International Regulatory Co-operation and International Organisations
The Cases of the OECD and the IMO

The world is witnessing the progressive emergence of an open, dynamic, globalised economy, and the intensification of global challenges such as systemic risks, environmental protection, human health or safety. Against this background, governments are increasingly seeking to ensure greater co-ordination on regulatory objectives, processes and enforcement and to eliminate unnecessary regulatory divergences and redundancies. International regulatory co-operation (IRC) represents a critical opportunity to foster sustainable and inclusive growth through lower barriers to international flows and better rules of the game for all. It is real but remains largely untapped. This publication presents findings and two case studies from an April 2014 meeting on the role of international organisations in IRC, as well as a contribution from K. W. Abbott, on International organisations and international regulatory co-operation: Exploring the links.
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The role of the International Maritime Organization
The regulation of shipping is based on an ingenious institutional architecture, with the interplay of public and private actors providing incentives for the sector to abide by the standards adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the main standard setting body for shipping. A wide variety of instruments is applied to ensure enforcement of international conventions with regards to shipping, including inspections, self-regulation, benchmarking, consultation, ex ante impact assessments, peer reviews and assessments of administrative burdens. This case study describes how the IMO supports IRC – its institutional context, its main characteristics, its impacts, some successes and challenges.
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