Maya Forstater

Or ongoing Swiss role (!) in major opacity of commodity trade, possibly costing developing countries billions a year? http://cgd.to/OSuQd4 

@alexcobham What is the specific Swiss opacity? Looks merchant trade excluded from COMTRADE by intntnal norms?http://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/SeriesM_52rev2E.pdf … (p19)

@alexcobham Serious Q!...Report says Swiss should meet interntnl norms of trade transprncy - I can't figure out which norms (I maybe dense)

@MForstater Stances on reporting transit trade differ; but no jurisdiction is responsible for anywhere like scale of opacity of Switzerland

@alexcobham Scale & opacity two different things. Switnd seems to be reporting in line with international norms on merchant & transit trade?

@alexcobham Is it that international norms on how this trade is reported should change? Or internatinal norms fine, but Swiss breaking them?

@MForstater neat philosophical q: do we think of norm in terms of the de jure (not all report transit trade so maybe OK for Swiss not to?);

@alexcobham From reader POV “int. norm” implies de jure or at least general practice - impression is that Swiss practice out of line. Is it?