MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO

The memorandum argues that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) lacks internal transparency and fails to include developing countries in its decision-making processes. It identifies systemic issues such as the 'green room' process, 'chair-driven' negotiations, and the use of political pressure, proposing reforms to make meetings inclusive, ensure the neutrality of the Secretariat, and return decision-making power to the general membership.

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) suffers from a lack of internal transparency and a failure to include developing countries in decision-making processes. This situation is described as having worsened despite previous promises of reform, which is particularly critical given the organisation's impact on the environment and billions of people.
• General systemic problems within the WTO include an unfair application of the consensus system toward developing countries, an overloaded agenda that disadvantages resource-poor nations, and the application of political and economic pressures to influence negotiating positions.
• Preparations for Ministerial Conferences are characterized by a lack of transparency due to the proliferation of undocumented, exclusive, and 'informal' meetings. These processes have become 'chair driven' rather than 'member driven,' often ignoring divergent views through 'clean' draft texts and utilizing 'Mini Ministerial' meetings to create an unelected 'steering group'.
• During Ministerial Conferences, decision-making is undermined by the 'green room' process, which excludes many members, and the misuse of the opening ceremony to obtain approvals for substantive decisions. Other issues include the undemocratic selection of chairpersons and the holding of exclusive 'last night' marathon meetings.
• The memorandum proposes several reforms to ensure fair participation, including making all meetings and 'informal consultations' open to all members, ending 'Green Room' and 'Mini Ministerial' meetings, and ensuring the WTO Secretariat maintains neutrality. It suggests that the General Council and Trade Negotiations Committee should serve as the primary decision-making fora.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cancun_21July03_ExecSum.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cancun_21July03_ExecSum.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cancun_21July03_ExecSum.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndmemorandum, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cancun_21July03_ExecSum.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }