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Regulatory transparency, developing countries and the WTO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2004

ROBERT WOLFE
Affiliation:
School of Policy Studies, Queen's University Kingston, Ontario

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.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Robert Wolfe

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Footnotes

I am grateful to Michael Heal for preparing the tables, to officials in Geneva for patiently answering my questions, and to Jacqueline Best, Richard Blackhurst, Klaus Stegemann and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments. This work was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada using funds provided by the Law Commission of Canada.