“How to restore confidence between Tunisians and public institutions at a time when the latter lack a clear view? How to successfully implement a new system at a critical juncture marked by social unrest? “Two questions on which focused, Thursday, participants at a seminar on the simplification of tax and customs formalities.
The crisis in Tunisia is not only a socio-economic one; it is also a crisis of confidence. Many citizens feel that public institutions do not work, or at least they do not work effectively.
There is today a need to reform those institutions, which are slow to meet the demands of a global economy. This is an essential condition to promote the quality of business climate that remains a major challenge for all countries including Tunisia.
This approach requires promoting the quality of the procedures adopted including organizing economic life so as to stimulate entrepreneurs and ensure recovery in Tunisia
This can be done, according to Ali Mekki, representative of the Ministry of Finance, only through the establishment of a central and complete register of formalities with legal security and even the initiation of regulatory, participatory, transparent, structured and credible governance.
This project has resulted, in fact, in a massive intervention, or 445 operations. Moreover, the number of procedures recorded was 446, 276 customs-related and 170 tax-related.
To meet this challenge, an approach: “Regulatory Guillotine” was adopted. This is a rapid process allowing review of the existing stock of regulations or procedures to eliminate those that are no longer needed, legally justified or whose costs outweigh the benefits they produce for society.
The Guillotine is a way to quickly review a large number of old regulations and eliminate those that have become obsolete. It is clear, decisive and fast. It is deployed as follows:
The Government asks all public entities to establish a list of their regulations. During the preparation of lists, they can exclude outdated regulations or those that they cannot justify.
Afterwards, a centralized list is created by compiling lists of all public entities.
Each proposed measure is reviewed individually according to objective criteria.
When the Guillotine “fell,” any measure not included in the new list is automatically rejected and no further legal action is required. Similarly no public body cannot require from individuals information imposed by texts not included in the final list.
It is important to note that this project will be carried out in 8 stages:
• Establishment of legal and institutional framework (adoption and publication of the Decree),
• Team training and development of computer device,
• Development of methodological aspects,
• Inventory and self-assessment of procedures by services,
• Evaluation of formalities by the private sector (professionals and businesses)
• Examination of formalities by the technical group and formulation of reform proposals
• Adoption of reforms by the Government
• Implementation of reforms adopted and posting of the register of formalities on the internet.
