New Delhi, May 12 -- Several government committees, apart from the Niti Aayog, have asked for regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) to be institutionalized in India. The statutory backing of a legislative framework can ensure its meaningful use as a tool for assessing the costs and benefits of current and prospective regulatory measures.

The inclusion of provisions related to RIAs in India's recently concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) highlights the urgency to enact a central law on such study-based reports.

Modern FTAs focus not only on border tariffs and non-tariff steps, but also on a range of behind-the-border issues that can affect trade. As a core concept, an RIA qualifies as a good regulatory practice (GRP) in trade terminolog...