A Crisis Looming in the Dark : Some Remarks on the Reform Proposals on Notifications and Transparency
While in a year of unprecedented crisis for the organisation the event did not make many news headlines, on 12 April 2019, the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) commemorated its 30th anniversary. Together with the many rules on notifications, publication and reporting embodied in the multilateral trade agreements, the TPRM, established to ensure greater awareness of national trade policies, is the main channel used by the WTO to promote accountability, predictability and transparency. Interestingly enough, despite their different views on the role and prospect of the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) and other modernisation reforms for the organisation, the major trading entities of the world, including the United States (US), agree on the importance and need of strengthening the monitoring role of the WTO. Discussions on reforms within the organisation almost invariably underscore that transparency re-mains an important and contentious issue within the operation and monitoring function of the WTO. Proposals coming from the developed Members specifically focus on strengthening notification/surveillance and developing more effective mechanisms for dia-ogue on regulatory policies that may create negative spillovers, a position widely shared by experts.Hoekman puts it well: ‘transparency is a critical input into WTO processes as well as an important output of the organization.' And monitoring clearly interfaces with its other main functions. Accordingly, this article offers some reflections on the operation of WTO transparency obligations and monitoring with a view to contributing to both the diagnosis and prognosis of its present ‘disease.' The remaining of the article is therefore divided into three parts. Section 2 summarises the logic of transparency in the multilateral trading system. Section 3 provides an assessment of the performance of the WTO monitoring schemes and transparency rules with regard to selected issues that are significant for the present and near future of the multi-lateral trading system. Against such backdrop, Section 4 concludes by discussing the proposals for a more effective monitoring of national trade policies and practices and making some tentative considerations on its prospective role in light of the ‘extinction' of the Appellate Body (AB)
Year of publication: |
2020
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Authors: | Borlini, Leonardo S. |
Publisher: |
[2020]: [S.l.] : SSRN |
Saved in:
freely available
Extent: | 1 Online-Ressource (30 p) |
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Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Notes: | In: QIL, Zoom-out 63 (2019) Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments December 15, 2019 erstellt |
Source: | ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012843120
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