OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2018
Laws and regulations govern the everyday life of businesses and citizens, and are important tools of public policy. Regulating has never been easy, but the overwhelming pace of technological change and unprecedented interconnectedness of economies has made it a daunting task. The 2018 Regulatory Policy Outlook, the second in the series, maps country efforts to improve regulatory quality in line with the 2012 OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance, and shares good regulatory practices. It provides unique insights into the organisation and institutional settings in countries for designing, enforcing and revising regulations. It also highlights areas of the regulatory cycle that receive too little attention from policy makers. Finally, it identifies areas where countries can invest to improve the quality of laws and regulations and presents innovative approaches to better regulation.
Costa Rica
The regulatory policy reform agenda is strongly linked to the National Strategy on Simplification and Better Regulation 2014-2018 (Estrategia Nacional de Simplificación de Trámites y Mejora Regulatoria) which chiefly focusses on red tape reduction mechanisms. In this sense, regulatory management tools like stakeholder engagement, RIA and ex post evaluation have been established to improve the quality of administrative procedures and reduce red tape. The strategy is tied to the government’s efforts to strengthen competitiveness and to foster the functioning of and access to markets. Following a reform of Law 8220 on Protection from the Excess of Requirements and Administrative Procedures in 2016 the Preliminary Control System (SICOPRE) was implemented. The SICOPRE is a centralised webpage (controlprevio.meic.go.cr) that enhances the transparency of RIAs and public consultations by making them publicly available and allowing for comments to which regulators respond. Having set the building blocks, Costa Rica would benefit from broadening the scope of its regulatory policy agenda to go beyond administrative procedures, and communicating with stakeholders on the progress made so far. For example, SICOPRE is a big step forward but could be more user-friendly to engage with a wider range of stakeholders.
Also available in: French