The project consisted of providing the International Financial Corporation with international best practice advice to reduce compliance costs for businesses related to regulations. This project in particular assisted the government of Tunisia which emerged from the regime changed to launch a systematic and participatory reform process of licenses and permits affecting businesses and citizens. The review in particular focused on streamlining of procedures, implementing e-government solution, enhancing transparency, as well as reducing the arbitrary and discretionary behaviors of some regulators, officials and inspectors.
The first phase of the project consisted of specific assistance in the design and implementation of the all customs and tax formalities of the Ministry of Finance based on Regulatory GuillotineTM methods and techniques.
A few months later, a second phase consisted of training the Ministry of Finance Unit in the application of standard cost model approaches to measure and evaluate the results of the review.
Based on the lessons and experiences learned in the previous phases, JC&A provided a one-week course on the Regulatory Guillotine™ in March 2012 for senior officials from Tunisia Ministry of Administrative Reform (MAR) and other ministries. The course was also an opportunity to provide high-level advice to senior officials on options and tools for launching a national Guillotine.
The last and most intensive phase consisted of helping a MAR task force and the IFC team to implement the Government Decree No. 1682 of August 14th 2012 launching a review of the business formalities of 9 ministries. The Decree’s objectives were to reduce time and costs of doing business, especially for SME’s, to improve administrative efficiency, to spur investments, and to improve transparency, through a review of all business formalities in order to eliminate or simplify those that are obsolete, duplicative, vague, or inconsistent with a modern approach to regulating.
In performing this work, JC&A focused primarily in the designing and monitoring of the consultation process and public – private dialogue framework to ensure Tunisia’s businesses could participate with inputs and recommendation for the review of the formalities.
Tunisia, World Bank, 2011-2014.
