International regulatory co-operation (IRC), as defined by the OECD, can be “[a]ny agreement or organisational arrangement, formal or informal, between countries to promote some form of co-operation in the design, monitoring, enforcement, or ex post management of regulation”. Since the 2012 Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance, the OECD has advised countries to introduce international considerations throughout rulemaking. Drawing on over 10 years of experiences and analysis, the OECD adopted the Recommendation of the Council on International Regulatory Co-operation to Tackle Global Challenges in July 2022. This instrument advices countries to a take a whole-of-government approach to IRC, embed IRC through domestic rulemaking, and co-operate bi-, and multilaterally through a variety of activities.
International regulatory co-operation can take a variety of forms. The OECD identifies 11 categories, including mutual recognition agreements, trans-governmental networks, soft law, and recognition of international standards.
This report presents two case studies of IRC in the fields of competition law enforcement and chemical safety that highlight tangible benefits of close co-operation and provide an overview of two different IRC applications. International co-operation between regulators can take place at different stages of rulemaking, from regulatory design to enforcement and monitoring. These case studies focus on the enforcement and monitoring side rulemaking, they display how international co-operation can help governments come together to achieve policy goals and improve efficiency to reduce the amount of resources necessary to do so.
The case study on competition law enforcement surveys common co-operation practices among competition authorities and outlines legal and practical challenges for co-operation. The case study on chemical safety reviews the OECD Environment, Health and Safety Programme and provides updated evidence on the monetary benefits of co-operation, notably in financial savings from mutual acceptance of data from subscribing countries.
This document was approved by the Regulatory Policy Committee on 25 November 2022 and prepared for publication by the OECD Secretariat.