RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/104
28 September 2001
(01-4640)
Council for Trade in Services
Special Session
ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES
COMPILATION OF RELEVANT STATEMENTS AND SUBMISSIONS
Background Note by the Secretariat
I. INTRODUCTION
1. This Note has been requested by the Council for Trade in Services at its Special Session held
from 9 to 12 July 2001.  It is intended to assist the Council in structuring its discussion on the
assessment of trade in services mandated by Article XIX:3 of the GATS.  In keeping with the requestthe Note compiles statements made and submissions tabled on the issue.
2. Part II contains excerpts of minutes of Council meetings reflecting Members' statements on
the assessment of trade in services.  Part III lists all submissions tabled by Members, documents
prepared by the WTO Secretariat, as well as other relevant contributions to the assessment of trade in
services.
II. COUNCIL DISCUSSION ON THE ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES
A. M
EETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 14 AND 15 D ECEMBER 1998
(S/C/M/32)
3. The Chairman recalled that paragraph 3 of Article XIX of the GATS provided that for each
round of negotiations guidelines and procedures be established.  For that purpose, the same provision
called upon the Council to carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall terms and on a
sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of the GATS, including those set out in paragraph 1 ofArticle IV.  In order to prepare for that assessment, Ministers in Singapore endorsed the proposal that
the Council conduct an information exchange exercise, the main part of which was represented by the
on-going sectoral discussions.
4. At the previous meeting of the Council the Chairman had suggested that as the conclusion of
the exchange of information exercise was approaching, it might have been useful that the Councilheld a preliminary exchange of views on how the assessment should be carried out.  He said that in
his view there were two main elements:  (i) the collection and presentation of data which may be
available and (ii) a discussion in the Council leading to a joint assessment of the way in which trade
flows and regulatory developments had progressed since the coming into force of the Agreement.  He
added that Members were aware of the serious deficiencies in the statistics and other data available tothe Council, but stressed the need to undertake all pos sible efforts to present them in the most helpful
way with the assistance of the Secretariat.
5. The Chairman invited delegations to express their preliminary views on the way in which
discussion in the Council should be organized and on the documentation that they might wish to
request from the Secretariat.S/CSS/W/104
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6. Members agreed that the assessment represented an important aspect of Article XIX of the
GATS and that it would not have been appropriate to set a fixed time-frame for it.  It was, however,
the general view that the assessment should take no more than one or two meetings of the Council,
taking into consideration that in the next year the Council was called upon to begin other important
work under Article XIX and namely the negotiating guidelines.
7. The Council requested the Secretariat to submit a document in preparation for the assessment
of trade exercise to be conducted in early 1999.  The representative of Japan said that this document
should summarize issues, but not results of an assessment.  The delegation of the European
Communities noted that it would be useful if the Secretariat provided the Council with material for
discussion, using W/26/Add.1 as a model.  The representative of the United States argued that the
Council might be said to have already engaged in an assessment over the past few months during the
information exchange exercise.  In this respect relevant material had already been produced by theSecretariat, in particular in the papers on the economic effects of services liberalization and statistics
(S/C/W/26 & Add.1 and S/C/W/27) and the sectoral background papers prepared for the exchange of
information.  He said that a new paper should flesh out only the elements which were possibly lacking
in previous Secretariat documents, that is to say the relationship between Articles XIX and IV.  The
delegation of Egypt said that it would be useful if the Secretariat’s paper could focus on, and provide
some details of, costs and benefits of services liberalization for developing countries.  New Zealand
and Indonesia on behalf of ASEAN  argued that a paper from the Secretariat should put together and
reorganize material which was already available.  Australia and Hong Kong  saw no particular need
for a new Secretariat document as it was difficult to see what could be added to existing material suchas documents S/C/W/26 & Add.1 and S/C/W/27.  The representative of Uruguay asked how the
Services Council’s work on the assessment would be coordinated with the work on implementation,
which was taking place in the General Council.  The Chairman replied that the work programme of
the General Council did not affect on-going work in the subsidiary bodies and that Members wereexpected to undertake work on the assessment in the Services Council, independently of other
activities in the General Council.
B. M
EETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 22 AND 23 M ARCH 1999
(S/C/M/34)
8. The Chairman recalled that paragraph 3 of Article XIX of the GATS provided that for each
round of negotiations, guidelines and procedures shall be established.  For this purpose, the same
provision called upon the Council to carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall terms and
on a sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of the GATS, including those set out in
paragraph 1 of Article IV.
9. He pointed out that trade in services suffered from a serious lack of statistical and other
factual information which could constitute a proper basis for a quantitative assessment.  This made it
very difficult to envisage an assessment exercise which would lead to precise or quantified
conclusions.  A strong element of subjectivity was therefore inevitable in the assessment by each
Member of how trade in services had developed in general or on a sectoral basis.  For these reasons hesuggested that Members approach the assessment ex ercise as an opportunity to exchange views,
record the appreciation of individual Members and recognise their different priorities.
10. At the meeting of the Council held on 14 December 1998, delegations had held a preliminary
discussion on the modalities for the assessment.  It had been envisaged that, although it was not
desirable to set a fixed time-frame for this exercise, the assessment might require one or two meetingsof the Council.  The Council had also requested the Secretariat to prepare a background note on the
assessment of trade, to complement its earlier work on statistics (S/C/W/27) and the economic effects
of services liberalisation (S/C/W/26 and S/C/W/26/Add.1).  Accordingly, the Secretariat had nowS/CSS/W/104
Page 3
prepared a note on Recent Developments in Services Trade (S/W/C/94), which together with other
existing documents was meant to assist the Council in its assessment of trade in services.
11. The delegation of Japan presented its informal paper.  It was prepared as a contribution to the
discussion mandated by Article XIX:3 and consists of three main parts:  The analysis of Japan's trade
in services; its experience in the progressive liberalization of services trade through multilateralnegotiations; and its assessment of trade in services.  Japan's non-paper concludes with a section on
issues to be discussed in the future.
12. Commenting on the Secretariat's Note S/C/W/94, the delegation of Switzerland pointed to the
dynamic trend in trade flows exhibited by many countries at different levels of economic
development.  It remarked that foreign affiliates account for an important share of value-added in the
host economy and generate significant cross-border trade activity.  It also noted that the many policy
developments of relevance to trade in services which have taken place recently and their dynamic ofchange point to the appropriate timing of the upcoming negotiations.
13. The representative of Switzerland drew attention to the present uneven level of commitments.
The next round of negotiations should aim for increased convergence across countries, sectors and
modes of supply, but further improvements should come also with respect to countries, sectors and
modes which currently show a high degree of commitments.
14. The delegation of New Zealand noted the importance of stability and predictability of market
conditions in encouraging investment, and the value of a rule-based multilateral trading system in
bringing about such stability.  Paragraph 23 of the Secretariat's Note, pointing to the value of GATS
bindings, was useful in this respect.  The paucity of trade statistics in services, discussed in
paragraph 2, was an additional element to be borne in mind when carrying out an assessment of tradein services.
15. Even if it recognized that the policy developments highlighted in document S/C/W/94 were
not intended to constitute a comprehensive list, the delegation of New Zealand raised doubts as to
their representativeness.  It also drew attention to the reference to ANZCERTA in paragraph 22(iii),
which should in fact be to the Trans-Tasman Mu tual Recognition Arrangement (TTMRA).  Finally,
the representative of New Zealand noted that the chapeau to this section did not account for the
approach to regional integration embraced by the TTMRA, which provides for the recognition of the
parties' registration systems, and thus goes beyond the traditional frameworks for mutual recognition.
16. The representative of India noted that the Secretariat's Note, while it summarized recent data
and policy developments, did not carry out an assessment of trade in services as mandated by
Article XIX:3.  It appeared however that overall developed countries continued to dominate services
trade and that the expected improvement in participation of developing countries had not taken place.This indicated the need for special and more favourable treatment of developing countries and
suggested that developed countries had offered service providers of developing countries inadequate
access, whereas those of developed countries had been able to penetrate developing countries'
markets.  The current imbalance in commitments across countries, sectors and modes needed to be
corrected, bearing in mind in particular the requir ement for negotiating flexibility for and increased
participation of developing countries in services trade.
17. The Secretariat's Note did not specify the extent to which trade developments could be
attributable to deregulation and liberalization measur es negotiated under the GATS, nor did it analyse
the impact that liberalization since the Uruguay Round has had on developing countries.  The
representative of India suggested that a more detailed study on the effects of liberalization ondeveloping countries should be undertaken by the Secretariat before negotiating guidelines and
procedures could be established.S/CSS/W/104
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18. The delegation of Uruguay stated that it was carrying out an internal evaluation of services
sectors in Uruguay, and that it would provide further comments at a later stage.  It noted that the data
presented in Table A7 showed a high degree of concentration of services trade, and that a greater
focus on developing countries in the Secretariat's Note would have proven interesting.  It also
remarked that more discussion was needed on the assessment of trade mandated by Article XIX:3.
19. The delegation of Hong Kong, China noted that services trade liberalization is not a zero-sum
game, in spite of the painful adjustments which it may involve, and that better and cheaper services
create more demand.  Attention was drawn to the benefits brought about by liberalization in the
telecommunications sector, in terms of lower costs for consumers and greater investment and
competition, but similar effects were highlighted also for other sectors.
20. Commenting on the Secretariat's Note, the delegation of Hong Kong, China expressed
disappointment at the lack of greater focus on the position of developing countries.  It suggested that,in a longer term, studies be undertaken on such issues as the growth of developing countries’ services
sectors in the last few years, the increase in thei r exports as compared with imports of services, the
availability of research on the effect of increased imports of services in developing economies,
relative growth rates in developing and developed countries and the extent of trade in services
between developing countries.  The Secretariat might investigate whether UNCTAD or other bodieshad carried out any studies on these issues.
21. Finally, the delegation of Hong Kong, China noted that the information contained in Table 1
and Chart 4 of S/C/W/94, on the number of sectors in which a Member had made commitments,
depicted a partial picture, as the quality of the commitments made was perhaps more important.
22. The delegation of the European Communities, commented provisionally on the Secretariat's
Note, noted the current imbalance in sectoral coverage and stated that future negotiations should strive
for more comprehensive coverage.  With regard to Article IV of the GATS, the Secretariat's Note
recognized the difficulty of assessing the situation of developing countries, but this needed to be put
into perspective with paragraph 10, which referred to  the spectacular growth of Asia's services trade;
this supported the European Communities' view of the link between development and growth in
services trade.  The need for pro-competitive regulation, regulatory safeguards and for improvement
of regulatory principles was also stressed.
23. The delegation of the European Communities noted that the Secretariat's Note had not
specifically discussed electronic commerce, and remarked that the boost to trade in services brought
about by its development, along with any available statistical information, needed to be mentioned.
Similarly, the positive impact of the Reference Paper on Telecommunications could usefully be
emphasized.  It further remarked that the reference, in paragraph 22 (v), to the expected entry oftelephone and cable operators in the audiovisual sector may not be relevant for the assessment of trade
in services.
24. On the issue of how to proceed, the representative of the European Communities suggested
that the Secretariat's Note be used as a basis to draft negotiating guidelines, and urged Members to
reflect on how to do this with the greatest urgency, so that momentum would not be lost.
25. The delegation of the United States agreed with the comments made by a number of
delegations about the importance of services for economic growth.  One of the objectives of the
GATS was the expansion of trade through market opening and clear legal disciplines, and the
negotiations on basic telecommunications and financial services had achieved this to a significant
extent.  The body of work produced in the Information Exchange Programme and the Secretariatpapers on the economic effects of services liberalization, where attention is drawn to the benefits forS/CSS/W/104
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developing countries in promoting their own greater services liberalization, should be used as the
basis for the drafting of negotiating guidelines and procedures.
26. The delegation of Cuba agreed with the delegation of India on the need for a study on the
effects of services liberalization on developing countries.  It noted the importance of the principle of
special and differential treatment for developing countries, contained in Article IV of the GATS andin the Annex on Telecommunications, in promoting developing countries' participation in services
trade.
27. The Chairman concluded by asking the Secretariat to consider what additional information
could be provided, in relation to the assessment of services trade, which could be used to deal with the
suggestions and concerns expressed by several Members.  The Council would revert to the matter at
its next meeting.
C. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 26 A PRIL 1999 (S/C/M/35)
28. The Chairman noted that Article XIX:3 requires the assessment of trade to be carried out by
the Council for Trade in Services.  The Secretariat had provided a great deal of information in its
various papers, but these could only serve as an input to the assessment, and not as a substitute for it.
