2. Introduction
4. The government's Quality Regulation Review seeks to ensure that New Zealand's
regulatory environment is effective in meeting its objectives – and does so
at least cost to the economy. This requires careful attention to compliance
in order to achieve effectiveness without imposing unnecessary costs on those
being regulated and the public.
5. Proper consideration of compliance and of how it is to be achieved is
critical to the success or failure of regulatory policy. Studies and anecdotes
from OECD countries suggest that inadequate attention to compliance often underlies
regulatory failure.1
6. To ensure that compliance is given adequate consideration in the design
and implementation of regulatory proposals the Ministry of Economic Development
has developed these "Regulatory Compliance Guidelines" as part of the Quality
Regulation Review. These guidelines are part of the suite of guidance produced
to assist high quality policy development. They should be read in conjunction
with the Regulatory Impact Analysis Regime Guidelines. For guidance on each
stage of policy development, you should visit the Policy Development Toolkit.2
7. These draft guidelines are intended as a practical tool to be used by:
- Policy makers in advising on regulatory policy proposals
- Cabinet Ministers and their advisers in considering regulatory policy
proposals
- Regulators in implementing regulatory policies
- Parliament in reviewing the effectiveness of regulatory policies
8. Rather than imposing a "tick box" approach to compliance, these guidelines
describe five outcomes that should be achieved in the development and implementation
of strategies to achieve compliance. They include questions to guide policy
makers and regulators in this work.
9. The guidelines were developed in consultation with regulators and policy
advisers from across government.
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