Regulatory transparency, developing countries and the WTO

Robert Wolfe

World Trade Review, 2003, vol. 2, issue 2, 157-182

Abstract: The tension in the WTO between adaptation to globalization and integration of developing countries is illustrated by one of the central norms of the regime, transparency. Experts believe democratic governance and efficient markets are both enhanced when autonomous administrative agencies are open about what they doing. WTO requirements for regulatory transparency may prove to be more straightforward for OECD countries than developing countries. The future of the WTO as a legitimate and effective international organization depends on finding modes of regulation accessible to all its Members. A review of how Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, and Uganda implement the transparency requirements of the agreements on basic telecommunications, and sanitary and phytosantitary measures found that regulatory independence and transparency are increasingly prevalent in telecommunications, but much less so in food safety. Transparency between countries appears easier than transparency within countries, and economic regulation seems easier to adapt to international norms than social regulation.

Date: 2003
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