The power of transparency norms in the WTO legal framework: Impacts beyond the trade context

Abstract

Beyond trade facilitation, transparency norms in the WTO legal context are, implicitly and explicitly, aimed at addressing problems in the domestic administrative laws of its members. Through the lens of global governance, this article attempts to shed more light on the power of transparency norms enshrined in multilateral trading agreements under the aegis of the WTO. In this global ruled-based system, transparency has become sufficiently powerful to be a multifunctional instrument for promoting the rule of law, good governance, and democracy