Regulatory Impact Assessment: Missing link in Sri Lanka's policy and regulatory reforms to unlock smarter governance

We are familiar with the practice of conducting a systematic prior appraisal (which includes a costbenefit analysis and assessment of environmental concerns) when implementing a new development project.

- PROF THEEKSHANA SURAWEERA AND Dr PRABATH C. ABEYSIRIWARDANA

In fact, for large Government projects, such an appraisal is mandatory. How about having such a comprehensive assessment prior to a new policy or a new regulation coming into place? Have you ever heard of such a practice in Sri Lanka, to review a new regulation, whether it is by the Government, Local Government, a corporation, or even a private company? This is seen as a serious gap in Sri Lanka’s Policy and Regulatory Reforms aimed at realising ‘Smarter Governance’.

Since 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been promoting this important approach under their ‘Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy’. This internationally accepted method of making a comprehensive appraisal of new regulations or their amendments is called ‘Regulatory Impact Assessment’, RIA in short. By now, RIA has become an established practice in countries like the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand to make a systematic appraisal before a new legislation is introduced. The appraisal would review if the proposed ‘law’ is going to serve its anticipated purpose, and to examine the pros and cons, the would be impact on the economy, society, and culture.

This article aims to bring this global conversation home, to explore how Sri Lanka, too, can benefit from adopting RIA as part of its policy and regulatory reforms journey. As the country is moving towards promoting good governance, accountability, and quality infrastructure, the time is right to implant the missing piece, the RIA, that helps Sri Lanka to make better, fairer, and more forward-looking policies.