Article XIX:3 calls for the assessment to be ca rried out with regard to the objectives of the
Agreement, including the trade and developmental objectives enshrined in Article IV:1.  However,such an assessment is rendered difficult by the paucity of statistics, particularly acute for developing
countries, by the lack of information on whether GATS commitments had actually improved on trade
regimes, and by the fact that various liberalization initiatives, as in basic telecommunications and
financial services, had been negotiated too recently for any economic consequences to be observable.
Given these constraints, the experience gained by national governments in the implementation processproved essential for the assessment.
29. A representative of the Secretariat added that the Secretariat continued to investigate what
additional material was available, including studies conducted by other international organizations
such as UNCTAD, which could help Members carry out the assessment, and encouraged delegates to
bring to the Council's attention any information sources considered useful in this respect.
30. The representatives of Uruguay, Egypt
, Switzerland , Hong Kong, China , Brazil , India  and
Cuba invited the Secretariat to continue its contacts with UNCTAD, which, with its development
perspective, might have produced information relevant to the assessment of trade.  The representative
of Hong, Kong, China added that other organizations might also be contacted.  The representative of
Brazil suggested that the collaboration with UNCTAD could be prospective, with a view to
identifying how the interests of developing count ries could best be reflected in future GATS
commitments.
31. The representative of Egypt noted that, while Members were probably best placed to conduct
the assessment of trade on a sectoral basis, they were not in a position to carry it out in overall terms.
He thus encouraged continued collaboration of the WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats, and expressed
particular interest in studies on how developing countries had benefitted from liberalisation under the
GATS, on the problems they had encountered, and on how these might be overcome.  The assessmentwas vital for the drafting of negotiating guidelines and procedures.  The representative of India noted
that an assessment of what the GATS had achieved, in particular with respect to the objectives ofArticle IV:1, was central to the confidence-building exercise necessary to embark on a new round of
negotiations.  He also urged Members not to underestimate the importance of the assessment.
32. The representative of the European Communities noted the need to be realistic about the
objectives of such an exercise.  He wondered about the need for UNCTAD's participation in thisS/CSS/W/104
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context.  The work carried out by the WTO Secretariat provided sufficient information to draw
preliminary conclusions on the evolution of trade in services, on the role of the GATS in shaping it,
and on how the structure of the Agreement could be improved. It was not necessary to complete the
assessment in order to establish negotiating guidelines and procedures, and could start on work these
guidelines and procedures.  The assessment could continue once more information was available or amore specific input was given to the Secretariat.  As preliminary conclusion, he noted that the
imbalance of commitments across countries and sectors needed to be corrected.  Liberalization and
deregulation were taking place across many sectors, but not solely as a result of commitments under
the GATS.  Pro-competitive and regulatory disciplines were increasingly needed in the future.
33. The representatives of Switzerland, Hong Kong, China
 and the European Communities  said
that the assessment of trade should not be conducted as a one-off exercise, but rather be considered as
an on-going process.  Any new information could provide fresh impetus.
34. In summarizing the discussion, the Chairman noted that many delegations had expressed a
desire for the Secretariat to interact with other organizations, and in particular with UNCTAD, with
the aim of identifying material and information that might be of relevance to the assessment.  He
would explore with the Secretariat what could be done in addition.  Several Members had also noted
that the assessment should be an on-going exercise, and that it required continued attention.  TheChairman urged delegations to carry out their own national assessments and contribute these to the
overall programme.
D. M
EETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 18 M AY 1999 (S/C/M/36)
35. The Chairman recalled his concluding remarks on the assessment of trade at the previous
meeting of the Council.  He had said that he would explore with the Secretariat what could be done in
terms of additional work, and what possibilities existed for interaction with other organizations, in
particular UNCTAD, with the aim of identifying materi al that might be relevant to the assessment.  In
this vein, the Secretariat had prepared an informal Note, circulated as Job. No. 2748.
36. The Note is based on Background Papers previously prepared for the Information Exchange
Programme.  As with these papers, the information presented in several areas incorporates work donein recent years by the UNCTAD Secretariat.  In keeping with requests from various delegations, the
Note discusses liberalisation effects from a developing country perspective.  It refers in particular to
five services sectors (tourism; health; construction; maritime; software development and
implementation) and one mode of supply (mode 4) where liberalization might prove particularly
relevant to at least some developing countries.
37. Mr. Hartridge drew attention to Table A.1 on page 9 of the Secretariat Note, which contains
some flawed information on the status of market access in financial services.  He invited delegations
to disregard this Table.
38. Many delegations said that they had just received the Secretariat's paper and needed more
time to study it;  the delegations of Guatemala and Mexico  added that they were looking forward to
having the Spanish translation.
39. The representative of India felt that trade conditions under mode 4 were more restrictive than
described in paragraph 11 of the Note, referring in particular to the use of vague language and the
absence of criteria for economic needs tests in schedules.  She further said that developing countries
had taken important commitments under the GATS, but there was not clear evidence that they had
benefited from liberalisation.S/CSS/W/104
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40. The representative of the European Communities sa id that more services sectors than the five
identified in the Secretariat's Paper could be of interest to developing countries.  In this context, he
referred to the possibility of developing services functions for wide economic regions and the
importance of infrastructural services in underpinning the competitiveness of the overall economy.
The information presented in Section IV of the Note showed that trends in services trade were similarfor developed and developing countries, which, in turn, suggested that all Members had benefitted
from the growth of services trade.  The representative of Japan pointed to the economic role of the
infrastructural services referred to in paragraph 6.  The representative of Guatemala said that the
identification of sectors of interest to developing countries was a useful approach for the assessment
exercise; and the representative of Hong Kong, China noted that developing countries might identify
other relevant sectors, in addition to the five mentioned in the Secretariat Paper.  The representative ofthe United States drew attention to the economic value of standstill commitments, in increasing
transparency and predictability, and of autonomous liberalisation.
41. The representatives of Uruguay, Brazil , Cuba , the Dominican Republic , Guatemala , Indonesia
(speaking on behalf of ASEAN), Mexico, and Egypt  called for the WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats
to intensify their contacts with a view to carrying out a joint assessment of trade in services, since
1995, in order to assist the forthcoming negotiations.  The representatives of Uruguay and Egypt
noted that in September 1998, UNCTAD had been given a mandate for a joint study with the WTO on
the assessment of the impact on developing countries of liberalisation under the GATS;  the Egyptian
delegation also suggested asking a representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat to give a presentation at
the next Services Council meeting.
42. The representatives of the European Communities, Switzerland , the United States  and Japan
expressed reservation about UNCTAD's involvement in the assessment of trade, which is to be carried
out by the Council for Trade in Services.  The WTO Secretariat had already produced a great deal of
information on the subject, which also incorporated UNCTAD's work.  It was noted that precise
guidance from delegations was essential before additional work could be requested of the WTO
Secretariat.  These delegations, as well as those of Canada and Norway , considered it useful, however,
if the WTO Secretariat contacted the UNCTAD Secr etariat with a view to identifying additional
documents and studies.
43. The representatives of Egypt, Venezuela , Hong Kong, China , Uruguay , Cuba , the Dominican
Republic, Barbados  and Turkey  expressed concern about the reluctance of some Members to involve
UNCTAD in the assessment of trade.  The representatives of Venezuela and Hong Kong, China
considered UNCTAD's contribution as complementary to the WTO Secretariat's work;  the
representative of Uruguay felt that it could add a developing country perspective; and the
representative of Egypt believed that it could help stimulate national contributions.  The delegations
of Cuba, the Dominican Republic  and Barbados  noted that developing countries often lacked the
expertise and resources to carry out their own assessment.
44. The representative of India drew Members' attention to the fact that in the Committee on
Customs Valuation it had been agreed, at the request of developed countries, to investigate whether
the work of UNCTAD and other organizations could be of help to the Committee's discussions.  She
also noted that many developing countries had entered the Uruguay Round without adequate
preparation, and that it was vital to ensure that this would not happen in the new round of services
negotiations.  The representatives of Hong Kong, China, Switzerland  and Turkey  also noted that the
assessment should not be conducted as a one-off exercise, but rather be considered an on-going
process.
45. The delegations of Switzerland, the United States , Japan , Canada  and Norway  stressed the
importance of Members' own contributions to the assessment.  The representative of the United StatesS/CSS/W/104
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further observed that submissions along the lines of those produced by India and Pakistan would be
useful.
46. In summing up the discussion, the Chairman noted that many delegations required more time
to study the Secretariat Note and prepare detailed comments.  There was no unanimity of views about
the need for cooperation with other international organizations, and in particular with UNCTAD;some delegations were asking for a joint study, but others did not consider it appropriate.  However,
the WTO Secretariat was in contact with, and had already drawn on the work of, the UNCTAD
Secretariat.  In addition, he undertook to invite the UNCTAD Secretariat to provide an overview of
their work in this area for the next Council meeting.  This would also provide an opportunity to
discuss any additional contribution which might be requested from the UNCTAD Secretariat.  While
recognizing that not all Members had the necessary resources and expertise, the Chairman noted the
value of national contributions and encouraged all those Members, which were in a position to do so,to come forward with their own assessment of trade in services.
E. M
EETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 22 AND 24 J UNE 1999
(S/C/M/37)
47. The Chairman recalled that at the discussion on the assessment of trade held at the previous
meeting of the Services Council, in his concluding  remarks, he had undertaken to invite the UNCTAD
Secretariat to provide an overview of their work in this area, with a view to identifying material that
might be relevant to the assessment.  He info rmed Members that he had contacted the UNCTAD
Secretariat which had agreed to make a presentation to the Council.  However, because of conflicting
obligations, they had been unable to participate in this meeting, but would be ready for the following
meeting.  The Chairman opened the floor for delegations’ comments on the Note produced by theSecretariat (a revision had been circulated as Job No. 2748/Rev.1).
48. The representative of Uruguay felt that the Secretariat’s informal Note on the assessment was
useful; it contained new elements which could facilitate his authorities’ assessment of trade in
services.  His delegation was aware that the UNCTAD Secretariat had started drafting a statement to
be made to the Services Council.  He said that it would be helpful if they could make theirpresentation before the summer break and provide an overview of all the services sectors they had
worked on, whether in the form of papers, seminars or expert meetings.
49. The Chairman undertook to pass on Uruguay’s request to the UNCTAD Secretariat.  He
added that a presentation by a representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat was scheduled for the
Council meeting in July, at which he hoped a full discussion of this agenda item would take place.
F. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 19 AND 20 J ULY 1999
(S/C/M/38)
50. The Chairman recalled that the UNCTAD Secretariat had been invited to make a presentation
to the Services Council on the work it had undertaken which might be relevant to the assessment of
trade mandated by Article XIX of the GATS.  They had been unable to do so at the previous Council
meeting, but were present at this meeting and had also provided an informal paper dated 16 July 1999.
The Chairman invited the representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat to present the paper.
51. The representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat gave an overview of the paper titled
"Assessment of Trade in Services of Developing Countries:  Possible Contribution by UNCTAD".
He said that there was a paucity of internationally comparable statistics on services, and that balance
of payments data related mainly to cross border tr ade.  On the basis of the information which was
available the following observations could be drawn:  Services contributed to growth andtransformation of developing countries;  developing countries had a deficit in trade in services, exceptS/CSS/W/104
Page 9
as it related to tourism and travel and worker remittances;  developing countries' services imports
were growing faster than their services exports;  since 1995, developing countries services exports had
increased by 6 per cent, largely driven by Asian exports;  the top 20 exporters were mainly from
developed countries; and there was no empirical evid ence that FDI flows to developing countries had
increased since the adoption of the GATS.  Yet, given the paucity of disaggregated data, anyassessment of trade in services had to be based primarily on qualitative analysis.  Services contributed
to long-term economic development and reinforced economic efficiency.  However, developing
countries often lacked coherence in their services policies;  this might act as a constraint to potential
investors and as a barrier to trade.  For many developing countries, exports of services represented the
only means of diversification out of excessive dependence on exports of primary commodities.
52. On the basis of its work, UNCTAD had identified “niche” opportunities for expansion of
trade in six services sectors, in which developing countries had revealed actual comparativeadvantage, particularly through movement of natural persons.  Partly because of technological
changes, these opportunities changed rapidly and thus required capacity for prompt adaptation.
UNCTAD's work had also identified four categories of characteristics which were shared by several
services sectors.  First, most developing countries were faced with supply constraints and did not
possess the preconditions for building competitive serv ices sectors.  Second, interdependence existed
among the four modes of supply, so that trade through one mode often led to increased trade though
other modes;  this called for the liberalisation of all factors of production.  Third, there was a lack of
commercially meaningful commitments on mode 4, except for intra-corporate transferees.  Fourth,
service suppliers from developing countries often faced a number of other barriers.  Other issues of
relevance to the assessment of trade identified in the paper included competition-related issues, suchas the high degree of concentration in many services markets or the structure of distribution and
information channels, electronic commerce, access to information and transfer of technology.
