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International Standards and Risk Assessments - Regulation Impact Statement for consultation - Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

On 14 October 2014, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry jointly announced the Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda. The Agenda seeks to strengthen Australia's competitiveness, targeting job creation and higher living standards. One of the initiatives to be implemented over the next 18 months is the adoption of international standards and risk assessments for certain products. Building on the Government's deregulation agenda, the proposal seeks that regulators should not impose additional requirements beyond those already applied under trusted international regulation, unless it can be demonstrated there is good reason to do so. The proposal requires departments and agencies to review existing regulation against this principle. The proposal has been assessed by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) as likely to have a substantial impact on the economy with significant impacts on competition. The RIS explored two alternatives to this proposal – maintaining the status quo, and mandating the adoption of international standards and risk assessments without further review. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) has been prepared by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and was subject to an early assessment by the OBPR. To ensure a thorough review of all regulations, ministers will write to regulators in their portfolio and key business and other stakeholders seeking their views on each of their standards and risk assessment processes against this principle. Members of the public are invited to submit examples of unnecessary divergence from international standards on the Government's Cutting Red Tape website.