This report is part of a series of “Best Practice Principles” produced under the auspices of the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee.
The OECD Regulatory Policy Committee is at the forefront of building international consensus on matters of regulatory policy. For over a decade, the Committee has formally recognised the importance of sound regulatory approaches and reducing administrative burdens. The 2012 Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance highlights the importance of “[…] making service delivery (including licenses and permits) more streamlined and user-focused” but provides little advice to governments on the necessary institutional, analytical, implementation and governance arrangements.
The Best Practice Principles on Licensing and Permitting have been developed to fill this gap and to support Member countries in putting these arrangements in place. More specifically, the Principles aim to ensure that efforts to streamline licensing and permitting are used to deliver regulation effectively and efficiently, with care and only when needed, to achieve positive outcomes by reducing risks. The Principles are part of the OECD Public Governance Directorate’s broader priority to advance administrative simplification and reduce regulatory burdens.
The Principles underwent a public consultation in January 2025 and a revised draft was presented to the Regulatory Policy Committee and Network of Economic Regulators in April 2025.