GLOBAL SUBSIDIES INITIATIVE

Transparency is a foundation stone of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) -- the first multilateral agreement to establish disciplines on its members' use of subsidies. Under Article 25 of the ASCM, countries are obliged to submit notifications describing those subsidies that have an impact on global trade.

However, the WTO Secretariat has signalled that compliance with the ASCM's obligations to provide new and full notifications is too low, both in terms of the number of Members submitting notifications and the timeliness of those notifications.