Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
On 6 October 2020 the Australian Government announced the proposal to modernise the regulation of meat exports by partly removing regulatory burden and rewarding compliant regulated entities, as part of Budget 2020/21.
The RIS assesses the cost that existing regulations place on Australian meat processes, which render the relevant Australian businesses at a global disadvantage against international competitors. The RIS proposes three options:
- Regulatory status quo
- Regulatory modernisation and reform over an accelerated timeframe (1-5 years)
- Regulatory modernisation and reform over a longer timeframe (5-10 years)
The RIS concludes that the second option has the highest net benefit given it will result in greater cost-efficiencies to the sector, as well as, providing improved access to international markets.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) assessed the RIS as adequate against the Government’s impact analysis requirements.
The OBPR considers that, while the analysis presented is of an adequate standard, to be consistent with good practice, the RIS should have provided more analysis on the magnitude of the problem. Further analysis on the status quo option (option i) and the option to draw out implementation time-frames (option iii) would also assist in elevating the quality of the RIS.
The RIS estimates the average annual regulatory savings at $24.450 million. The OBPR has agreed to this regulatory saving.