Thank you.
Regulatory capture occurs when regulation drafters come to rely overly on the people who are to be regulated to determine the regulatory framework and, in the end, gather all their information from those same sources, which are the businesses and individuals that they'll have to regulate. As a result, those businesses exercise control over the regulations and can even use them as a barrier to competition and to secure an advantage for themselves.
The administration's transparency is the most effective tool to prevent this situation. When the administration addresses businesses in particular or individuals in a meeting setting, other concerned businesses and individuals must be made aware of that fact. In addition, subsequent consultations must be conducted in a very sincere manner, particularly at the notice of consultation and call for comments stage.
We have witnessed some egregious examples of this. Although not an example of regulatory capture, there was nevertheless an apparent conflict of interest in the Tiger Team and genome-editing case. In that instance, the businesses provided the public administrators with talking points. Essentially, the regulations were virtually developed by the business and the private sector before consultations were even held or comments had been received from other sectors, particularly the health sectors and non‑governmental organizations.
If, at the start of the process, you only consult certain businesses or stakeholders that frequently interact with the industry, and, in addition, don't sincerely consult other actors, there can be a risk of regulatory capture. Transparency makes it possible to identify these connections, to know with whom you've spoken and when. If discussions are open, there will be no further apparent conflict of interest or regulatory capture. Transparency is therefore the solution.