Gov't pushes to reform regulation law for first time in 16 years

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a government-proposed bill that would maintain the total cost of regulation at a constant level by removing existing rules when adding new ones, the government said.

The revision to the Framework Act on Administrative Regulations passed a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye and will be presented to the National Assembly later this week, said the Prime Minister's Office.

If approved by the parliament, this would be the first sweeping revision of the act since it was introduced in 1998.

President Park has been pushing to lift or ease all but core regulations to help reinvigorate Asia's fourth-largest economy, calling unnecessary restrictions "our archenemy" and "cancer."

The revision calls for introducing a "cost-in, cost-out"

system, under which regulations will be created or abolished based on how much of a cost burden they would impose on the private sector, the office said.

The goal of the system is to maintain the total cost of regulation at a constant level by removing existing rules when adding new ones, officials said. It covers every administrative regulation, including when bills are introduced by lawmakers.

Under the revision, the government will also apply a "negative system," in which every regulation is allowed in principle unless it is specifically disallowed by the law, the office said.

Also, the bill calls for the adoption of a "sunset rule," under which regulations will automatically become invalid in five years as part of efforts to allow for the creation of new regulations, it said.

The revision also requires that government ministries respond to complaints filed against existing regulations within 14 days or provide the results of their review within three months of the time of the filing, the office added. (Yonhap)