Almost all GATT and early WTO documents were initially released for internal organization use only under the distribution classification category "restricted." Official sources describing the policies and procedures for derestricting these documents and ensuring public access and transparency are described on this page.

Procedures for the circulation and derestriction of GATT documents were outlined in a 1967 document released under the symbol number L/2737. Document series that came into existence after 1967 through 1994 were submitted to the Contracting Parties of the GATT for periodic derestriction. A thorough review of the practices and policies is provided in the Analytical Index: Guide to GATT Law and Practice. GATT/LEG/2. Updated 6th ed. / prepared by Amelia Porges with contributions by Friedl Weiss and Petros C. Mavroidis. Geneva: WTO, 1995, pp. 1116-1118.

Derestriction of WTO documents issued before 15 May 2002

Procedures for the circulation and derestriction of WTO documents were adopted by the General Council on 18 July 1996 and were applied retroactively to all WTO documents circulated after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, and also apply to all documents circulated up to and including 14 May 2002. These procedures are described in the following document: WWT/L/160/Rev.1 .

Derestriction of WTO documents issued after 14 May 2002

Revised procedures for the circulation and derestriction of WTO documents were adopted by the General Council on 14 May. These procedures are described in the following document: WT/L/452 .