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10. Establish a single business identificationnumber to expedite and track the processing ofofficial requests:Oregon: the single business identificationnumber is used when reporting, paying, makingenquiries about employment-related obligations— such as withholding, unemployment, andtransit taxes — and worker’s compensation assessments.Ireland: brought together tax registration detailsfor income, social security, and value-added taxesunder a single registration number. This practicehas also been introduced also in other Europeancountries.11. Involve the private sector in registration:Serbia: the independent agency registers businessthrough a network of service centres strategicallylocated around the country, and throughon-line and mail registration.Italy recently eliminated the role of the courtsaltogether and enjoys substantial efficiencies asa result. The trend in Europe is toward administrativemanagement of registries and away fromlegal process involving courts and notaries.(A recent study 93 for the European Commissionfound that key drivers of good registration areimprovements in internal efficiency in public bodiesthrough better management techniques andperformance measures, accountability, and userconsultation, which implies a client-orientationfocused on business needs. The study found thatreduction in the involvement of court notaries andother legal bodies were associated with substantialefficiency improvements.)12. Licensing Reforms — rationalisation:Russia: the new law on licenses significantly reducedthe number of activities subject to licensing,reduced the license fee, and extended theterm of validity of a license to at least five years(from three years). After the adoption of the newlaw, the percentage of the enterprises that appliedfor licenses and permits dropped by a third.13. ‘Get out of the Courts.’ Eliminate the needfor mandatory use of both notaries and judgesfrom registration:Bosnia-Herzegovina will make registration anadministrative process, without resorting to thecourts. Also eliminates the need for judges.Italy: registration was taken out of the courts,saving three months.Serbia and Montenegro adopted legislation to dothe same in May 2004. The benefits are large.Entrepreneurs in countries where registrationrequires a judicial process spend 14 more days tostart a business.Operating a Business1. Reduce the number of inspections by governmentauthorities with the exception of those areaswhere regular inspections are needed due to thenature of transactions. Inspections, in general,are based on ad hoc system in terms of documentrequirements, interpretation of documents,and intention of inspectors. They usually lead tobribes and corruption:Russia: According to a new Inspection Law, anyone state agency can carry out no more than oneinspection of one and the same firm in two years.The number of inspections dropped by a third.2. Private inspections and certification —alternatives to administrative regulation:Australia: a model involving private and third-partycertification of building compliance by competentbuilding professionals has been incorporatedat the national level. It involves the developmentof a model of rational building legislation devel-247