53. The representative of UNCTAD added that services trade liberalization could make a major
contribution towards social and developmental goals.  However, it required that liberalization
commitments take into account the specificities of the national services sector concerned and therelationships between sectors, including, for example, an adequate regulatory structure.  The process
under Article VI of the GATS was important in ensuring that the benefits of liberalization were
maximized.
54. A last section of the paper listed selected documents on services prepared by the UNCTAD
Secretariat which might be of use to the assessment.  When the representative of Canada asked
whether such documents were available electronically, the UNCTAD representative explained that
electronic dissemination had been started:  Documents issued after 1998 were already accessible, andmost of the remaining ones would be towards the latter part of the summer holidays.
55. Most delegations offered preliminary comments on the paper, which they had received only
shortly before the meeting, and said they would revert to it in greater detail at the next meeting of the
Council.
56. The representative of Uruguay observed that the work carried out by the UNCTAD
Secretariat complemented the work by the WTO Secretariat.  It was an important part of the
assessment, offered a framework for the evaluation of trade in services and helped developing
countries carry out their own assessment.  The representative of Brazil valued UNCTAD's paper for
its conceptual contribution to Members' own assessment, and called on the Services Council to makeuse of some of the papers produced by the UNCTAD Secretariat, such as document TD/B/COM.1/21,to stimulate discussion on the assessment.  The representative of Guatemala reiterated that the paper
was valuable and that it identified the problems faced by developing countries in participating inworld trade in services.S/CSS/W/104
Page 10
57. The representative of Switzerland said that the sectoral workshops carried out in UNCTAD as
part of the Midrand mandate and the paper prepared by its Secretariat for the Services Council were
amongst the many useful inputs to the process leading to the launching of a new round of services
negotiations.  Of the paper prepared for the Services Council, he supported the positive consideration
of pro-competitive issues and of domestic regulation.  He noted the point that liberalization shouldtake place in a regulatory framework which was present ex ante, as well as developing countries'
interest in mode 4-trade and the role of the inter-linkage between modes for effective export
transactions.
58. On the need for capacity building in developing countries, the representative of the European
Communities observed that the work of the WTO and the UNCTAD Secretariats and of the joint body
of the ITC was useful.  Members were also contributing in relation to technical assistance, with
respect to which the need for coherence and a focused approach was stressed.  It was also noted thatUNCTAD was a standing observer to the Council for Trade in Services, and were encouraged to
participate in meetings, so that the Council could benefit from its work.  The representative of
Argentina indicated the need to address not only the issue of capacity building, but also the main
obstacles to trade faced by suppliers from developing countries, such as subsidies and other financial
support granted by developed countries, discriminatory access to information channels anddistribution networks, as mentioned on page 5 of the UNCTAD Secretariat paper.
59. The representative of the United States said that UNCTAD's contribution and the list of
documents were useful background to inform Members' views on the assessment, and that more
discussion was needed to decide which aspects of the UNCTAD Secretariat paper should be reflected
in the assessment, so that developing countries' interests could be clearly stated and taken into accountin the new round of services negotiations.  The representative of Japan noted that some elements in
the paper coincided with his delegation's assessment,  such as the role of services in reinforcing
economic efficiency, and welcomed further analysis of the paper, as a basis for Members' own
assessment.
60. The representative of Egypt wondered whether the background documents produced by the
WTO Secretariat had been supplied to the UNCTAD Secretariat.  The Chairman responded in the
affirmative, also noting that UNCTAD, being an observer to the Council, had access to them.
61. More generally, the representative of Turkey said that his delegation attached great
importance to a comprehensive assessment of trade in services being carried out before negotiating
guidelines and procedures were established.  He noted that work on the assessment in the Services
Council had started in parallel with the discussion on the guidelines, but that developing and least-
developed countries in particular still faced difficul ties in making their own assessment, both at the
national and at the multilateral level.  In addition, quantification difficulties and insufficient input
from the private sector posed problems in identifying sectors and priorities of interest to a great
number of Members.  Such difficulties would remain as a major challenge for most Members until the
assessment was completed.  The representative of Mexico concurred.
62. In summing up the discussion on this item, the Chairman said that Members had welcomed
the paper by the UNCTAD Secretariat.  As many delegations had made very preliminary comments
on the paper, the Council would revert to it at its next meeting for further discussion.
G. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 21 S EPTEMBER 1999
(S/C/M/39)
63. The Chairman recalled that, at its previous meeting, the Council had welcomed a presentation
by UNCTAD and a paper dated 16 July 1999, entitled "Assessment of Trade in Services of
Developing Countries:  Possible Contribution by UNCTAD".  As the paper had been submittedS/CSS/W/104
Page 11
shortly before the July meeting, several delegations had made only preliminary comments and had
indicated that they needed more time to study the document to be able to discuss in more detail.  He
opened the floor for further discussion.
64. The representative of the Republic of Korea obse rved that liberalization of trade in services
was meaningless without the participation of developing countries.  To strengthen developing
countries' participation in the multilateral trading system and to encourage capacity building,
liberalization had to be closely tied with foreign investment.  All countries had shown an interest in
investment inducement policies and in incentive mechanisms to attract foreign investment.  Making
the GATS investment-friendly was a good way of enhancing developing countries' trade in services.
65. The representative of Norway noted that the paper by UNCTAD was of interest to developed
and developing countries alike as a good basis to make their own assessment of trade.  She welcomed
further comments from developing countries on how the UNCTAD contribution could fit with theirview of the assessment.  She informed delegations that a Norwegian research institute, in
collaboration with other institutions, had prepared a paper on the role of services in promoting
economic development, and that it would be presented to the Council.
66. The representative of the European Communities agreed that additional concrete proposals on
the assessment and further reactions to the UNCTAD paper from developing countries would be
useful.  The European Communities were also preparing a paper, which they would table at a future
meeting.  By way of general comment, he observed that the UNCTAD paper offered a good broad
perspective, which was not limited to developing countries.  Some of the core issues in the paper had
been already identified in previous discussions, such as the interdependence between the modes of
supply, possible ways of improving commitments on mode 4, the growing importance of long-distance services exports and the need for commitments to support this trend and the need for pro-
competitive disciplines.  Such issues were not spec ific to developing countries;  the problems they
encountered might be more acute and the barriers they faced might have more serious consequences,
but it was just a question of degrees.  Developing countries' participation in services trade needed to
be increased; the supply constraints they faced and their access to technology, and in particular toinformation technology, were key in this respect.  It was therefore important to look at capacity
building and at technical assistance.
67. The representative of Cuba said that her delegation needed more time to present detailed
comments on the paper by UNCTAD and on any others which may be presented to the Council.  She
asked that additional time be devoted to the assessment.
68. On behalf of ASEAN Members, the representative of Indonesia said that he would provide
further comments on the UNCTAD paper at a later stage.  Speaking on behalf of his own delegation
only, he observed that the paper was a good basis to carry out Members' own assessment.
Responding to the European Communities, he said that of greatest importance to developing countries
was the fact that the asymmetry in infrastructure and capacity which existed before the GATS
inception persisted still.  He noted that no positive relationship could be established between GATS
commitments and foreign investment.  The objective of the assessment was for the Council to identifywhere expected benefits had not materialized and how to facilitate their achievement in the next round
of negotiations.
69. The representative of the United States concurred that further comments from developing
countries on the UNCTAD paper and on how it related to the assessment would be useful.  He said
that the paper contributed to the assessment:  it identified to some extent developing countries'services export interests, it noted the importance of transparency of regulation, the interdependence
between the modes of supply, and, stressing that economic needs tests could be major hurdles toS/CSS/W/104
Page 12
services exports identified an area for joint work by WTO Members to reduce their trade
restrictiveness.
70. The representative of Japan noted that services trade reinforced economic efficiency in both
developed and developing countries.  He stressed the importance of the Internet and referred to the
proposal on electronic commerce submitted by his delegation to the General Council.
71. The representative of Brazil said that his delegation was preparing more substantial comments
on the UNCTAD paper.  His delegation's assessment of the foreign investment situation in Brazil had
revealed that, even though it had not been possible to establish a clear link with the inception of the
GATS, a positive investment flow had been recorded since 1995, 60 per cent of which was
attributable to services;  this had resulted in job creation and economic development.
72. By way of preliminary comment, the representative of Guatemala said that developing
countries encountered difficulties in participating in services trade, and that the issue of how to
increase their access to markets in sectors where they had a comparative advantage had to be taken up
during the next round of negotiations.
73. The representative of India agreed with the views expressed by Indonesia.  He said that the
assessment should be an on-going process.  He observed that the paper by UNCTAD pointed out the
serious difficulties encountered by developing countries in participating in services trade, and thatsome of the problems identifies were specific to developing countries, such as the lack of
commercially meaningful commitments on mode 4.  The market access barriers listed in the paper
were critical, and it was now for the Services Council to deal with them beyond taking note.  On
technology transfer, he referred to the proposal co-sponsored by his delegation to the General
Council.  He indicated that the assessment, as prescribed by Article XIX, was not meant only as anacademic exercise of stock-taking, but preceded the drafting of guidelines precisely to ensure that
appropriate steps would be taken for the objectives of Article IV to be met.  The guidelines needed to
address developing countries' concerns identified in the assessment, and developed countries needed
to increase their commitments in areas of interest to developing countries, and more importantly to
free those commitments of any market access barriers, especially on mode 4.  Taking note of theproblems identified was not in itself sufficient.
74. The representative of the Dominican Republic agreed that the UNCTAD paper should move
the Services Council along and that the assessment should be an on-going exercise, to take note of the
barriers identified.  He drew attention in particular to the importance of services trade taking place
through mode 4 and to the issues associated with this mode.  He invited the UNCTAD Secretariat to
continue working on the issue.
75. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that the UNCTAD paper highlighted the
problems faced by developing countries, such as the interdependence between the modes of supply,
where the needs of developed and developing countries were different, and the critical market access
barriers flagged up by India.  He concurred that the assessment should not be a one-off exercise;  the
issues identified should be pursued to make the fu ture assessments more meaningful and to fulfill the
objectives set out in the Preamble to the GATS and in Article IV.  In addition, the guidelines shouldaddress how to take forward the issues identified in the assessment.
76. The representative of Argentina echoed other delegations' comments that the assessment
should be on-going and aimed at achieving greater participation of developing countries.  He said that
all the statements in the UNCTAD paper were valuab le, and stressed in particular the importance of
the barriers listed in paragraph 17, which were sometimes not related just to a particular mode ofsupply but also to the way in which developing countries dealt with services trade.  Barriers could not
be looked at only from the standpoint of access for a particular group of countries.  He noted that theS/CSS/W/104
Page 13
sectors of interest to developing countries should have also included environmental services, and
expressed an interest in the MAST (Measures Affecting Services Trade) data-base and in identifying
ways of closing the information gap on barriers to services trade for developing countries.
77. The representative of Pakistan expressed appreciation for the work carried out by the
UNCTAD Secretariat.  He said that the assessment should be an on-going process and suggested that
the paper by UNCTAD, which was comprehensive and identified trade barriers and areas of interest
to developing countries, be used as a basis for further discussions;  he concurred that the assessment
be reflected in the guidelines.  He also said that the quantification aspect was important, and one
where developing countries were in serious need of technical assistance.
78. The representative of Mauritius agreed with the point raised in the UNCTAD paper on the
need for urgent action to help developing countries adapt to new market circumstances and exploit
niche opportunities for expansion of services trade.  He also noted that there was no empiricalevidence that foreign direct investment flows to developing countries had increased as a result of the
commitments undertaken under the GATS.
79. The representative of Egypt agreed that the assessment was important, closely related to the
next round of negotiations and should be on-going.   He observed that the UNCTAD paper clearly
stated the market access barriers and the challenges faced by developing countries, and referred to theanti-competitive impact of increased market concentration.  He said that more contributions from
UNCTAD would be welcome.
80. The representative of Mexico agreed that it was not incidental that Article XIX prescribed
that the assessment precede the drafting of the guidelines.  He concurred that the assessment should be
an ongoing process, so as to take into account any additional information on the barriers faced bydeveloping countries.  He called for the guidelines to incorporate elements of the assessment.
