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Transparency in the WTO Decision-Making

In its less than 20 years of existence, the WTO has managed to draw public attention. Transparency in the WTO decision-making has been in the agenda of the multilateral trading system for several years. Pressures from developing countries and nongovernmental organizations in particular have led to significant improvements towards more openness and participation in the WTO decision-making. This paper is intended to posit the WTO within the current debates about more institutional transparency in international organizations (IOs). It discusses the current features of good governance in the WTO and the consensus rule in particular, in an attempt to identify the pros and cons of this voting tradition in a modern IO. A central view of the paper is that input and output transparency of the WTO could be further enhanced by increased participation of non-governmental organizations. As the WTO is gradually becoming a genuine IO in terms of membership and gets involved in global discussions relating to finance, climate change or poverty eradication, public scrutiny will only increase and thus more good governance is an irreversible process. Some thoughts about the future prospects of and possible avenues for the WTO system are also identified.