Regulatory Reform in the Global Economy

As border barriers to international trade and investment continue to be reduced thanks to liberalisation efforts, "behind-the-border" barriers -- which are typically regulations aiming at achieving domestic objectives such as health, safety, environmental or consumer protection -- are increasingly recognised as impeding trade and competition. The OECD project on regulatory reform has undertaken to tackle these new trade problems. This Workshop is aimed at expanding the horizon to dynamic economies outside the OECD area, particularly those in Asia and Latin America. What are the regulatory reform challenges for those economies, and how can they remain competitive in a global economy? How effectively can international mechanisms help them? The discussion revealed that regulatory reform has undoubtedly become a truly "global issue". This proceedings volume examines the role regulatory failures played in Asia's economic crisis, looks at regional trade groupings such as Mercosur and sheds light on the current international debate on food regulation as well as on the latest developments concerning the Information Technology Agreeement (ITA).