81. The representative of Malaysia said that his country had recorded deficits in services trade for
decades.  Malaysia was a relatively open market, but these deficits had generated pressures against
further market openings.  In his view, the obse rvations in the UNCTAD paper that the top twenty
services exporters were from developed countries and that there was no evidence of increased FDIflows to developing countries did not bide well for further liberalization.  In addition, the paper
showed that an asymmetry existed between the problems faced by developed and developing
countries.  The paper stated that certain prerequisite conditions were required for liberalization to have
a positive impact;  developed country Members should therefore understand if such conditions were
attached to liberalization commitments.
82. The representative of the Philippines said that the assessment conducted thus far, though very
broad, offered a basis on which developing countries could fix their objectives:  developing countries
had to reach their own conclusions on the assessment, and their initial concerns laid with the sectors
where they had a comparative advantage.  As far as the next round of negotiations was concerned,
developing countries were diffident about negotiating on services, as their confidence was low;
unless this gap was bridged, active participation in the new round would be difficult.  He also stressed
the importance of technical assistance, which should not only be a donor/recipient process, but also asharing of resources and a cooperative commitment.  He asked whether any decisions on the matter
had been taken in the Council for Trade in Serv ices under Article XXV:2.  A representative of the
WTO Secretariat responded that no proposals had been submitted to the Council on the matter, but
that the Secretariat was constantly engaged in technical cooperation missions and that the wider issueof additional possible areas for technical assistance was being considered at the Director-Generallevel.S/CSS/W/104
Page 14
83. The representative of the United States said that his delegation would consider the proposal
that the assessment be on-going and continue into the negotiations, but noted that the sequence in
Article XIX:3 was for the assessment to precede the drafting of guidelines.  The assessment was to be
carried out with reference to all the objectives of the GATS, and not just to those of Article IV.
84. The representative of the European Communities concurred with the United States'
interpretation of Article XIX:3;  he said that, as it was for WTO Members to carry out their own
assessment, this made it on-going by definition.
85. The representative of the Dominican Republic said that the assessment could not be left to a
subsidiary body and suggested making it a standing item on the agenda of the Council.  He noted the
relevance of the competition-related issues raised in the UNCTAD contribution:  Many markets for
services were dominated by a small number of enterprises from developed countries, concentration
was increasing, complementary services are "bundled" through strategic alliances, and a number ofcompetition issues arose also from the manner in which distribution channels and information
networks were structured.  On these grounds , he underscored UNCTAD's recommendation that
measures be taken to discipline anti-competitive behaviour by developing Article IX.  He also noted
the suggestion that pro-competitive principles along the lines of the telecommunications reference
paper be adopted in the tourism and transport sectors.
86. Responding to a request by the representative of Canada on how to obtain UNCTAD
documents, a representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat said that the ones dated up to 1998 would be
available on their web site towards the end of September.  He added that a paper analysing the impact
of economic needs tests would be presented at the meeting of the UNCTAD Trade and Development
Board in October.  He also drew delegations' attention to the MAST database, an inventory of allmeasures affecting trade in services, which required, as primary input, information on Members'
legislation.  He reiterated the wish to continue cooperating with the WTO Secretariat on the
assessment.
87. The Chairman expressed the appreciation of the Council for the UNCTAD Secretariat's
contribution to the assessment.  Many delegations ha d participated in the discussion of this agenda
item, and silence on the part of others did not imply lack of interest;  several delegations had also
announced that papers and further comments were in preparation.  He said that the Council would
take note of the statements made and revert to this item at its next meeting.
H. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 18 O CTOBER 1999 (S/C/M/40)
88. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, the Council had had a very useful discussion
on the assessment of trade under Article XIX of the GATS.  The paper presented by the UNCTAD
Secretariat entitled "Assessment of Trade in Servi ces of Developing Countries:  Possible Contribution
by UNCTAD" had been examined in detail.  During the discussion, some delegations had said that
they would comment further at future meetings, while others had announced their intention of
submitting papers to the Council on the subject;  an informal document had been received from the
delegation of Norway, titled "Liberalization of Trade in Producer Services – The Impact on
Developing Countries".  The Chairman invited the delegation of Norway to present the paper.
89. The representative of Norway explained that the paper was the output of an independent
research programme by the University of Cape Town and the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and
bore the signature of two researchers from these institutes.  It analyzed the impact of liberalization of
trade in services, focusing on producer services such as financial, telecommunications and transport
services, and illustrated the experience of South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania as case studies.  Onefinding was that access to better producer services improved productivity in all sectors of theS/CSS/W/104
Page 15
economy, with the magnitude of the gains depending on the presence of a transparent and sound
regulatory regime.
90. The representative of South Africa welcomed the contribution of the paper towards Members'
assessment of trade in services.  The case studies were particularly welcome, given the paucity of
contributions focusing on developing countries' expe riences.  He explained that his government had
started the research programme in 1997, and had received support from UNCTAD on capacity
building through the CAPAS programme.  Research papers assessing services trade for the Southern
African economy had mainly been conducted on an overall basis or had focused on
telecommunications, financial, transport and tourism services:  such studies were useful for the
formulation of strategies to develop the services sector, which accounted for 65% of South Africa's
GDP.  In view of these considerations, negotiations had to be conducted within the existing GATS
architecture, with development objectives in mind, for which formulas might not be appropriate.  Inhis view, the key challenge of the next round was the full  integration of developing countries into the
system.  He said that the negotiations had to facilitate the structural adjustment in the economies of
the North, thereby encouraging a reallocation of resources in labour and resource-intensive sectors
where developing countries had a comparative advantage.  The magnitude of the gains depended on
developing countries' ability to participate in the supply chain, on the quality and availability ofinfrastructure and capacity to improve and enforce regulation.  Gains from liberalization stemmed not
only from export opportunities in the services sectors subject to liberalization, but also from improved
productivity an from the ability to exploit existing comparative advantage.
91. The Chairman noted that an increasing amount of information was available on the
assessment of trade in services;  he wondered wh ether the Council had taken the exercise as far as
possible at that stage and could agree to revert to it during the course of the negotiations.
92. The representative of India suggested that the assessment should be kept on the agenda of the
Council.  The representatives of the Dominican Republic, Cuba  and Morocco  agreed.
93. The representative of Switzerland favoured the Chairman's suggestion, also in view of the
limited number of interventions made by Members at this meeting.  He noted that the assessment was
linked to the negotiating guidelines, as stated in Article XIX;  given the state of work on the
guidelines, it was reasonable to drop this item form the agenda.  He suggested that it could be
reintroduced whenever substantial contributions were brought to the discussion.
94. The representative of Argentina shared India's position.  He said that Article XIX was clear in
mandating that the Council assess trade in services;  making the assessment a standing item on the
agenda would allow the review of any additional in formation.  In addition, the paper tabled by the
delegation of Norway had not been sufficiently discussed and hence the assessment had to remain onthe agenda, at the very least, of the following Council meeting.  The representatives of Indonesia,
speaking also on behalf of Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, and of Hong Kong, China
agreed with India's suggestion and shared Argentina's reasoning.  The representative of India added
that, in his introduction, the Chairman had noted that some delegations were still reflecting on the
contribution by UNCTAD.  The representative of Pakist an said that he thought it had been agreed that
the assessment would be an on-going exercise, give n its importance for developing countries and that
it would be a permanent item on the Council agenda.  The representative of Venezuela proposed that
the documents circulated at the recent WTO/World Bank seminar on developing countries be madeavailable to the Council for Trade in Services.
95. The Chairman said that he had no intention of drawing matters to a premature, albeit
temporary, close. Contributions still remained to be discussed, such as the paper tabled by the
delegation of Norway, and interest had been expressed in continuing the debate.  He therefore
concluded that the assessment of services trade would remain on the Council agenda.S/CSS/W/104
Page 16
96. It was so agreed.
I. MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 25 F EBRUARY 2000 (S/C/M/41)
97. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, the Council had had a very useful discussion
of the paper presented by the delegation of Norway, entitled "Liberalization of Trade in Producer
Services – The Impact on Developing Countries" an d that it had been agreed that the Council would
revert to it for further discussion.  He also recalled that the delegation of Venezuela had suggested that
the documents circulated at the WTO/World Bank seminar on developing countries be made available
to the Council.  The Secretariat had prepared a list of all such documents, and included the Internet
address from which they could be downloaded.1
98. The representative of Pakistan suggested that, as Article XIX was on the agenda of the
Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services, the discussion of the assessment be moved to the
agenda the Special Session, so as to facilitate the establishment of negotiating guidelines andprocedures.  The representatives of India and of the Dominican Republic
 concurred.
99. The Chairman proposed therefore that item A on the assessment of trade in services be taken
up under the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services.
100. The Council so agreed.
J. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON
25 F EBRUARY 2000 (S/CSS/M/1)
101. The Chairman recalled that at the regular meeting of the Services Council, Members had
agreed to move the item on the assessment of trade in services to the agenda of the Special Session.
At its last regular meeting, the Council had had a very useful discussion of the paper presented by the
delegation of Norway, entitled "Liberalization of Trade in Producer Services – The Impact onDeveloping Countries".  It had been agreed that the Council would revert to the paper for further
discussion.  He also recalled that the delegation of Venezuela had suggested that the documents
circulated at the WTO/World Bank seminar on developing countries be made available to the Council.
Therefore, the Secretariat had prepared a list of all such documents, and included the Internet address
from which they could be downloaded.
102. The representative of India suggested that Members might want to study in greater detail the
extent to which liberalization of world services trade had increased participation of developing
countries and added to their capacity-building needs.  She was keeping her intervention short in view
of the lateness of the hour, but hoped that Members would revert to this item at the next meeting.  The
representative of Pakistan reiterated India's comment.
103. In his concluding remarks, the Chairman observed that the assessment of trade mandated by
Article XIX was a useful way of improving Members' understanding of developments in trade in
services, both overall and on a sectoral basis.  The related exercise of exchange of information which
had started in 1998, and had continued for several Council meetings, had also been helpful and he felt
that, as a result, Members were in a better position to form a judgement of how trade in services had
developed over the past few years and how the new round of negotiations should be approached.  He
thought that there was a widely held view in the Council that the assessment should be regarded as an
on-going process rather than a one-off exercise, and that revisiting the assessment during the course of
negotiations would be a useful way of keeping up to date with developments in different service
                                                     
1They can all be downloaded from the joint WTO and World Bank web-site at the address:
http://www.itd.org/wb/dc_milpap.htm.S/CSS/W/104
Page 17
sectors and to exchange views on important issues which might arise in the negotiations.  It would
also help participants, particularly developing countries, to undertake further work on identifying
areas of interest to them.  He therefore suggested that the Council revert to this item at its next Special
Session.
K. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON
14 A PRIL 2000 (S/CSS/M/2)
104. The Chairman recalled that at the previous meeting the Council had agreed that the
"assessment of trade in services" would be a standing item on the agenda of the Special Session.  On
that occasion, the discussion under this item had been rather brief, due to time constraints.  He also
recalled that at one meeting before, the Council had held a preliminary discussion on a paper
presented by Norway entitled "Liberalization of tr ade in producer services – the impact on developing
countries", which had been submitted shortly before that meeting.  He therefore invited delegations tocomment on this paper as well as on other papers submitted for the assessment of trade exercise.
105. The representative of New Zealand said that the paper introduced by Norway and South
Africa was very informative and contained useful insights for both developing and developed
countries, which should be taken on board in the context of the mandated negotiations.  He argued
that, while significant gains might accrue to developing countries from a sound and transparentregulatory framework, it was also important to ensure competition in the liberalized services sectors.
He added that the insights in the country specific experiences illustrated in the paper were very useful.
Switzerland said that it was important that developing countries could gain from services
liberalization in an equal manner.  Its representative noted that it emerged from a UNCTAD paper thatdeveloping countries should be aware of the ro le of services for development, in particular
infrastructural services, health and education and that they should consider services growth as an
opportunity for development not as a threat.
106. The representative of Venezuela found that the World Bank paper written by Aaditya Mattoo
contained some very useful insights on the impact of services liberalization on developing countries
and in particular on possible gains which might accrue from the opening of sectors of export interestto developing countries and from greater liberalization of mode four services.  She encouraged both
developed and developing countries Members to analyze the results of this paper in the context of the
assessment exercise.  The representative of Pakistan said that its capital was currently engaging in the
assessment of trade in services in consultation with the private sector and that he would need to comeback to this issues at the next meeting.  He ex pressed appreciation for all papers submitted for the
assessment exercise and in particular for the World Bank paper written by Aaditya Mattoo.  He noted
that although most developing countries did not have a comparative advantage in services trade, formany of them the export of services represented the only means of diversification.  He argued that
while developing countries had made great efforts in services liberalization, they had received little,
especially under mode four, where the commitments were still very few and subject to many
limitations.  Moreover, Article IV had not really been applied yet.  He said that this was a
disappointment for developing countries and that  further liberalization commitments by developing
countries were possible only if developed countries lived up to their GATS obligations towards
developing countries.  In general he argued that developing countries had to be convinced that the
objectives of the GATS were in line with developing countries' development objectives.  For these
reasons he stressed that it was important that the assessment of trade in services be a meaningful
exercise.
