Regulatory impact analysis

Summary of the regulatory impact analysis requirements

Regulatory impact analysis requirements have been developed to improve the quality of regulation making and to ensure that regulatory proposals are justified and maximise net benefits to society.

In summary, the requirements for regulatory impact analysis are:

• all policy proposals submitted to Cabinet that result in government bills (or Members' bills that the government is planning to support or adopt) or regulations (as defined in the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989) must be accompanied by a regulatory impact statement (RIS), unless an exemption applies;
• discussion documents relating to proposals that require a RIS must include questions and/or discussion of each of the substantive RIS sections, or a draft RIS;
• meeting the requirements for the substance and format of RISs, including sections on the adequacy of the RIS and on implementation and review;
• RISs should be included with Cabinet papers circulated for departmental consultation;
• Cabinet papers should include a Regulatory Impact Analysis section (replacing the Regulatory Impact and Business Compliance Cost Statement section);
• government agencies with the power to create or enforce regulatory frameworks are required to confirm when submitting Cabinet papers with a RIS that the principles of the Code of Good Regulatory Practice have been complied with and that regulatory impact analysis has been undertaken in accordance with the requirements;
• all RISs should be published. Sections of an RIS may be withheld if justified under the relevant provisions of the Official Information Act 1982;
• the Treasury's Regulatory Impact Analysis Team (RIAT) will assess the regulatory analysis for proposals that are likely to have a significant impact on economic growth.

Departments and other government agencies preparing Cabinet papers are responsible for meeting the regulatory impact analysis requirements.

Additional key points

All regulatory proposals

• A RIS is required for any proposal that may result in primary legislation or statutory regulations.
• A RIS should reflect a good quality policy development process including a robust problem definition and thorough regulatory impact analysis and consultation.
• The headings required in a RIS provide a useful guide to the analysis that needs to be undertaken in developing a proposal.
• A RIS should not be limited to economic impacts, and should examine the full range of outcomes including social, cultural, health, and environmental outcomes.
• A department developing a proposal that may result in primary legislation or statutory regulations should consult its usual Treasury Vote team contact as early as possible in a policy development process, just as they consult about proposals with economic and/or fiscal implications.
• There is no change to the criteria used to assess whether or not the regulatory impact analysis, as reflected in the RIS, is adequate.
• All RISs must be published on the Treasury website and the department's website.

Regulatory proposals whose RISs require assessment by the Treasury's Regulatory Impact Analysis Team

• The RIAT is responsible for assessing the adequacy of those RISs that meet the significance criteria.
• The significance criteria for determining when a RIS needs to be assessed by the RIAT remain unchanged.
• Departments should consult the RIAT as early as possible in a policy development process that may result in a RIS requiring assessment by the RIAT.

Detailed information on the regulatory impact analysis regime

Regulatory impact statement requirements

Exemptions from regulatory impact statement requirements

The content for the Regulatory Impact Analysis section in Cabinet papers, and the criteria for determining if the RIS is inadequate

Regulatory analysis requirements for discussion documents

The 'significance criteria' used to determine which regulatory proposals require assessment by the Regulatory Impact Analysis Team in Treasury

Publication of regulatory impact statements

Further information on regulatory impact analysis

Detailed guidance on undertaking regulatory impact analysis and preparing RISs is provided in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Guidelines, which are available from the Treasury website at http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/guidance/regulatory/impactanalysis.

Enquiries about the Parliamentary Counsel Office's requirements for including a RIS in the explanatory note to bills should be directed to the PCO team leader responsible for the department's legislation. 

General enquiries about regulatory analysis or the assessment of RISs should be directed to ria@treasury.govt.nz. Enquiries regarding particular regulatory proposals should be directed to the Treasury Vote team for a department.