Interagency Coordination. The order directs the Office of Management and Budget's Regulatory Working Group to serve as a forum for federal agencies to discuss, coordinate and develop a common understanding of U.S. government positions and priorities with respect to (a) international regulatory cooperation activities that are reasonably anticipated to lead to significant regulatory actions, (b) efforts across the federal government to support significant, cross-cutting international regulatory cooperation activities, such as the work of regulatory cooperation councils (e.g., those currently in place with Canada and Mexico), and (c) the promotion of good regulatory practices internationally as well as in the U.S. The working group will be headed by the head of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and will include representatives from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other appropriate agencies.

Responsibilities of Federal Agencies. The order directs executive branch agencies (and encourages independent regulatory agencies) to take the following actions.

- include in their required regulatory plans a summary of their international regulatory cooperation activities that are reasonably anticipated to lead to significant regulations

- in selecting which regulations to include in their retrospective review plans, consider reforms to existing significant regulations that address unnecessary differences in regulatory requirements between the U.S. and its major trading partners

- ensure that significant regulations identified as having significant international impacts are designated as such in their semiannual regulatory agendas

- for significant regulations identified as having significant international impacts, consider any regulatory approaches by a foreign government that the U.S. has agreed to consider under a regulatory cooperation council work plan

The order defines "international impact" as a direct effect that a proposed or final regulation is expected to have on international trade and investment or that otherwise may be of significant interest to U.S. trading partners. "International regulatory cooperation" refers to a bilateral, regional or multilateral process in which national governments engage in various forms of collaboration and communication with respect to regulations, and in particular a process that is reasonably anticipated to lead to the development of significant regulations.

Source: Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg


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