Transparency is an essential principle in the APEC process for both promoting economic stability and in meeting APEC's free trade and investment goals. In 2002, Leaders agreed to a set of General Transparency Standards that committed members to such measures as publishing all laws and regulation, and establishing appeal mechanisms for administrative decisions. In 2003 and 2004, the general standards were mapped onto specific trade policy areas involving nine sets of Area-Specific Transparency Standards, and agreement was reached on incorporating the transparency standards into Individual Action Plan (IAP) templates for annual reporting starting in 2005.

At the 19th APEC Ministerial Meeting held in Sydney, Australia on 5-6 September 2007, Ministers welcomed the report on the assessment of APEC economies' implementation of APEC transparency standards and pledged to close those remaining gaps in implementation, including through targeted capacity building activities and other initiatives, where appropriate.

Completed assessment templates of member economies can be downloaded by clicking the links below:

Economy	Templates	Date
Australia Brunei Darussalam Canada Chile China Hong Kong, China Indonesia Japan Korea Malaysia Mexico New Zealand Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Russia Singapore Chinese Taipei Thailand United States Viet Nam	Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes	2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007