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Transparency as a trade policy tool: the WTO's cloudy windows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2010

TERRY COLLINS-WILLIAMS  and
ROBERT WOLFE
TERRY COLLINS-WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Former Canadian trade official
ROBERT WOLFE*
Affiliation:
School of Policy Studies, Queen's University
*
*Email: robert.wolfe@queensu.ca
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Abstract

Transparency, one of the fundamental norms of the trading system, is increasingly seen as an essential tool in the governance of international trade. Enhanced monitoring and surveillance of emergency measures was central to the international effort to mitigate the effects of the financial crisis that began in 2008. This paper develops a new analytic framework for thinking about WTO transparency provisions. We apply this framework to a detailed case study of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and then compare this experience to other domains within the WTO. We show that the WTO's windows on the trading system are cloudier than they ought to be. We conclude with some recommendations for improving WTO transparency tools.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 551 - 581
Copyright
Copyright © Terry Collins-Williams and Robert Wolfe 2010

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