International regulatory cooperation: Case studies and lessons learnt

Abstract

The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has developed a toolkit that shows how IRC can take many forms along a spectrum. At one end of the continuum is unilateral recognition through adoption of another country’s regulatory settings or standards and at the other harmonisation through convergence of policies and practices. Beyond harmonisation is full integration through common rules for joint institutions. In between are a range of intermediate points such as cooperation through communities of practice, dialogue and information sharing, Mutual Recognition Agreements etc. NZIER prepared four IRC case studies: trans-Tasman competition law, Asia Region Funds Passport and two ASEAN examples on intellectual property (IP) and cosmetics.