A crisis looming in the dark: some remarks on the reform proposals on notifications and transparency

The article offers some reflections on the operation of transparency obligations and monitoring within the WTO with a view to contributing to both the diagnosis and prognosis of its present ‘disease’. Section 2 summarizes 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 certain substantial issues for the present and the near future of the multilateral trading system. Against such backdrop, Section 4 discusses the proposals for a more effective monitoring of national trade policies and practices and examines its prospective role in light of the ‘extinction’ of the Appellate Body (AB) due to its membership falling below to the minimum three members required to decide cases.