Submissions invited on Regulatory Responsibility Bill

Minister for Regulatory Reform Rodney Hide today announced that the Government is seeking public submissions on the Regulatory Responsibility Bill.

"The aim of the public submission process is to canvass New Zealanders' views on a number of specific questions relating to the Regulatory Responsibility Bill," The Minister said.

"These include the main problems with regulatory quality, what measures could be taken to address these problems, and whether the Bill is likely to help solve these problems.

The Regulatory Responsibility Bill seeks to put more structure around the lawmaking process, but will not affect the validity of individual laws. It requires that ministers and chief executives certify whether or not a regulatory proposal complies with a set of good practice regulatory principles.

If a regulatory proposal does not comply with the principles, ministers and chief executives can be called to account; individuals can seek a declaration from the courts that a particular piece of regulation does not comply with the principles.

"What we want to get out of this process is an informed, inclusive debate that considers the drivers of poor quality regulation so that we can tackle these more effectively," Hon Hide said.

"Improving regulatory quality is a challenging goal and we value the opinions of New Zealanders on how we might best achieve it."

Consideration of the Bill is part of the National-ACT Confidence and Supply Agreement. The Government set up a Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce in April 2009 to:

assess the original Bill;
consider what amendments and supporting arrangements might be desirable;
produce a draft bill.

"I think that the Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce has produced an excellent report, but it is important that whatever we do is robust and supported by the country," said Minister Hide.

The taskforce reported back in September 2009 with a new draft bill and some supporting recommendations.

The Government has drafted a set of questions on the Taskforce's Bill and invites submissions based on these questions. These are available on the Treasury's website, at http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/regulation/rrb

The deadline for submissions is 27 August 2010.



Submissions should be sent to:

Regulatory Quality Team

The Treasury

PO Box 3724, Wellington 6140

Or by email to: regulation@treasury.govt.nz