(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

public sectors would have more clout and credibility. The model, as currently piloted in Mauritius,involves the creation of a permanent secretariat of the NTB review committee with technical capabilities,say through the hiring of a newly-trained, technically proficient economist. Acting on triggers likewritten submissions from private-sector operators, or through self-initiation, the secretariat conductstechnical reviews of regulations based on factual analysis and consultations with stakeholders and theissuing agency, and makes recommendations. Those recommendations are then discussed in a plenarysession where the issuing agency and private-sector representatives have a new opportunity to explaintheir positions. If the issue can be solved technically, the committee adopts or rejects recommendationsby consensus. If the issue is political, final decision is ratcheted up to ministerial level. The full model,as implemented model, is illustrated in a flow chart in Figure 4.8. It can be scaled up or down toaccommodate local needs or capabilities.Figure 4.8 Mauritius’ regulatory-review agency modelThe same model can be adapted to deal with new regulations in the spirit of “Regulatory ImpactAssessment” (RIA). Whereas full RIA is a complex process, simplified examination and, mostimportantly, the adoption of simple dialogue and good-governance procedures in the issuance of newregulations could go a long way toward drawing the economy’s key players into the reform process.Donors can help in this process through technical assistance and by contributing resources to theregulatory agency, possibly broadening its mandate to cover competition issues as well. This wouldhelp to build an institutional setup capable of (i) containing regulatory proliferation, (ii) instilling a spiritof good governance and quality into government action, and (iii) facilitating the spread of best practicesin the EAC region. It would also strengthen the modernization action of OBR by embedding it into alegitimate and sustainable reform process.Most importantly, donors can encourage the creation of similar regulatory-oversight agenciesacross EAC member states in order to leverage economies of scale through cooperation and tofacilitate a unified approach to regulatory improvement. Agency technical personnel could be trainedto perform regulatory reviews through regional capacity-building workshops, building a common body87 / 153