"Post-Evaluation Should Be Dualized According to Regulatory Nature Such as Sunset"

KDI 'Post-Regulation Impact Assessment International Conference'

Experts have suggested that to successfully implement post-implementation regulatory impact assessments (PIR), evaluations of review-type sunset regulations and major regulations with significant ripple effects should be dualized into periodic and non-periodic assessments. They explained that the focus should not simply be on reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens but also on enhancing regulatory effectiveness to minimize distortions where existing regulations are unreasonably relaxed or abolished.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) announced on the 22nd that it held an "International Conference on Post-Implementation Regulatory Impact Assessment" at the Courtyard by Marriott Sejong, where experts discussed these opinions. At this conference, regulatory policy experts from Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gathered to share systems and cases of post-implementation regulatory impact assessments in Korea and major countries.

Post-implementation regulatory impact assessment is a system that reviews the outcomes of regulatory enforcement and seeks alternatives, playing an important role in regulatory innovation and quality improvement. Its importance is growing as the need to retrospectively check whether previously introduced regulations function efficiently and appropriately realize their original purposes increases amid the emergence of new technologies and industries and rapidly changing social and economic environments.

Paul Davidson, OECD Policy Analyst, stated, "While most OECD member countries have introduced and operate post-implementation regulatory impact assessment systems, additional improvements are needed in the operation methods of post-assessments, such as organic integration with regulatory reform systems and strengthening procedures for collecting opinions from regulated parties."

He explained, "When operating the offset rule (corresponding to Korea's regulatory cost reduction system), it is necessary to reflect the results of post-implementation regulatory impact assessments along with prior regulatory impact assessments, and during post-assessments, the more significant the ripple effects of the regulation, the more the opinions of regulated parties and stakeholders should be collected to improve regulatory quality."

Kim Seong-bu, Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Institute of Public Administration, also emphasized, "It is necessary to establish the timing of evaluation, evaluation entities, management of the evaluation system, quality control of evaluations, and post-management systems tailored to Korea's circumstances," adding, "The system should be dualized into 'periodic post-assessments' conducted on review-type sunset regulations and 'non-periodic assessments' conducted on major regulations with significant ripple effects."

Associate Research Fellow Kim said, "In the short term, a centralized operation and management method is desirable, and in the long term, a decentralized approach that guarantees the autonomy of ministries' existing regulatory maintenance activities is recommended," adding, "It is necessary to actively reflect the opinions of stakeholders related to post-implementation regulatory impact assessments during the system operation process and continuously improve detailed operational plans."

Yang Yong-hyun, Head of the Regulatory Research Office at KDI, stated, "For the post-implementation regulatory impact assessment system to be established, efforts are needed to set clear evaluation objectives and analyses, secure data and decide on analysis entities, ensure the appropriateness of economic analyses, and establish objective and rational conclusions."

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