	Background

		U.S. Agency Roles and Responsibilities

U.S. agencies have different responsibilities related to international  regulatory cooperation. 2. 3. 4. Reducing foreign regulatory  barriers to trade is a key U.S. trade objective. U.S. These activities include  U.S. agencies and foreign counterparts sharing scientific data, developing  and using the same international regulatory standards, and recognizing  each other’s regulations as equivalent. Cooperation can address both  existing and avoid future regulatory differences. Agencies’ efforts to cooperate on regulatory programs through  cooperative activities may also have the effect of facilitating trade and  supporting the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. In addition, U.S. agency officials said that when they participate in  international standards development, an existing U.S. regulation or policy  approach may be used as the basis for the international standard. When  other countries adopt U.S. approaches to regulations, it can lower  compliance costs and support competitiveness for U.S. businesses. OMB officials also said that the RWG is developing  guidance to implement the executive order. Beyond these forums for interagency coordination, regulatory agency  officials we interviewed said the current processes could benefit from  better information sharing among agencies on the implementation of  international regulatory cooperation activities and lessons learned. Without some enhancements to the current forums for  regulators and trade officials to collaborate, opportunities to share  practices and improve safety and regulatory efficiencies and to reduce  trade barriers could be missed. Agencies Consider International Regulatory Cooperation and Competitiveness during Rulemaking in Different Ways International Regulatory Cooperation Activities Inform Different Phases of Rulemaking

Agency officials we interviewed reported that the outcomes from  international regulatory cooperation can inform all phases of the  rulemaking process, from affecting an agency’s decision whether or not to  regulate in a particular area to implementing and enforcing regulations. For example, U.S. agencies share scientific and technical information with  their foreign counterparts, which can inform all stages of the rulemaking  process. Agency officials said competitiveness impacts for  some rulemakings are likely to be indirect and may not rise to the level of  inclusion in the rulemaking record. NHTSA does  not have tools for analyzing the effects of its safety standards on the  competitiveness of U.S. businesses. U.S. Some of these factors can facilitate agencies’ efforts if  present in international regulatory cooperation activities while others can  also act as a barrier when absent. Established processes. High-level leadership. Some agency officials and nonfederal stakeholders reported challenges  to stakeholder involvement. Statutory authority. An official from EPA OCSPP said that an important  Early and ongoing coordination. While the executive order on promoting international regulatory  cooperation focuses on reducing trade barriers by reducing unnecessary  differences in regulations with U.S. trading partners, we found in our  review that U.S. agencies carry out numerous and diverse international  regulatory cooperation activities to improve the effectiveness of  regulations, gain efficiencies, and avoid duplicating work. Recommendation for Executive Action

To ensure that U.S. agencies have the necessary tools and guidance for  effectively implementing international regulatory cooperation, we  recommend that the Regulatory Working Group, as part of forthcoming  guidance on implementing Executive Order 13609, take the following  action:
Establish one or more mechanisms, such as a forum or working  group, to facilitate staff level collaboration on international regulatory  cooperation issues and include independent regulatory agencies. In an email received on  July 30, 2013, the Deputy General Counsel, Office of Management and  Budget, stated that OMB had no comments on the recommendation in  this report. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to (1) provide an overview of regulatory agencies’  international cooperation activities, (2) examine ways that agencies  incorporate outcomes from international regulatory cooperation activities  and consider competitiveness during rulemaking, and (3) examine factors  identified by agencies and nonfederal stakeholders that act as facilitators  or barriers to international regulatory cooperation and considering  competitiveness. To address these objectives, we selected seven U.S.  regulatory agencies out of 60 U.S. agencies that are included in the  Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified  Agenda), that issued regulations with international impacts and four U.S.  agencies with government-wide international coordination responsibilities. These  views are not generalizable to all U.S. agencies. Furthermore, using  criteria based on our September 2012 report on interagency collaborative  efforts, we also compared agencies’ documents and testimonial evidence  about their international regulatory cooperation activities to the seven key  features that we found agencies should consider when implementing  collaborative mechanisms to corroborate the agencies’ findings. The examples below illustrate the types of activities  that agencies engage in to fulfill their regulatory missions and are not  meant to be a comprehensive catalog of agency activities in this area.
Why GAO Did This Study

