Further negotiations with important implications for trade are often held during the implementation stage, particularly during periodic reviews to examine how the Agreements are operating. In addition, analytical work on six new subject areas is now under way in WTO, with a view to finding out whether WTO rules in these areas would be appropriate. The views of business communities on how their interests and concerns can be taken into account are of vital importance to governments in deciding on the policy approaches they should adopt. The only way that business communities can ensure that their interests and concerns are fully reflected by their governments is to closely follow reviews of Agreements and negotiations to adopt rules in new subject areas. While WTO meetings are closed to the public and documentation on these meetings is restricted, member countries have recently taken steps towards greater transparency.
Documents are now ordinarily de-restricted after six months.
Reports of the panels and of the Appellate Body in dispute settlement cases are de-restricted at the time of issue. The WTO secretariat has been seeking to improve its contacts with civil society by arranging periodic issue-specific symposia on subjects like trade and the environment, trade and development, and trade facilitation. NGOs are allowed to attend plenary sessions of the Minis-terial Conferences, and are regularly briefed by the WTO secretariat on the Conferences working sessions. One of the issues that will be addressed in the coming years is making WTO work more transparent by providing greater access to information on WTO activities. Taking advantage of liberalization measures The business community can do more than help governments develop policy approaches to discussions on implementation of the Agreements and on rule-making negotiations.