107. Japan said that the paper submitted by Norway contained very interesting insights and that
would prove to be very useful for the negotiations.  He argued that comparative advantage in the
manufacturing sector could also be enhanced by the liberalization of trade in services, especially
infrastructural services.  The representative of the Dominican Republic supported the intervention ofS/CSS/W/104
Page 18
Pakistan and in particular the reference to the liberalization of mode four services.  He proposed that
the Secretariat put together all information rele vant to the assessment exercise including the
documents and material circulated to the Council and the relevant information from the TPR reports
and suggested that the paper by UNCTAD could be expanded to include some more sectors.  He
emphasized the importance of the assessment exercise for developing countries and that this item bekept on the agenda of the Special Session.  India underlined the importance of services trade statistics
for the assessment exercise.  He pointed to some possible sources such as the IMF, UNCTAD and theCentral Banks of some Members.  Moreover, he added that the WTO Secretariat could try to take
advantage of some national experiences by asking national industry associations such the United
States CSI (Coalition of Services Industries) or the European ESF (European Services Forum) to
share any statistics on services trade they might have.
108. The representative of the United States shared India's interest in collecting statistics and said
that the United States and Canada had collected statistics on services trade that they were prepared to
share with other Members.  He added that his delegation had made a list of papers relevant for the
assessment exercise and encouraged others to do the same.  He agreed that it would be useful if the
Secretariat made a compilation of all papers and material relevant to the assessment exercise.  Panama
noted that although the assessment should be based on contributions from Members, some Members,
who had not sufficient resources, needed to avail th emselves of the help of the Secretariat.  In this
respect he said that it would be useful if the Secretariat could put together a compilation of updated
statistics on trade in services.  The representative of Guatemala speaking also on behalf of Nicaragua
expressed appreciation for all the papers submitted so  far in the context of the assessment exercise.
She said that it would be useful if the Secretariat could compile all the documents and materialssubmitted in the assessment exercise and the relevant information in TPR reports as well as gather
some more information on statistics.  She also suggested that UNCTAD could help on the gathering
of data and statistics through their MAST database.  El Salvador supported some of the previous
intervention, including Dominican Republic and India.
109. The representative of the European Communitie s, while noting that he could not speak on
behalf of the ESF (European Services Forum), encouraged the Secretariat to contact them on
statistics.  He also offered to make available to Members services statistics collected by EUROSTAT.
The representative of Egypt supported the intervention made under this item by Pakistan, India and
Dominican Republic and said that as the assessment exercise was an integral part of the Article XIXnegotiations it should be kept on the agenda of the Special Session for the duration of these
negotiations.  He proposed that the Council initiate a work programme with the purpose of collecting
all the available data and statistics on trade in services.  Cuba supported the interventions of Pakistan,
Dominican Republic and India, among the others, and said that with the help of the WTO and
UNCTAD Secretariats it would be desirable to try to collect all available statistics on trade in
services.
110. The Chairman agreed that the Secretariat could approach the sources indicated by delegations
for more updated statistics.  He said that although there was no objection to having the assessment
exercise on the agenda of the Special Session as a standing item, the fact that it appeared so frequently
sometimes left little time to prepare for a meaningful discussion.  If this item appeared more
periodically on the agenda, it might attract more attention and lead to more focused discussions.   He
suggested that delegations take note of all the statements made and revert to this item at the next
meeting of the Special Session of the Council.
111. The Council took note.S/CSS/W/104
Page 19
L. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON
26 M AY 2000 (S/CSS/M/3)
112. The Chairman recalled that, at previous Council meetings, a number of delegations had
pointed out data and information problems which might affect the Council's ability to assess
developments in services trade under the GATS.  At the same time, several delegations had mentionedthe possibility of new statistical sources being developed at national and international levels, which
might gradually ease such problems.  As far as international statistics were concerned, he drew
Members' attention to a background note which the Secretariat had recently prepared for the Working
Party on GATS Rules and which had been circ ulated as document S/WPGR/W/32, and which
reported on the current state of play in the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International
Trade in Services.  With respect to statistical deve lopments at the national level, including in private
fora, which had been mentioned by some delegations, he urged Members to keep the Councilinformed of any such developments.  He observed that national administrations were better equipped
to monitor and provide appropriate information on what was going in their statistical offices and other
relevant bodies than, for example, the WTO Secretariat.  He said that delegations might also find it
helpful to again consult a note circulated by the Secretariat in late 1997 as document S/C/W/27, which
provided an overview of statistics on international services trade available at that time.  He added thatMembers might want to request the Secretariat to check whether recent developments merited an
update of that document and, if so, to prepare it for a future Council meeting.
113. The representative of the Dominican Republic drew delegations' attention to the document
containing the conclusions and recommendations of the Expert Meeting on Tourism organized by
UNCTAD, which had been circulated at the request  of his delegation with the symbol S/C/W/149.  He
observed that the document could help discussions on the assessment in sectoral terms.  This could be
useful as a guide for Members' discussion of the sector.  He drew Members' attention particularly to
paragraph 6 of the Chairperson's Summary, and noted the significant impact that restrictions on
competition had on trade in this sector.  He then pointed to the Agreed Conclusions, and specifically
to paragraphs 1 and 2, which referred to the need for universal application of an internationally agreeddefinition of the tourism sector and to the development of an Annex on tourism services under the
GATS.
114. The representative of India reiterated the comments he had made under the previous agenda
item about the link between the assessment and negotiating guidelines and procedures.  As
preliminary observations, he noted that the assessment was to be carried out both in overall terms and
on a sectoral basis and with reference to the objectives of the GATS, including those in Article IV:1.
He suggested that Members try to overcome some of the statistical problems by breaking statisticsdown between the overall and sectoral levels.  His delegation was considering looking at sectors of
importance to India to arrive at an assessment of trade in sectoral terms, and he encouraged other
Members to do likewise in order to move the process forward.  He suggested that the Secretariat
establish contacts with other international inter-governmental organizations with respect to services
statistics.  He concurred that the assessment needed to be an on-going process, but stressed that itneeded to be carried out for the establishment of negotiating guidelines and procedures.
115. The representative of Pakistan recalled that the assessment was mandated by Article XIX:3
and had to be carried out in overall and sectoral terms.  In this respect, he was encouraged by the
submission by the Dominican Republic with respect to the assessment on a sectoral basis, which was
as important as the overall one.  While recognizing the statistical problems involved, he reiterated theemphasis placed by his delegation on the assessment.
116. The representative of Egypt observed that earlier Council meetings on the assessment of trade
should feed into the negotiations and into the establishment of negotiating guidelines and procedures,S/CSS/W/104
Page 20
but that further work was necessary.  The assessment of trade was essential to see the impact of
services trade on developing countries.
117. The representative of the European Communities said that the work which had been carried
out in the Council in 1999 was useful and informative, and contributions had come from various
sources.  He observed that the assessment discussions had been reflected in the Seattle text, and that ithad been agreed that the assessment would be an on-going process, to be carried out by Members
themselves.  He said that the assessment required by Article XIX for the establishment of negotiating
guidelines and procedures was a way of identifying priorities for the negotiations.  He agreed that the
Secretariat be asked to consider whether docume nt S/C/W/27 could be updated, and drew Members'
attention to the services data which had been circulated by the European Services Forum.
118. In addition the comments he had made under the previous agenda item, the representative of
the United States noted that his authorities had been mentioned as a possible source of statistical
information and said that they would look at which documents could be made available to the
Council.  He explained that, contrary to what had been reported in the minutes of the previous
meeting, he had not made an offer on behalf of the delegation of Canada;  what he had meant was
that, in the past, the United States and Canada had prepared seminars on statistical issues, but his
delegation would also be prepared to collaborate in the future.  He urged Members to look beyondtrade statistics in their assessment of services trade;  for example, the information conveyed by the
decline in long-distance phone charges was interesting.  The representative of Canada expressed equal
willingness to cooperate.
119. The representative of Cuba stressed the importance of the assessment, and was in favour of
Members taking into account the work carried out by other international inter-governmental
organizations.
120. The representative of Australia supported the Secretariat looking at updating document
S/C/W/27.  She suggested that the information pr oduced as part of the Council's Information
Exchange Programme be compiled for Members' reference, that the Secretariat create a web page
dedicated to the assessment and that the Trade and Development Centre web-site might be expandedto address services trade and development issues.  She encouraged Members' own contributions to the
process, and said that the assessment had to focus on the general objective of progressive
liberalization contained in Article XIX.  She referred to a study which her delegation had
commissioned on the subject, which had concluded that a 50 per cent reduction in distortions to
services trade would result in a gain in world welfare of 250 billion US dollars.  She then drew
Members' attention to the useful web-site of the Harvard University Centre, whose address was
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtrade
121. The representative of Kenya stressed the importance of obtaining data from impartial sources,
like UNCTAD, the IMF and the World Bank, and urged that data from private sector organizations be
channelled through Members' national representatives.
122. The representative of Japan recalled that a paper on the assessment had been submitted by his
delegation in April 1999, which incorporated also national services statistics.  The paper which had
been prepared for the Working Party on GATS Rules was also interesting and encouraging, and was
testimony to the on-going co-operation among international organizations.  He observed that the
implementation of the Services Manual would not be easy, and hence there was a need to find out
how it could be facilitated.
123. The representative of Venezuela said that other documents should be part of a collection of
information on the assessment, and referred to IMF statistics, information from the ANDEAN Group,
material from a recent OECD meeting on services and an OECD study relating to energy services,S/CSS/W/104
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UNCTAD's Expert recommendations on electronic commerce.  She stressed that national efforts were
essential to enhance knowledge about the impact of services trade and that the assessment should be
on-going.  She said that she woul d make the ANDEAN Group study available.
124. Noting the importance of the assessment of trade,  the representative of the Philippines said
that the exercise had two pronged-end objectives:  Members' own assessment was to lead to
progressively higher liberalization and hence had to be left to domestic policy makers;  the assessment
mandated by Article XIX:3 was for the establishment of negotiating guidelines and procedures, and
not aimed at achieving progressively higher levels of liberalization.
125. Responding to an earlier suggestion, a representative of the WTO Secretariat explained that
the background notes which had been prepared by the Secretariat for the Information Exchange
Programme were being compiled in a single document which would be published in the near future.
126. Concluding the discussion on this item, the Chairman said that Members had noted the
importance of the assessment and of solidifying the statistical basis, and suggested that best practices
be exchanged and experiences shared.  Several delegations were also in favour of the Secretariat
checking whether recent developments in services statistics merited an update of document S/C/W/27
and, if so, to prepare it for a future Council meeting.   He said that the Council would take note of the
statements made and revert to this item at its next Special Session.
M. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON
13 AND 14 J ULY 2000 (S/CSS/M/4)
127. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, the Council had held a relatively extensive
discussion on the assessment of trade.  Contributions had focused, in particular, on three issues:
confirmation of the importance attached to the relevant provisions of Article XIX:3, in conjunctionwith Article IV:1;  recognition of the need for country contributions, describing and analysing the
impact of services liberalization on sectoral and overall economic performance;  and re-iteration of
the need for improved statistical information at  national and international level.  As far as
international data sources were concerned, the Secretariat had been requested to check whether an
update of its earlier note on services trade statistics, document S/C/W/27, was warranted.  He offeredthe floor to a representative of the WTO Secretariat.
128. A representative of the WTO Secretariat said that the Secretariat would report on the update
of document S/C/W/27 at the Council meeting in Oct ober.  He then drew delegation's attention to a
new Secretariat note, circulated as document Job No. 4418 dated 12 July 2000, containing an update
of sources of information on statistics from non Balance-of-Payment sources.  Contrary to what might
be understood from the first paragraph, the Secretariat was not aiming to provide a comprehensive
view of such information sources.