Trade has increased as a share of the economy for several years, but U.S. companies can face difficulties competing in foreign markets when countries apply different regulatory requirements to address similar health, safety, or other issues. GAO was asked to examine what U.S. agencies are doing to engage in international regulatory cooperation. This report (1) provides an overview of U.S. regulatory agencies' international cooperation activities; (2) examines ways that U.S. agencies incorporate outcomes from international regulatory cooperation activities and consider competitiveness during rulemaking; and (3) examines factors identified by U.S. agencies and stakeholders that act as facilitators or barriers to international regulatory cooperation. GAO analyzed documents and interviewed officials from seven U.S. agencies that regulate products traded internationally and four U.S. agencies with government-wide roles and responsibilities. GAO also interviewed officials from 11 organizations representing business and consumer advocacy perspectives that reported or publicly commented on international regulatory cooperation. The scope of this study is not intended to be a complete catalog of agencies' activities and is not generalizable to all entities that have interests in this area.

What GAO Found

All seven U.S. regulatory agencies that GAO contacted reported engaging in a range of international regulatory cooperation activities to fulfill their missions. These activities include the United States and its trading partners developing and using international standards, recognizing each other's regulations as equivalent, and sharing scientific data. U.S. agency officials GAO interviewed said they cooperate with foreign counterparts because many products they regulate originate overseas and because they may gain efficiencies--for example, by sharing resources or avoiding duplicative work. Cooperation can address both existing and avoid future regulatory differences. Officials also explained how cooperative efforts enhance public health and safety, facilitate trade, and support competitiveness of U.S. businesses. Several U.S. interagency processes require or enable interagency collaboration on international cooperation activities. The Regulatory Working Group (RWG), chaired by OMB and the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) are forums that have different responsibilities related to the regulatory and trade aspects of international regulatory cooperation. U.S. regulatory agency officials said the current processes could benefit from better information sharing among agencies on the implementation of international cooperation activities and lessons learned. Without enhancements to current forums, opportunities to share practices and improve outcomes could be missed. Executive Order 13609, issued in May 2012, tasked the RWG with enhancing coordination and issuing guidance on international regulatory cooperation, which the RWG is developing. Nonfederal stakeholders GAO interviewed reported challenges to providing input on U.S. agencies' international regulatory cooperation activities, in particular that they are not always aware of many of these activities and participation can be resource intensive.
Officials GAO interviewed said the outcomes from international regulatory cooperation inform all phases of the rulemaking process, from helping an agency decide whether to regulate to implementing and enforcing regulations. U.S. agencies are not required to conduct a separate analysis on the competitiveness impacts on U.S. businesses when developing regulations. However, five of the seven U.S. agencies told GAO they do consider competitiveness. Officials we interviewed also pointed out that any analysis of impacts may not rise to the level of inclusion in the rulemaking record. In addition, U.S. agencies' use of international standards in regulations can lower costs for U.S. businesses and reduce barriers to trade.
Officials from all of the U.S. agencies GAO interviewed said they consider international standards during rulemaking partly in response to requirements in trade agreements, U.S. statutes, and executive orders. Officials from all of the U.S. agencies GAO interviewed identified seven key factors that affect the success of international regulatory cooperation activities: (1) dedicated resources, (2) established processes, (3) high-level leadership, (4) scientific and technical exchanges, (5) stakeholder involvement, (6) statutory authority, and (7) early and ongoing coordination. When present, these factors can facilitate U.S. agencies' efforts, but they can also act as barriers when absent. GAO found that these factors also reflect the seven key features for implementing collaborative mechanisms previously identified in its September 2012 report on interagency collaboration.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends the RWG include in forthcoming guidance on Executive Order 13609 tools to enhance collaboration, such as mechanisms to facilitate staff level dialogues. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) did not have comments on the recommendation.