Risk Management in Regulatory Frameworks: Towards the Better Management of Risks

Risk management is essential for the key areas of work of WP.6:

• Risk management principles constitute an important building block of the international trade system and lie at the basis of several WTO Agreements. Efficient application of risk management by regulatory authorities is crucial for facilitating trade and removing technical barriers.
• Ensuring health and safety of consumers requires building risk-based regulatory frameworks, which would bring risks to a tolerable level by devising and implementing regulatory requirements that are proportionate to risks they were set out to address.
• Achieving Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the principles of Circular Economy require regulations that would minimize effects of uncertainty on objectives.

Since its establishment in 2010, GRM has been developing recommendations and guidelines for governments aimed at improved management of risks within regulatory frameworks. It introduced general recommendations on the use of risk-management tools in regulatory systems (Recommendation R “Managing Risk in Regulatory Frameworks”), including in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (Recommendation T “Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Development”). In parallel, the Group developed best practice on improving the efficiency of specific risk management functions, such as Recommendation P “Crisis Management within a Regulatory Framework”, which describes how regulatory processes can prepare for and manage crisis, including disasters. It also developed guidance to market surveillance authorities and enforcement bodies in planning surveillance activities and developed regulatory frameworks for specific economic sectors, in which risk-based regulation is essential (such as a common regulatory framework on cybersecurity). Within the recent years, improving the efficiency of risk management as a trade facilitation measure and building integrated risk-based import compliance and enforcement systems has become one of the main priorities of the GRM.

During the Annual Session, the Group covered most of the areas of its work. An overview was given of the current status of the implementation of the GRM recommendations and discussion took place which of them should be updated in the following years. The Group also discussed proposed changes to Recommendation T, which are supposed to address best practice on developing regulations in support of circular economy principles, as well as on reviewing safety regulations and on approaches for balancing risks. The Group reviewed the new version of the Common Regulatory Objectives on Cybersecurity and discussed cooperation with other organizations working in the field. Finally, the Group presented the final version of the Guide developed in cooperation with ITC “Managing risk for post-pandemic trade: Guide for Border Regulators”.

General agenda

• Approval of the Agenda.
• Election of officers.
• GRM in 2022: GRM Report to the WP.6 Annual Session and plans for 2023.
• Overview of GRM recommendations and their implementation statuses.
• Updating Recommendation T “Standards and Regulations for Sustainable Development": circular economy, reviewing safety regulations and tools for balancing risks. Slide by Mr. Simon Webb.
• Review of the Common Regulatory Objectives on Cybersecurity. Presentation by Mr David Hanlon.
• Risk management in international trade: overview of the Guide “Managing risk for post-pandemic trade”. Presentation by Dr. Mohammed Saeed, ITC
• Risk management in the context of the Single Window Framework. Presentation by Mr. Joaquin Gonzáles, UN/CEFACT Project Leader