Jacobs, Cordova & Associates assisted the World Bank/IFC to carry out the Impact Analysis of reforming the Inspection System in Jordan. In order to reduce the high compliance costs and risks for businesses as well as increase the cost effectiveness of 13 key inspectorates in the Country, the project identified the best options and recommended policy reforms to the Economic Development Committee of Ministers. Concretely the project undertook an Impact Analysis of the different inspection models/practices that have been recently launched and implemented in the world to reduce the burden on the private sector resulting from overlap and duplication of inspection functions. The gathering of evidence included the organization of study tours to countries which have recently reformed their inspection system. See World Bank Success Story:  Inspections Reform in Jordan Reduces Regulatory Burden to Businesses.

Jordan, World Bank, 2011.

The goal of this 3-month project was to provide a technical and legal advice to the Government team as needed in drafting Strategy for Inspection Reform in Kosovo. In particular the project aims at assisting the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in the design of a transparent, integrated, streamlined and objective-based inspection regime in Kosovo. For this, the project is organized into three inter-connected components.

• Ensure an up-to-date inventory of all legal and regulatory measures linked to business inspections
• Advice the MTI on establishing an effective institutional architecture for a modern inspection system through merger, consolidation and the establishment of an encompassing Law on Inspection
• Provide customized recommendations for launching reforms, including deploying “risk-based” approaches to inspection.
• Importantly, the three components are underscored by overarching training and capacity building activities and communication initiatives to raising competencies and build a political constituency for reform.

Kosovo, Ministry of Trade, and Industry Kosovo, 2010.

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates was invited in April 2010 to assess progress and map out the next stages for a systemic report of inspections in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. This appraisal closed an important series of reforms undertaken since December 2004 by the Kyrgyz Government aimed at reducing the administrative burdens associated with inspections on the business sector. Though the second mission was postponed due to the political events of April 2010, the progress report produced by Jacobs, Cordova & Associates indicated that the new reform phase should clarify and set concrete objectives and be based on a multi-year policy including:

• Improving the current legal framework;
• Creating an institutional overview and coordination mechanism for all enforcement and inspection bodies;
• Merging and consolidating some existing inspectorates to reduce the duplication, contradiction and the budgetary costs of enforcement;
• Strengthening the regulation upon inspectors, as well as increasing their incentives (i.e., salaries and status, etc.) and developing a training program, and
• Developing a business outreach program to build political support.

Kryrgyzstan, IFC/GTZ, 2010.

In the framework of the Kosovo Business Environment Technical Assistance (BETA) Project funded by the World Bank, since January 2010, Jacobs, Cordova & Associates assisted the Ministry of Trade and Industry to improve the inspection climate through improvement of Market Surveillance inspections and through the preparation of an inventory of the all measures related to business inspections. This analysis also encompasses an assessment of the existing setting and organization of inspections at all levels in Kosovo.

Kosovo, Ministry of Trade, and Industry Kosovo, 2010.

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates undertook the first Regulatory GuillotineTM in the Eastern Balkans in the Republika Srpska, working with Chemonics in the USAID/SPIRA project. Around 330 formalities and 2,473 inspection-related regulations were reviewed in four months. Some 21% of formalities and 58 % of inspection regulations were eliminated as unneeded for the Republic’s economic needs, and 23% of formalities were simplified. The results were announced by Prime Minister Milorad Dodik in September 2006. Since then two registries for inspection-related measures have been set up.See a sample of the working registry here: http://www.regodobrenja.net/index.php?akc=inspekcije&jezik=3 And a description of the system here: http://www.regodobrenja.net/index.php?jezik=3

Republika Srpska, BiH, U.S. Agency for International Development, 2007.

The aim of this report prepared for FIAS was to explore how governments in developing countries can draw on examples of public-private inspection partnerships to develop effective and credible alternative inspection approaches for ensuring compliance with voluntary and mandatory standards, using experience gained from public-private sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) experiences, and from innovative public-private inspection innovations outside the CSR context.

Multi-Country , World Bank/IFC, 2005. Download Report here:

Good Practices for Business Inspections: Guidelines for Reformers, prepared by Scott Jacobs and Cesar Cordova, was published by the World Bank Group in its influential series of toolkits for better business environments. In this State of the art report Jacobs, Cordova & Associates examined key practices of effective inspections for the protection of human health and safety and the environment. The report presents a checklist of good practices for such inspections. Finally, it analyses the best practices for inspection training, accountability, and administrative procedures using the experience of Mexico and the U.S. Multi-Country, Download Report Here: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/sme.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/BEEGood+Practices+for+Business+Inspection/$FILE/Bus+Inspect+Book.pdf

World Bank/IFC, 2006.

The objectives of this high-level project were to assist the Prime Minister of Albania to assess the results of Albania’s business environment reforms and map out the policy options for the next government. As a first step, we analyzed and took stock of the work done on licensing and inspections in Albania over the past 5 years (including but not limited to understanding the reasons behind the poor ranking of Albania’s World Bank Doing Business indicators). Based on this diagnostic, we advised the Prime Minister on the best way to define the next steps in the reform process in line with the proposed work done by the donors on these reforms, and to monitor progress on this reform. One of the key recommendations was the design of a methodological approach – based on impact assessment techniques – to discuss, evaluate, and decide on a inspection reform policy for the country.

Albania, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Energy (METE), 2008.

Tajikistan was in the process of reforming its unclear and cumbersome regulatory and institutional framework by reducing the number of licensing requirements and rationalizing its inspection procedures. Jacobs, Cordova & Associates advised the State Committee for Investment and State Property Management on its implementation of its ambitious reforms. Our work involved business questionnaires and interviews, including focus groups, with both businesses and the inspection authorities and producing the report, Inspections and Licensing Reforms in Tajikistan.

Our recommended changes, if adopted, will also boost accountability for performance by making future compliance reviews lower-cost and more complete, and by setting into motion the creation of a permanent system of oversight, checks and balances, and due process to correct abuses as they occur.

Tajikistan, Tajikistan Ministry of Finance, 2008.

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates analyzed the environmental institutional capacity in El Salvador to improve institutional coordination, the EIA system, inspection/enforcement capabilities, and public participation in the decision-making process.

El Salvador, The World Bank/IFC, 2005.