About Knowledge and Rulemaking: Reforming WTO Rules on Subsidies

Thirty years after they were negotiated, the legal standards determining what types of subsidies are prohibited or actionable leave much to be desired. There has been virtually no advance in knowledge of subsidy measures, their policy goals, and their effects, detracting from the proper application of extant disciplines and inhibiting informed discussion on law reform. Any law reform exercise should be preceded by a serious and transparent, open, and expert-based knowledge-gathering effort. Stakeholders should devote the effort needed in improving our knowledge on subsidy policies and their effects to create the necessary learning base to prepare negotiations before diplomacy and politics kick in.