Outreach Programme

The relevance of OECD policy guidelines and experience with implementing regulatory reform to non-member countries is no longer in question. OECD countries themselves already cover a wide range, from countries which are growing rapidly like Turkey, Mexico, Hungary, and Ireland, where regulatory institutions and policies have matured only in recent years, to other countries with more mature systems such as the United States and the Netherlands. Non-member countries on all continents are more open to regulatory reform, often under competitive pressure to attract investment, boost growth and share in the benefits of global trade. But political pressures can be barriers: a change in administrative culture, the adoption of RIA, a more efficient and responsive judiciary -- all call for an exercise of leadership that can be more difficult when there is a shortage of trained personnel and few precedents for transparent consultation with stakeholders. The competing objectives of state-building and growth are difficult to resolve. Nevertheless, there are inspiring examples of progress in pursuit of regulatory reform in non-member countries.

The OECD is committed to policy dialogue with non-member countries, to providing information about good practices using policy tools and promoting institutional change, to conducting peer reviews comparable to those for member countries, and to creating distinctive, new policy instruments such as the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform that can be used world-wide.

Below is the Regulatory Policy Division's work in five areas:

• Russia
• China
• APEC-OECD Co-operative Initiative   
• RGI/SEE (Regulatory Governance Initiative / South East Europe)
• MENA (Middle East and North Africa)

Regulatory quality issues are also part of the work of the:

• SIGMA Programme
• Global Forum on Governance