IDB Members Continue Regulatory Dialogue

Delegates from across the Americas convened July 21 to mark one year in their implementation of the Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs), announced during the Summit of the Americas in June 2022.

The Inter-American Development Bank also joined the countries for an exchange focusing on best practices for inclusive consultations, and efforts to implement the related provisions of the Declaration.  The countries also discussed upcoming opportunities for further engagement on GRPs, including in regional exchanges and at the WTO.

Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices 

The Declaration,  outlined 12 key actions and practices to promote inclusive growth, democracy, and a sustainable economic future. It emphasized the value of robust regulatory practices throughout the complete lifecycle of laws, decrees, regulations, and other policies.

Among the Declaration's key commitments are to ensure an open, transparent, and participatory regulatory process, including making regulatory information freely available online, and to conduct public consultations for proposed regulatory actions. The leaders also committed to giving reasonable notice of planned regulatory actions and publishing prospective regulatory agendas.

The Declaration further highlighted the importance of engaging all interested parties in the regulatory process, especially underserved communities such as women, minorities, and indigenous populations.

The signatories committed to basing regulatory decisions on publicly accessible, high-quality data, evidence, and risk assessment. They affirmed the need for coordination among central government agencies to produce better regulatory outcomes and to comply with international trade obligations.

The leaders agreed to use relevant international standards as a guide to good regulatory practices and to maintain mechanisms to review existing regulations. They emphasized the need for regulatory impact analysis to assess the need for, and possible impacts of, regulations.

The Declaration also includes a commitment to include good regulatory practices in future trade agreements, to increase awareness of these principles among regulatory authorities, and to communicate the benefits of these practices to stakeholders.

The signatories also expressed their intention to work together in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international fora to promote the importance of good regulatory practices. They pledged to assess the progress of these actions by the end of 2023 and meet again in 2024.

In the Declaration, the signatory countries affirmed that these actions and practices do not limit a country from achieving its public policy objectives or from determining how to implement these actions within the framework of its own legal system and institutions.

[Text of Declaration]