Session by Rolf Alter, Director, Public Governance and Territorial Development, OECD Effective international rules and standards have proven to be beneficial for a sustainable world economy and shared well-being. International organisations play a key role in developing such rules and understanding how they operate and engage with stakeholders is important for ensuring their effectiveness. To shed light on international standard setting, this presentation will illustrate recent OECD work collecting, comparing and assessing the practices of 50 international organisations on their governance arrangements, operational modalities, use of quality management disciplines and co-operation efforts. Looking at different types of organisations, our work identifies avenues for making their legal and policy instruments more effective, inclusive and relevant, in an effort to address the current discontent with globalisation arising from fragmented rules of the game. Recognising the challenges of monitoring and evaluating the implementation and impact of international standards and guidelines, transparency, flexibility, focus and co-operation are vital to ensuring complementarity.

1. THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS IN FOSTERING
BETTER RULES OF GLOBALISATION
Rolf Alter, Director, Public Governance and Territorial Development, OECD
5th OECD Parliamentary Days
10 February 2017
A joint undertaking of the OECD Public Governance and
Territorial Development and the Legal Directorates

2. Better international rules of the game
for a globalisation that benefits all
Corruption
Tax fraud
Poverty
Epidemics
Migration
Illiteracy
Hunger
Terrorism
Integrity
Transparency
Prosperity
Health
Integration
Education
Food safety
Security

3. The diversity of organisations involved (inter-
governmental, private and increasingly trans-
governmental) in setting international rules
35
5
9
1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Intergovernmental
organisations
Private standard-setters Trans-governmental
networks of regulators
Supra-national
institutions
APEC,
CARICOM,
COMESA,
ESCWA,
FAO, IAEA, IMF,
IMO, ITU, OIE,
OIF, OIML,
OPCW, OTIF,
UNDP, UNEP,
UNIDO, UNODC,
UNWTO, UPU,
WCO, WHO,
WIPO, WMO,
WTO/OMC
NATO, OAS,
OIV, OSCE,
OECD, UNECE,
BRS, CBD,
CITES, OZONE
ASTM International,
IATA, IEC, IFAC, ISO
AHWP, IAF, IAIS, ICN, ILAC,
IMDRF, IOSCO, PIC/s, SAICM
European Commission
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.

4. Exchange of
information and
experience
Data collection
Research and policy
analysis
Discussion of good
regulatory practice
Development of
rules, standards,
guidance
Negotiation of
international
agreements
Enforcement,
imposition of
sanctions
Dispute
settlement
Crisis
management
Despite diversity, international organisations have
similar focus on development of rules rather than on
enforcement and implementation
FrequentactivitiesforallIOs
UncommonforIOs
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.

5. OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
OECD Recommendation of the Council on Gender Equality in Public Life
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Codex Alimentarius (FAO, WHO)
UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and
Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
IMO International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
ISO Standards on design, production, installation and servicing Safety of Medical Devices
Examples of international norms

6. The nature of international rules of the game:
soft law rather than binding agreements
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.
47
43
29
23
21
19
16
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Non-binding guidance/best practices document
Recommendation
Political declaration
Technical standards
Legally binding decision
Treaty for ratification by states
Model treaty or law
Majorityof
IOsadopt
softlaw
instruments
LessIOs
adoptmore
binding
instruments

7. Implementation of international norms is mostly done
through voluntary peer reviews
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.
8
2
4
10
18
19
6
13
12
12
12
13
36
35
34
28
20
18
0 10 20 30 40 50
Mandatory peer review of
individual members
Dispute settlement
procedure
Sanctions
Positive incentives for
implementation
Voluntary peer review of
individual members
Benchmarking progress of
individual members
Yes Occasionally Never
The stronger
the mechanism
to encourage
implementation
…
… the less it is
done by
international
organisations

8. International organisations increasingly engage
stakeholders in rule-making, through ad hoc invitations and
formal status. Diversity remains across and within.
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.
13
37
10
10
27
3
0 10 20 30 40 50
Opportunity for the
general public to
comment on
proposed actions
Opportunity for
stakeholder groups to
comment on
proposed actions
Yes Occasionally Never
19
26
37
13
9
7
18
15
6
0 10 20 30 40 50
Stakeholder advisory
committee
Official status for
Stakeholder groups within
the organisation
Invitations to stakeholder
groups to participate in
rule-making process
Yes Occasionally Never

9. Growing tendency to evaluate use of international
rules, but difficulties remain on estimating their
impacts
11
7
8
9
13
15
17
17
19
Ex post evaluation of implementation and
impacts
Review of the overall stock of regulatory
norms in the organisation
Ex ante regulatory impact assessment
Yes Occasionally Never
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.

10. Cooperation among international organisations is
frequent… but relies mostly on exchange of information
Source: OECD Survey of International Organisations, 2015.
12
28
29
37
42
45
26
15
14
11
6
4
12
7
7
2
2
1
0 10 20 30 40 50
Develop joint instruments
Participate in co-ordinating
institution
MOU or other agreement
Joint meetings that provide
forums for co-ordination
Observe relevant actions of other
bodies
Exchange information
Yes Occasionally Never
ObservationCo-ordination

11. 2014-2016:
Reflecting on
common
challenges to
international rule-
making
• Informal platform of international organisations hosted by OECD
• Survey of 50 IOs and report
• 7 Case studies: FAO, IMO, ISO, OECD, OIML, UNECE, WHO
2017-beyond:
Towards a
Partnership of IOs
on Excellence in
International
Rule-Making
• A partnership of IOs underpinning peer dialogue and learning
• Focusing on: 1) strengthening implementation of IO instruments; 2)
ensuring efficient stakeholder engagement; 3) developing a culture of
evaluation of IO instruments; and 4) maximising the opportunities for
co-ordination across IOs
Towards a Partnership of IOs on Excellence
in International Rule-Making
Why? To provide domestic regulators and legislators greater confidence that
international rules can help them achieve their domestic mandate

12. Background information:
Our work on the role of international organisations in
fostering international regulatory co-operation:
www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/international-
organisations-and-role-in-irc.htm
Contacts:
Celine.kauffmann@oecd.org
Marianna.karttunen@oecd.org
Thank you