129. The representative of Pakistan stressed the importance of the assessment of trade, as the
successful integration of developing countries in the multilateral trading system depended on the
treatment they had and would receive, on their ability to develop export capacity and on liberalization
in sectors of interest to them.  He indicated that the papers which had been produced by the WTO and
UNCTAD Secretariats pointed to significant trade barriers faced by developing countries.  Withrespect to mode 4, there was a lack of meaningful commitments, and frequent barriers were economic
needs tests, visa problems, licensing requirements, lack of mutual recognition of qualifications,
nationality and residency requirements and prohibitions and limitations to movement.  Other barriers
identified were subsidies, technical standards, discriminatory access to information, distribution
channels and information and lack of transparency.  He informed Members that his delegation wouldbe submitting a paper assessing the operation of the GATS from the perspective of developing
countries.S/CSS/W/104
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130. The representative of India supported the intervention by Pakistan.  He said that the
Secretariat note was helpful in giving an overview of statistical sources and encouraged data
collection from such sources, pointing to sectors of interest to developing countries, namely
construction, health, tourism, computer and ma nagement consultancy services.  He informed
Members that his authorities were looking at the Uruguay Round commitments and trying to assesstheir effects after 5 years, and were also in contact with other international organizations.  He stressed
the importance of going beyond simply noting the importance of the assessment of trade.
131. The representatives of Barbados, Morocco
 and Uruguay  echoed the comments made by
Pakistan and India.
132. The representative of Canada acknowledged lack of data as an important problem.  She
mentioned that, in collaboration with their United States colleagues, Canadian statistical officers had
run a seminar in Santiago for FTAA Members' statisticians and trade policy officials.  She offered tobring Canadian statistical officers to Geneva to run a similar, half-day seminar on how services trade
statistics were collected and how that related to trade negotiators' needs.
133. The representative of the United States endorsed the Canadian proposal and offered to consult
with his authorities on availability on their part.  He said that he looked forward to the contributions
by India and Pakistan.  The representative of Korea indicated that at the Council meeting in October
his delegation would also present a contribution on Korea's assessment of trade.
134. The representative of the European Communities expressed support for Canada's proposal.
He said that EU officials would also be available to participate in the seminar and offered to help with
the organization of the event, including, if n ecessary, a contribution to its financing.  The
representative of India also supported the Canadian proposal and suggested that half-a-day could be
devoted to the assessment itself, with the discussion of Members' own contributions.
135. The representative of Japan also endorsed Canada's proposal.  By way of preliminary
comment on the Secretariat note, he noted its wide coverage but indicated that for several sub-sectors,
such as courier or legal services, which were being addressed in the Committee on Specific
Commitments, sources of information were missing.
136. Several delegations intervened to express support for the Canadian proposal and willingness
to participate in the event.  The representative of Côte d'Ivoire asked that interpretation be made
available, the representatives of Tanzania and Senegal  wondered about possible financing for
participation of capital-based experts, and the representative of Uruguay asked that a skeleton
structure of the seminar be made available in order to allow for more active participation.
137. A representative of the WTO Secretariat indicated that the Secretariat would produce an
update of document S/C/W/27 by adding data which had been published since 1997.  He said that
statistics were no substitute for the assessment, which required a judgment on the effect of the GATS
on services trade, along the lines of the contribution being prepared by India.  Services statistics were
inadequate and often not sufficiently recent to shed enough light on the impact of the GATS on trade
in services.  He noted the widespread support for the seminar proposed by Canada and said that the
Secretariat would try, with Canada's input, to circ ulate a skeleton of the programme.  He would look
into dates, possibly in October, as well as into possible financing, but warned that there might not be
funds available in the WTO budget and could not offe r any guarantees in that respect.  He could,
however, assure delegations that interpretation would be available.
138. The Chairman concluded that the Secretariat would produce an update of document S/C/W/27
by adding data which had been published since its original submission.  The Secretariat would pursueS/CSS/W/104
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the offer for a half-day seminar, for which interpretation would be guaranteed and try to circulate an
early skeleton of the programme and look into possible technical assistance financing.
N. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 5 AND
6 OCTOBER 2000 (S/CSS/M/5)
139. The Chairman said that he had both good and bad news as concerned the assessment of trade.
As for the bad news, the Secretariat regretted that, contrary to its initial intentions, it had proved
impossible to prepare an update of the 1997 note on services statistics, document S/C/W/27, for that
meeting.  The delay was due mainly to the non-availability in time of relevant data from other
organizations.  However, the data gaps were being filled the document would be made available well
before the Special Session meeting in December.  Besides, despite positive indications at the previous
meeting, the Council was still awaiting further co ntributions from delegations concerning their five-
year experience with the operation of the GATS.  He  said that the mandate in Article XIX essentially
called for inputs of a political nature;  statistical data might help to underpin the assessment exercise
but it was not a substitute.  In terms of the good news, he recalled that at its previous meeting, the
Council had agreed on the organization of a seminar on services statistics based on a Canadian
proposal.  He was pleased to report that the seminar had been held on 3 October and had been well-
attended.  He offered the floor for any Members wishing to share their views on that meeting.
140. The representative of Thailand said that the seminar had been timely and useful.  She
observed that, although the collection of services statistics, both at the international and domestic
levels, was complex and resulted in rather sketchy statistics, the seminar had shown that such data
was available, and that it was just a matter of time before useful services statistics could be produced
and used for future negotiations.  She had been particularly impressed with the efforts made by Indiaand Trinidad and Tobago in collecting services statistics and believed that many developing countries'
statistics were not such a big problem.  She had also noted that Trinidad and Tobago had obtained
very preliminary statistical data by mode of supply, and wondered whether other developed and
developing countries have done likewise.
141. The representative of India concurred that the seminar had been important and had pointed to
difficulties in the collection of services statistics, consequently making the issue of the assessment of
trade more difficult.  He then informed Members that his authorities had collected rough statistics,
which he wished to share with the Council.  He sa id that there had been a considerable expansion in
world services trade, from around US$ 1.18 trillion in 1995 to US$ 1.34 trillion in 1999-2000.
However, the pattern of growth remained uneven;  there had been no significant change in the shares
of developed and developing countries in world trade in commercial services between 1995-2000, the
five years of existence of the GATS.  The degree in concentration, in terms of the shares of developedcountries in world services trade, was quite high and had not undergone any significant change.  Since
1995, developed countries had remained the top 15 exporters and importers of world commercial
services.  According to available data, in 1998, world exports of travel services amounted to US$430
billion, transport services US$320 billion and other services US$560 billion.  With respect to "other
sectors", no disaggregated data were available. Hence, both on the export and import side, thecategory "other services" accounted for the largest share, almost 40 per cent.  Overall, trade statistics
revealed that, barring a few countries from the As ian region, most countries from North America and
Western Europe held the largest share in world services trade.  A study undertaken by Mr. Hoekman
in 1995, on the revealed comparative advantage of developed and developing countries in services
trade, showed that many developing countries had export potential for services produced by skilledand semi-skilled labour and for knowledge-intensive services;  however, that potential had not been
brought to fruition.  There had been only marginal changes in the comparative advantage of
developed and developing countries.  Another indication of the inadequate participation of developing
countries in services trade was the asymmetry of co mmitments in the four modes of supply.  Both the
WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats papers on the assessment indicated that mode 4 tended to be farS/CSS/W/104
Page 24
more restrictive than the other modes;  it was characterized largely by horizontal commitments,
amounting to around 100 as compared to, for example, 20 for mode 2, and very few commitments had
been undertaken for movement of persons unrelated to mode 3.
142. In terms of sectoral statistics, there was an overall paucity of disaggregated services data.  He
said that the assessment of trade had to take into account not only the period 1995-2000, but also lookat whether given sectors were liberal even prior to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, as was the
case for tourism services.  Many commitments had been undertaken in the sector, more than half of
which without limitations for mode 2, the main mode for tourism trade;  hence, liberalization was not
very valuable, as the mode was already very liberal.  In health and related services, very few Members
had undertaken commitments in the Uruguay Round, a nd they were normally without limitations for
mode 2, but only a limited number of economically advanced developing countries might have
benefitted significantly from mode 2 in this sector.  In construction services, 69 Members hadundertaken commitments;  however, from the perspective of developing country suppliers, the pattern
of entries in the main subsectors was disproportionate, as full commitments amounted to 70 per cent
for mode 2, around 60 per cent for mode 3 and about 30 per cent for mode 1, while mode 4, which
was important for developing countries, had hardly been liberalized.
143. India's experience had been that services exports as a whole had increased over the period
1995-1999.  However, a more substantial increase could have taken place if greater liberalization
commitments had been undertaken in mode 4, especially for the movement of professionals.  India's
share in world trade in commercial services had shown a marginal increase, from 0.6 per cent to 1 per
cent from 1995 to 2000.  According to available data, in 1998, out of India's total services exports,
worth US$11.6 billion, exports of transport, trav el and other services amounted to US$1.8 billion, 3
billion and 7 billion, respectively.  He indicated that global statistics were available, and it was now a
question of obtaining data at a more disaggregated level.
144. The representative of Indonesia said that his authorities attached great importance to the
assessment of trade in developing their position in the negotiations.  It was important to determine
whether liberalization commitments had been beneficial so that Members could to be moreforthcoming in the negotiations.  Like many developing countries, Indonesia had serious difficulties in
gathering statistical information on services trade;  in that respect, the seminar on statistics had been a
useful exercise.
145. The representative of Canada indicated that, until then, the assessment exercise had
comprised several Secretariat documents as well as the statistics seminar that had been conducted on
3 October.  In addition, work had been carried out by UNCTAD, inter alia , regarding the modes and
services sectors of interests to developing countries.  Canada recognized the importance of theassessment exercise, and was in the process of conducting its own.  It was a complex and sensitive
exercise, which comprised the basis from which Canada would determine its negotiating position,
which was a matter of national sovereignty.  She said that the lack of ideas about how to further the
assessment could stem from the fact that Members did not want to encroach upon each others'
autonomy in conducting their assessment, which would help inform their negotiating positions.  Insearching for ideas about how to further the assessment, her delegation had thought that services
statistics were a useful topic, and in that regard she wished to thank the United States, the European
Communities, India, Trinidad and Tobago, and th e UN and WTO Secretariats for their help and
participation in the seminar.  She thought that the event had provided delegations with practical tools
and contact points and referred in particular to the experience of Trinidad and Tobago.  The Indianexperience had shown that countries could usefully develop their own approaches to statistics
collection.  India, Trinidad and Tobago and other developing and developed countries were also
active at the international level in developing the United Nations Manual for Services Statistics, which
would take into account the needs of GATS negotiators from all countries and assist with the
development of statistics by modes of supply, a concern which had been raised by Thailand  SheS/CSS/W/104
Page 25
appreciated India's intervention, which showed how individual countries could usefully proceed with
the assessment.  She welcomed suggestions for furthering the assessment exercise, but also
emphasized that services trade was a new and dynamic area for all Members and that each Member's
assessment and understanding of services trade differed and was ultimately a matter of national
sovereignty, so that the exercise should appropriately continue within national contexts.
146. The Chairman drew Members' attention to a paper circulated by the delegation of Korea
entitled "Korea's Liberalization of Trade in Services and its Impacts", and offered the floor to the
Korean delegation to present the basic contents of the paper.
147. The representative of Korea underscored the importance of the assessment of trade and
wished to share with the Council an assessment of liberalization of services trade in Korea, which had
been carried out by independent researchers.  He therefore passed the floor to one of the authors of the
study, to present the paper.  The researcher stressed that the views expressed in the paper were hisown personal views and did not reflect the position of the Korean government.  The paper aimed to
evaluate the economic effects of the liberalization of services trade on the Korean economy.  Amongst
the various variables, they had focused on changes in productivity, which they believed to show
changes in efficiency more effectively than any other variable.  The paper was composed of three
parts:  the first part summarized the liberalization of service sectors in the 1990s and resultingincreases in services trade;  the second part tabulated the changes in productivity growth rates; and the
last part presented the experiences of two specific sub-sectors, distribution and telecommunication
services.  He introduced the first two parts.  Since the mid-1990s, the Korean government had
gradually opened its service sector following the Uruguay Round negotiations and OECD accession.
As a result, distribution, business and other personal services, among others, had been almostcompletely liberalized.  The financial crisis of 1997 gave further momentum to the removal of market
access restrictions, in sectors such as transportation, financial and telecommunications services.
Thanks to this accelerated liberalization, Korea's trade in services increased sharply in the 1990s,
growing, for all modes but commercial presence, from US$ 22.8 billion in 1991 to US$ 49 billion
in 1998.  As a proxy for the commercial presen ce, FDI inflows in services increased from
US$ 1.6 billion in 1982-90 to US$ 6.3 billion over the past three years.  Services liberalization was
presumed to bring productivity gains in the service sectors and in the manufacturing sectors which
used liberalized services as inputs.  By examin ing the changes in productivity in the service and
manufacturing subsectors in 1970-97, they argued that liberalization might have positively
contributed to the productivity of service subsectors, even though the causal link was difficult to
demonstrate.  In particular, transport and communication services showed a gain in total factor
productivity (TFP) growth from 2.2% in 1990-95 to 4.12% in 1995-97. Also, the distribution sector,which was almost completely opened in 1996, showed  an increase in TFP in the late 1990s compared
with the early 1990s, whereas financial services, which had been nearly closed until the late 1990s,
showed negative TFP growth rates throughout the periods studied.
