Institutional Transparency in the WTO

Abstract:     
This paper constitutes a tour d'horizon relating to institutional transparency in the WTO decision and judicial making. The paper critically reviews the most topical challenges for the internal and external transparency of the international organization regulating global trade and puts forward several proposal for improvement. Transparency is inextricably linked with the legitimacy of the WTO. Whereas, critique about the structure and obscure functioning of the organization have grown, this very rise in publicity of the organization underlines its success resulting from the transformation that occurred in the wake of the Uruguay Round. Thus, transparency is an irreversible process, but it may lead to longer negotiating rounds.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: World Trade Organization, Transparency, NGOs, internal transparency, external transparency, international organizations, due process, dispute settlement, Appellate Body

JEL Classification: F13, F51, F53, F55, K33

working papers series