1 Reducing the Risk of Policy Failure

FOREWORD The work of the Public Management Committee (PUMA) on regulatory reform-built over ten years-has provided substantive input and other extensive support to the development, organisation, and policy direction of the regulatory reform programmes in OECD Member countries. PUMA's emphasis is on regulatory quality-combining both good regulation where needed to protect health, safety, and the environment, and to enhance the functioning of markets, and deregulation where free markets work better. The concept of quality regulation was the primary basis for policy recommendations that gained the support of all Member countries in the 1997 OECD Report to Ministers on Regulatory Reform. Regulatory reform is an innovative and fast-moving field. The PUMA work programme on regulation has focused on helping governments develop new capacities and identify best practices for improving the quality of their regulatory decisions. The intent is to establish a longer-term basis for efficient and responsive regulation by changing incentives, capacities, and cultures in public sector institutions, based on market, juridical, and public management principles. The PUMA work on regulation is overseen by the Regulatory Management and Reform Group of the Public Management Committee. The Group is unique in the OECD in bringing together policy officials responsible for cross-cutting and horizontal regulatory reform policies, and hence has a key role in influencing the work of the Organisation in this area. The Group developed the 1995 OECD Recommendation on Improving the Quality of Government Regulation, which has been used by many countries as the basis for new disciplines on the use of regulation. The PUMA work responds directly to their needs and integrates their expertise into the OECD-wide programme. The work on regulatory compliance is intended to assist Member countries in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public policies carried out by regulation and alternative policy tools. The OECD Working Party on Regulatory Management and Reform reviewed in June 1999 and in November 1999 a draft report, " The State of Regulatory Compliance: Issues, Trends and Challenges ". In the report, the Public Management Service (PUMA) reviewed major issues with respect to regulatory compliance and catalogued innovative approaches to improve compliance. A number of Member countries submitted comments and cases for inclusion in the report. The papers in this series are published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The views expressed in the papers are those of the authors, and neither commit nor necessarily reflect those of the …