148. With reference to the hypothesis that services liberalization might increase the productivity of
the manufacturing sector, they examined the growth rates of productivity and input coefficients.Unfortunately, no consistent patter was found, but the sectors which used the liberalized services less
intensively than others showed poorer performance compared to other manufacturing sectors.
Liberalization of trade in services was also presumed to have a positive impact on other
macroeconomic variables, such as real GDP.  Acco rding to a simulation carried out in another study,
services liberalization in the form of a 25% reduct ion in barriers would increase real GDP by almost
0.5%, and the gain to consumers would be about 1.6% increase in total utility.  Considering the
positive impact of services trade liberalization on the domestic economy, it was in the interest of
Korea to continue its liberalization process and refrain from retreating.  The study raised two points as
policy implications for the Korean government.  First, entry barriers had been widely removed, but
obstacles remained in the form of internal barriers, faced by both foreign and domestic suppliers, suchas ambiguous laws and regulations.  This implied that efforts had to focus on enhancing transparentS/CSS/W/104
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enforcement and on reducing excessive regulation:  for instance, minimum capital requirements in
financial services might act as a deterrent to small-sized investment in this area.  The second
implication concerned labour market flexibility.  Limitations on layoffs existed which might
discourage foreign suppliers from establishing local affiliates, which could otherwise create
employment.  An adequate social safety net and effective re-training programmes needed to beestablished, not only to enhance labour market flexibility but also to prepare for the liberalization of
mode 4 trade.
149. Concluding the discussion, the Chairman said that the Council would take note of the
comments and papers presented and revert to this item at its next meeting.
O. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 5 AND
6 DECEMBER 2000 (S/CSS/M/7)
150. The Chairman said that, at previous Council meetings, a number of delegations had pointed
out data and information problems that might affect Members' ability to trace developments in
services trade under the GATS.  At the same time, several delegations had mentioned the possibility
of new statistical sources being developed at national and international level, which might gradually
ease such problems.  Three new contributions had been submitted for this meeting:  the delegation of
the United States had provided information on sect oral services statistics from non-Balance-of-
Payments sources that were available for various US services industries in Job No. 4418/Add.1;  the
delegations of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Pola nd, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia had made a
submission on the assessment of trade in services in certain transition economies, contained in
document S/CSS/W/18;  and the Secretariat had updated its 1997 note reviewing statistics and
developments in international services trade.  He also recalled that, at the previous Special Sessionmeeting, the Korean delegation had submitted a paper on "Korea's Liberalization of Trade in Services
and its Impacts".
151. The representative of the United States recalled that, in occasion of the presentation by the
Secretariat of its document in Job No. 4418, Members had been invited to provide additional
contributions.  Hence, US governmental agencies and other relevant parties had been asked foradditional sources of statistical information to be ad ded to the Secretariat resources.  The information
presented had been drawn mostly from the US Bureau of the Census and could be accessed from the
web-sites indicated;  he would check whether the international sources identified had also been
included in the document.  His delegation would welcome additional similar contributions.
152. The representative of Slovenia, speaking also on behalf of the delegations of Bulgaria, the
Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic, said that light needed to be shed on the
development of trade in services as well as on the experiences of those Members with economies intransition or whose economies were in a post-transition phase.  With their note in document
S/CSS/W/18 they were distributing an OECD paper and explaining its nature as their contribution to
the assessment of trade exercise.  The paper had been prepared as background for the Round Table on
"Ten Years of Trade Liberalization in Transiti on Economies" organised by the OECD in July 2000
and attended by national officials and experts, representatives of OECD countries and of otherinternational organizations, including the WTO.  The document examined the role and the
development of trade in services in transition economies, and in particular in CEFTA countries, while
in some instances focusing on Slovenia.  It noted that, a decade ago, there was virtually no market for
services in former centrally planned economies, as the services sector in such countries was
economically neglected and the regulatory structure underdeveloped.  Improving the environment forthe development of services was crucial to the modernisation of these economies, and governments
had to create entirely new legal structures and institutional capacities, simultaneously with the
adoption of GATS disciplines and liberalization commitments.  The participation of such economies
to the GATS liberalization contributed to their integration into world markets and to the developmentS/CSS/W/104
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of sound trade policies, which in turn created an improved, transparent and predictable legal
framework for foreign and domestic services providers.  That led to increased efficiency, innovation
and economic growth.  On the other hand, liberalization often led also to competitive pressures on
domestic newly established providers, to the deterioration of the trade balance, and to reduced
economic policy options for governments to enhance development of their services sector.  Most ofthe countries with transition economies shared an interest in seeing further development of the
multilateral trading system in the services sector, and it was considered important that the negotiations
take into account the specific concerns of these countries and that all the possible implications of
further liberalization on different countries and sectors be considered, pursuant to Article XIX:2.
153. Commenting on the substance of the paper, he said that it revealed the following
characteristics of services sectors in transition economies bearing upon liberalization of services trade:
in the past, no great attention had been paid to the development of services, in line with theideological perception that services were not vital to growth and development;  most services were
considered "unproductive labour" and their contribution to the efficient functioning of the economy
was neglected;  regulatory and institutional structures were underdeveloped or non-existent;  services
sectors were very rigidly regulated;  the trade regime lacked transparency;  and domestic services
providers were completed shielded from outside competition.  As a consequence, these countriesfaced poor development of most services sectors, inefficiency, absence of service culture and the
modest role of services in foreign trade.  At the beginning of the nineties, transition economies begun
to introduce regulatory measures enhancing competition among local suppliers, foreign exchange and
foreign trade liberalization.  The process of preparation to undertake GATS disciplines and
commitments enabled identification of existing barriers to services trade, represented an importantlearning experience for government administrations and gave impetus to trade liberalization through
the undertaking of GATS commitments.  Binding existing market access and national treatment in
GATS schedules provided for the irreversibility of on-going policy reforms and predictability as well
as transparency in transition economies.  The services export structure of these countries was still
dominated by traditional service sectors, in particular travel and transport.  Services liberalizationentailed new policy challenges; its main driving fo rces were related to market-oriented reforms.  In
most transition economies, the share of services in total trade declined in the 1990s, mainly because of
the faster growth of their goods exports.  This mi ght be a reflection of retained advantages in goods
and of non-competitiveness in services;  the pressure for imports of competitive services and the
liberalization of services trade deteriorated the services balance.  Important non-economic
considerations related to services trade liberalization existed, such as national security, cultural
identity and social and regional policy objectives, which needed to be dealt with in the framework ofsafeguard provisions.  He then indicated that, at the end of the paper, the lessons learnt from the
experience of Slovenia and of some other transition economies were presented.  He would welcome
delegations' comments and reflections, and asked that the paper submitted by his delegation and the
delegations of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic in document
S/CSS/W/18 be de-restricted.
154. A representative of the WTO Secretariat introduced the paper which updated its 1997 note
reviewing statistics and developments in intern ational services trade, contained in document
S/C/W/27/Add.1.  He highlighted the main developments since 1997.  As for data availability, he said
that an increasing number of countries had been reporting services trade on a Balance-of-Payments
basis;  broader-based information was therefore available on trade flows under modes 1, 2 and, to acertain degree, mode 4.  Little information was still available on mode 3 trade;  statistics on Foreign
Affiliates Trade compiled by the Unites States were the only comprehensive source of information,
even if other countries, mainly OECD members, had started collecting such statistics.  The level of
data aggregation remained relatively high;  for example, data for life and non-life insurance, or for
basic and value-added telecommunications services could not be distinguished.  With regard to tradepatterns, the share of top exporters and importers had not changed dramatically in recent years.
However, across all commercial services, the United States and Asia had expanded their shares inS/CSS/W/104
Page 28
world exports quite significantly;  by contrast, the European Communities had recorded a strong
decline.  On the import side, the United States had also increased its share, though less strongly, while
imports of the European Communities and of Asia had shrunk.  The underlying reasons were difficult
to identify.  Exchange rates and price movements might have played a role;  all statistics were
recorded in current prices and US dollars, so that fluctuations in the value of the US dollar were a
major factor and volume changes could not be distinguished from value changes.  Improvements in
reporting, sudden market changes, longer-term changes in industrial competitiveness could also have
had an effect.  It was impossible to determine to what extent these changes reflected policy
adjustments under the GATS;  it was difficult to see any effects of liberalization under the GATS, as
the Uruguay Round had mainly resulted in bindings of the status quo and any significant
liberalization, such as in basic telecommunications and financial services, had entered into effect only
too recently to have had an impact.  Therefore, while it was too early to answer the basic question ofwhat had happened to services trade, the motivation of governments to liberalize was not, normally, to
increase their share in world markets, but to increase efficiency and hence create income and
employment domestically.
155. The representative of Hungary thanked Slovenia for the valuable contribution to the
assessment and for showing the experience of countries in the process of transformation from
centrally planned markets to free enterprise economies.  He was pleased by the reference to the efforts
undertaken by his country and had found table 2 on page 8, showing the shares of scheduled entries
binding full and partial market access and national treatment commitments, particularly telling of the
causal link between trade liberalization and successful economic restructuring, as well as a good omen
for the negotiations.
156. The representative of Argentina said that he would revert to the submission presented by
Slovenia.  As concerned the Secretariat paper in document S/C/W/27/Add.1, he highlighted the first
paragraph of section II.A, which showed that the shar es of services exports in total exports of Latin
America and Asia were below the world average.  He also observed that, on a Balance-of-Payment
basis, North America and Western Europe had registered a trade surplus, while Africa, Asia and LatinAmerica had recorded deficits.  With regard to the concentration of trade, the paper showed that the
15 main services exporters and importers accounted for 70 per cent of total services trade and that the
picture had not changed throughout the 1990s.  He also pointed to the dependency of developing
countries on travel and transport services, as stated in the second paragraph on page 8, and said that
this information could be usefully explored.
157. The representative of Pakistan said that he would revert to the submissions tabled.  His
delegation attached great importance to the assessment, both from a quantitative and a qualitative
perspective.  He concurred that statistics were important to the assessment, but said that they were not
an end in themselves, but a mean to an end.  He said that the Uruguay Round had been concluded on
the basis of limited statistics, but that some statistics were available, and suggested that at some point
comparative work might be done on services trade flows at the end of the Uruguay Round and at
present.
158. The representative of Brazil said that he would revert to the submissions tabled.  By way of
preliminary comments on the Secretariat paper, he st ressed the importance of statistics for negotiators
to evaluate their countries' participation in services trade.  He echoed the statement by Argentina on
the participation of Latin America and Asia to services trade being below average and said that, since
the beginning of the 1990s, Brazil's Balance-of-Payment had registered continuous deficits inservices.  As for developing countries' dependance on travel and transport services, he was concerned
that increased deficits in services trade might have a bearing on goods trade and added that
liberalization of mode 3 might cause increased imports of goods.S/CSS/W/104
Page 29
159. The representative of the European Communities said that the comments by the Secretariat
were very relevant.  He welcomed individual contributions to the assessment like the one presented by
Slovenia.  It depicted an objective, neutral and very frank picture;  he felt that the statement in
paragraph 17, that the services negotiations were not a priority for the Slovenian authorities, was
contradicted by the great interest they had manifested with their paper.  He had found interesting theconclusion in paragraph 26(b) on page 11 about the complementarity of services and goods
production.  The representative of Slovenia stressed that the OECD paper had been produced by
researchers and did not necessarily reflect the position of his government.
160. The representative of Mauritius said that statistics were important to advance Members' work
on the assessment.  Sources other than the Balance-of-Payments were useful and, in that respect, he
welcomed the United States submission.
161. The Chairman said that the Council would take note of the statements made and revert to this
item at its next meeting.
P. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 28,
29 AND 30 M ARCH 2001 (S/CSS/M/8)
162. The Chairman recalled that, at its last meeting, the Council had held a preliminary discussion
of a communication from Slovenia, Bulgaria, th e Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic
contained in document S/CSS/W/18 and Corrigendum 1.  He also drew delegations' attention to a new
communication tabled by Argentina and circulated as S/CSS/W/44.
