Absolute regulatory sovereignty for the UK in leaving the EU?
A theoretical construct completely at odds with international reality as just a few examples show... 1/
A theoretical construct completely at odds with international reality as just a few examples show... 1/
Meet the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. Are we going to opt out of the global automotive regulations? 2/ unece.org/trans/main/wp2…
Meet Codex Alimentarius or "Food Code" "a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission" 3/ fao.org/fao-who-codexa…
The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) "bringing together the regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical industry to discuss scientific and technical aspects of drug registration." 4/ ich.org
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) "consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector." 5/
You could continue for a long time listing global regulatory bodies. Their relationship to domestic regulations and international trade varies, each are complex in their own right. The overall point though is that only total isolation could bring total regulatory sovereignty 6/
Virtually all products and services in developed countries are subject to regulations. Hence virtually all the trade between them is regulated in some way. International initiatives of differing types aim to reduce the barriers to trade from divergent regulations. 7/
There has always been a suspicion that in the minds of many Brexiteers only the EU regulates, and out of the EU we thus gain freedom that others have. Hence also the demand now for regulatory divergence. Unfortunately for the argument the EU is actually typical... 8/
Some regulatory divergence from the EU is possible. Though little has actually been proposed over the last three years, for the good reason that there are few obvious candidates. 9/
The freedom to diverge on regulation means not signing up to treaties which reduce trade barriers through various means. So trade will become harder. Simple realities.
It really would be better to work out what we actually want... 10/ end
It really would be better to work out what we actually want... 10/ end
This is one way out of the regulatory puzzle...
