. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/CSC/10 
25 November 2004 
 (04-5141) 
Committee on Specific Commitments   
  
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2004) 
 
 
1. Since its the annual report of 2003 to the Council for Trade in Services, the Committee on 
Specific Commitments held four formal m eetings:  on 4 December 2003, 22 March 2004, 
23 June 2004, and 28 September 2004.
1  In the reporting period, the Committee addressed three items:  
consideration of issues relating to Article XX:2 of the GATS;  classification issues;  and scheduling issues. 
I. CONSIDERATION OF ISSUES RELATING TO ARTICLE XX:2 OF THE GATS 
2. As mandated by the Council for Trade in Services (Regular Session), the Committee 
addressed issues relating to paragraph 2 of Ar ticle XX of the GATS at its meetings of 
4 December 2003, and 22 March 2004.  Inputs to substantive discussions were provided by a 
Chairman's note (JOB(03)/213) and a communi cation from Switzerland (JOB(03)/214).  A large 
number of delegations participated in the discu ssions which revealed continuing differences on the 
legal interpretation of the overlap between Ar ticles XVI and XVII of the GATS.  While some 
delegations believed that a clear and consistent inte rpretation of the overlap was possible, others had 
doubts.  Several delegations expressed an interest in further exploring a practical solution in the 
context of the ongoing services negotiations.  It was al so noted by some delegations that any solution 
should not affect existing commitments and th at the relationship between existing and new 
commitments needed to be examined.  Following the meeting of 22 March 2004, the Chairman 
submitted a factual report on the discussions to the Council for Trade in Services (S/C/W/237). 
II. CLASSIFICATION ISSUES 
3. The Committee addressed a proposal by Indon esia on the classification of energy services 
(S/CSC/W/42) at all meetings during the reporting period.   
4. The Committee also continued discussing issues rela ted to Legal Services.  At the request of 
Members, documents by the International Bar Associ ation (IBA) ("Resolution in Support of a System 
of Terminology for Legal Services for the Pu rposes of International Trade Negotiations" - 
JOB(04)/17) and the Organization for Econom ic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 
("Managing Request-Offer Negotiations under the GATS:  the Case of Legal Services" - JOB(04)/77) 
were circulated.  At the meeting of 28 Septembe r, a representative of the OECD presented the latter 
document to the Committee.   
                                                     
 
1 Reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/CSC/M/31, S/CSC/M/32, S/CSC/M/33, and 
S/CSC/M/34.  They should be read in conjunction with this report.  S/CSC/10 
Page 2  
 
 III. SCHEDULING ISSUES 
5. During the reporting period, the Committee a ddressed two communications from Brazil, 
containing preliminary questions on initial offers (JOB(03)/189 and JOB(04)/12).   
6. The Committee further addressed communications from Hong Kong, China (JOB(04)/81 and 
JOB(04)/133), and Chinese Taipei (JOB(04)/82) wh ich discussed a number of scheduling questions.  
At the request of Members, the Secretariat prepared a list of documents related to the revision of the 
Scheduling Guidelines in 2001 (JOB(04)/97). 
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