there was an agreement to launch a second phase of the APEC-OECD Co-operative Initiative to elaborate an APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for self-assessment on regulatory, competition and market openness policies, to implement the OECD and APEC principles.
The final conference was held on 1 November 2004 in Thailand and the outcome of the 2nd phase was to present for approval in 2005, the Integrated Checklist to the respective Executive Bodies of the APEC and OECD. The Integrated Checklist was approved by the Special Group on Regulatory Policy in the OECD in March 2005, and endorsed by the 2005 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade on 2-3 June 2005 (see 2005 MRT Statement), and by APEC Ministers at their summit in Busan, Korea, 15-16 November 2005. Ministers also instructed officials to disseminate the Checklist and to work with the OECD to assist economies in using it.
An APEC-OECD Symposium on Structural and Regulatory Reform was held in Korea on 9 September 2005. This event was in response to the hightened priority given to these themes by the APEC Leaders at their summit in November 2004, and to their request for on-going co-operation with OECD on regulatory reform. This meeting, co-organised with the APEC Economic Committee, was an opportunity to see how the Checklist on Regulatory Reform can be used by economies as a self-assessment policy tool, and more generally, how domestic and international co-operation on regulatory matters can be strengthened.
The OECD participated in a meeting of the APEC Economic Committee in Hanoi on 25 February 2006 to discuss the substantive issues in the Checklist, to help economies apply it. A policy roundtable was organised on 12 September 2006 in Hoi An Vietnam, to give economies an opportunity to learn from each other's experiences based on their self-assessment. The latest APEC-OECD policy roundtables took place in Cairns, Australia, on 28 June 2007 and Lima, Peru on 25-26 February 2008.
The Economic Committee, chaired in 2007-09 by Prof. Bob Buckle (New Zealand Treasury), consults with OECD on the agenda for policy dialogue. With support from Australia, this Committee has taken the initiative to host the first-ever APEC Ministerial Meeting on Structural Reform which will be held 3-5 August 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. The Second Economic Committee meeting in 2008 will be held later in August in Peru, and give delegates an opportunity to reflect on the Ministerial meeting and future work.
The programme for joint APEC-OECD work
The programme is based on the idea that a series of related events that help establish durable networks will be more valuable than a one-off event.
1st Phase of the Programme
Launching event in Singapore, 22-23 February 2000 on the first results of regulatory reform, and implementing regulatory reform in APEC and OECD economies, and promoting information economy through regulatory reform
- 1st workshop in Beijing, China 19-20 September 2001 on designing a broad regulatory reform programme, and competition policy
- 2nd workshop in Merida, Mexico, 24-25 April 2002 on RIA and trade facilitation
- 3rd workshop in Island of Jeju, Korea, 16-17 October 2002 on Regulatory transparency and competition, and regulation in the telecom, electricity and financial services and High Level Conference, which concluded the first phase of the programme in Jeju Island on 18 October 2002
2nd Phase of the Programme
- 4th workshop in Vancouver, Canada, on 8-9 October 2003 on developing the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform and Reforming Existing Regulations in member economies
- 5th workshop in Paris, France on 2-3 December 2003 on developing the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform focusing on the competition policy aspect in member economies.
- 6th workshop in Pucon, Chile on 24-25 May 2004 on developing the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform focusing on the market openness aspect in member economies.
- 7th workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on 1 November 2004 which concluded the second phase of the Joint APEC-OECD work on regulatory reform
3rd Phase of the Programme
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OECD member economies:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
APEC member economies:
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam.
For further information
Please contact: Josef.konvitz@oecd.org, fax: (33) 1 45 24 16 68 or Jennifer.stein@oecd.org; fax: (33 1) 45 24 16 68.
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