163. The representative of Argentina said that the paper was a contribution to the assessment of
trade mandated by Article XIX.  Its aim was to share sectoral and global information with Members
and its focus were developing countries as a group, rather than his country's position.  He stressed theimportance of continuing with the assessment of trade as a means of contributing to the objectives of
the GATS, and particularly that of progressive liberalization.  He said that the figures presented in the
paper were eloquent and clearly showed that work still had to be carried out in order to advance
liberalization of services trade.  Trade in services as defined by the GATS was less documented than
trade in goods, and, bearing in mind all the relevant qualifications, he highlighted a number of trends.First, the share of commercial services, measured on a Balance-of-Payments basis, in total world
exports and imports of goods and services had remained virtually unchanged since the mid-1990s.  In
1999, the services share in total world imports of goods and services amounted to 19.6 per cent.
Second, cross-border supply had been estimated to be the major component of world trade in services,
accounting for 41 per cent of total trade, closely followed by commercial presence with 38 per cent.
Third, developing countries' services exports appeared to be particularly concentrated in travel and
transportation services.  Fourth, trade in commercial services was highly concentrated.  The top 15traders accounted for 71 per cent of world exports and 68 per cent of world imports;  in addition, the
share of the top 15 traders of commercial services  had not changed significantly since the mid-1990s.
Fifth, the prevalence of developed countries in world services trade was noteworthy.  Since the
conclusion of the Uruguay Round, the contribution of developing countries to world trade in services
had remained fairly constant;  while in 1994 the 16 leading developing countries accounted for16.45 per cent of world services exports, this share was virtually unchanged at 16.29 per cent in 1999.
Finally, regional trade balances showed the same general trends;  according to 1999 Balance-of-
Payments data, North America and Western Europe recorded export surpluses of 67 and 31 billion
dollars, respectively.  The United States recorded an export surplus of about 73 billion dollars in 1999,
while the European Union’s surplus amounted to 13 billion dollars.  He indicated that these trends hadbeen brought forward in order to promote a better understanding of developments in services trade in
the recent past and stimulate an exchange of views among Members.S/CSS/W/104
Page 30
164. The representative of Japan noted that the submission in document S/CSS/W/18 was based on
Members' own experiences and said that it offere d interesting conclusions.  On page 12, the first
indent showed that the broader implications of services trade liberalization, such as those illustrated
on page 11, required attention and he indicated that these were applicable to all Members, and not just
to transition economies.  As for the submission by Argentina, he observed that, while the paper statedthat most developing countries had deficits in services trade, table 4 showed that 10 out of the 23
leading importers and exporters also exhibited deficits, including Japan and several other developed
countries.  Paragraph 16 was also noteworthy;  in contrast to the export surpluses of the United States
and the European Union, Japan accounted for 54 billion dollars out of the 72 billion dollars deficit
recorded by Asia.
165. The representative of Pakistan noted that many contributions, of both a quantitative and
qualitative nature, were available on the assessment of trade and that Members had been discussing
the issue at considerable length.  Progress had been achieved and it was now important to decide what
the aims and objectives of the assessment exercise were and how this could be used in the
negotiations, as agreed in the negotiating guidelines and procedures.  Useful conclusions could be
drawn from the papers submitted.  In particular, he  referred to paragraph 5 of document S/CSS/W/18
and to the helpful points raised in the submission by Argentina, which was based on reliable sourcesof information, about the composition of commercial services trace, the participation of developing
countries, the leading exporters and the net importers.  He therefore urged Members to make use of
such conclusions and invited their comments on possible criteria for ways and means of concretising
such conclusions.
166. The representative of Chile said that she would revert to the intervention by Pakistan.  She
said that documents such as S/CSS/W/18 were a useful contribution to the on-going assessment
exercise, especially in view of the dearth of statistical information on services trade, particularly for
developing countries.  It was important to carry out the assessment in a broader framework than just
the statistical one.  She concurred with the broad lines and main conclusions of the paper by
Argentina, but made two observations.  First, with respect to mode 1 being the most important modeof supply, she noted that most statistical information was drawn from the Balance-of-Payments and
therefore did not provide information on services trade taking place through mode 3, which was an
important mode of supply for Chile;  second, with respect to services trade being concentrated in a
few countries and the situation of developing countries not having changed over time, she noted that
the total volume of services trade had increased, so that Members were sharing a bigger pie.
167. Commenting on the paper submitted by Argentina, the representative of Uruguay drew
particular attention to paragraph 5, based on Table 1 on page 4, showing that in 1997 mode 1
accounted for 41 per cent of services trade, mode 2 for 20 per cent, mode 3 for 38 per cent and mode
4 only for 1 per cent.  He also noted that, with respect to the leading importers and exporters in world
trade in commercial services, 1999 data provided by the WTO Secretariat showed that these were
mainly developed countries;  such a reality had to be addressed and redressed in the on-going
negotiations, by focusing on sectors of export interest to developing countries and thereby increasingtheir participation in world services trade.
168. With respect to the submission by Argentina, the representative of the United States made two
comments, the first pointing to the different stories which could be told using different statistics and
the second highlighting to the difficulties involved  in relying on incomplete statistical information.
With respect to the first, he drew attention to paragraph 9, which stated that the top 15 tradersaccounted for 71 per cent of world exports and 68 per cent of world imports and that the share of the
top 15 traders had not changed significantly since the mid-1990s.  This was true, but it was also true
that exports from countries not listed amongst the top 15 services traders had increased 10 per cent
faster per year than those of the top 15 countries.  According to WTO data, there had been a
1.2 per cent decline in the share of world export of other commercial services by the top 15 tradersS/CSS/W/104
Page 31
between 1990 and 1999, from 78.2 per cent to 77 per cent.  Whilst this appeared to be a small shift, it
signified that the growth of services exports by other countries had exceeded the growth of services
exports by the top 15 traders.  As for his second comment, he pointed to table 1, which showed that
38 per cent of world services trade was accounted for by mode 3, yet little statistical data was
available on this mode of supply and Argentina's conclusion relied on such incomplete data.However, the value of mode 3 transactions to any country should not be underestimated.  In order for
a foreign affiliate to establish a commercial presence, typically some level of foreign direct
investment was required, local personnel might be employed and trained, skills and technology might
be transferred.  In addition, cross-border sales by the affiliate to third markets would be recorded as
exports for the host country, for which it would receive inflows from foreign exchange.  Hence, a
country might benefit more from "importing" a commercial presence than from exporting services
cross-border.  He wondered what conclusions could be drawn from the information he had justpresented.  As for Pakistan's reference to the need to concretise conclusions from the assessment, he
said that his delegation had its own conclusions an d would be interested in hearing Pakistan's and
others'.
169. The representative of Canada said that, given problems with data collection for services trade,
he was hesitant to draw conclusions and that the fact that the data which delegations were referring to
was WTO data was not necessarily comforting, given that it had originated with Members anyway.
He pointed out that, like Japan, Canada was also running a deficit in services trade.  He then drew
attention to paragraph 8 of the submission by Argentina, which stated that the fact that developing
countries' services exports were focused on travel and transportation might create a structural problem
for developing countries, as such trade was related to the physical movement of persons and goods,rather than to the movement of knowledge and inform ation.  However, he felt that, with the growth of
the Internet and electronic commerce, just-in-time delivery and logistics management, the knowledge
component of these sectors had increased over time.
170. The representative of Brazil stressed that the paper by Argentina demonstrated that an
imbalance existed between developing and developed c ountries in their participation to services trade.
He said that the fact that the share of services trade through mode 1 surpassed that of trade through
mode 3 could be explained by the importance of transport for mode 1 and by the fact that Balance-of-
Payments data did not account for mode 3 transactions.  He asked whether the Secretariat could
provide an update on the work of the Intra-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in
Services and reiterated the importance attached by his delegation to the development of statistical
information for services trade, for the assessm ent of trade and the negotiations themselves.
171. The representative of the European Communities said that statistics could be read in different
ways and that they could be captured at different levels, but that the seminar which had been
organized on services statistics had been a helpful contribution.  She noted that the submission in
S/CSS/W/18 went beyond statistical information, and looked at the role of services in helping growth
and development in an economy, for example by pointing at the role of small and medium-sized
undertakings in developing alternative forms of economy and helping with employment.  There werea variety of elements which needed to be taken into account when looking at the assessment of trade
rather than just Balance-of-Payments statistics.  One of the difficulties with statistics was that they
were not sufficiently disaggregated;  for example, in the telecommunication sector, it was not possible
to distinguish the effect of issues such as call-back.
172. The representative of Egypt referred to paragraph 8 in the submission by Argentina to
indicate that he had arrived at a different conclusion from the one reached by the representative of
Canada.  The paragraph reflected well the situation of his country, as the bulk of Egypt's commercial
services exports were the fees collected from ships crossing the Suez Canal and he felt that this did
cause some structural problems, as it did not enhance the movement of knowledge and information.S/CSS/W/104
Page 32
173. The representative of Slovenia said that the assessment needed to be carried out in a precise
manner and that that was the reason why document S/CSS/W/18 had been submitted.  He clarified
that the contribution of the delegations of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Slovak Republic
and his own was only the cover note, but that the paper attached had been produced by the OECD
Secretariat and did not necessarily reflect national positions.  The cover note drew attention to the factthat transition economies were in a particular situation, as stated in paragraph 5, that their specific
concerns should be taken into account in the negotiations, and that all possible implications of further
liberalization on different countries and sectors should be carefully considered pursuant to
Article XIX:2.
174. With respect to the request by Brazil, a representative of the Secretariat explained that the
Intra-Agency Task Force had concluded its work on the development of the Manual on Statistics in
International Trade in Services and indicated that it was now up to Members to implement itsrecommendations.  He added that the Secretariat would provide a short note on the subject for the
May meeting.
175. The Chairman said that the Council would take note of the statements made and revert to this
standing item at its next meeting.
Q. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 14 TO
17 M AY 2001 (S/CSS/M/9)
176. The Chairman recalled that the assessment of trade in services was a standing item on the
Council's agenda.  At the previous meeting, the Secretariat had been asked to produce a short note
providing an update on the work of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade
in Services.  The note was contained in document S/CSS/W/81, dated 9 May 2001.
177. A representative of the WTO Secretariat said that the paper was self-explanatory.  It reported
on the adoption of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services, and discussed the
outlook for future work.
178. The Chairman then drew delegations' attention to the communication that had recently been
submitted by the delegation of Norway, contained in JOB(01)/71 and titled "Diffusion of Information
Technology, SADC and International Production".
179. The representative of Norway introduced the paper presented by his delegation.  The paper
discussed the impact of services trade liberalization on developing countries.  The Norwegian Foreign
Ministry had commissioned two studies on the issue, which had been carried out by research fellows
of the University of Cape Town and the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway.  The first paper, which
had been presented in 2000, had focused on producer services, such as telecommunications, financial
services and transport services.  The paper in JOB(01)/71 was a follow-up to that one and focused onthe SADC area, diffusion of information technol ogy and opening up to trade and investment in
telecommunications.  He highlighted the main points.  First, advanced in information technology had
greatly reduced the cost of transactions and changed the way in which business was conducted in
substantial ways.  Production had become more time-sensitive and supply chain management
involving just-in-time delivery and quality control at source had become part of local as well asinternational production networks.  The paper analysed the impact of liberalizing trade in
telecommunication services in the SADC area, focu sing on the prospects and conditions for entering
international production networks beyond raw materials supply.  It started with a brief review of
relevant theory and continued with an analysis of recent data on the quality and cost of transport
services, production networks and international tran sactions within the SADC area.  Evidence of
emerging regional supply chains in the textile and clothing industry was found, and the South African
automotive industry showed signs of getting integrated into the global industry.  It argued that, whileS/CSS/W/104
Page 33
liberalization of the telecommunications sector had led to an unprecedented growth in the penetration
of mobile telephones and access to the Internet, inadequate and expensive transport services and
infrastructure were obstacles to further integra tion of SADC companies in international production
networks.  Comprehensive reforms within individual countries in all network industries, co-ordinated
reforms within the SADC area, particularly in the transport sectors, and comprehensive internationalagreements in all network industries were necessary in order to reap the benefits of new information
technologies.  Finally, it argued that swift liberalization with short periods of adjustment, once
domestic regulation was in place, yielded most benefits to the SADC countries.  He hoped that the
joint research paper could be seen as a useful input to a very important aspect of liberalization of trade
in services.
180. The representative of Pakistan said that the assessment of trade was an important tool for
developing countries to determine whether the Uruguay Round had delivered the promised benefits,
both in quantitative and qualitative terms.  Second, in the context of the on-going negotiations, it was
vital that Members gain a sound understanding of the effects and implications of existing GATS
disciplines and levels of commitments before continuing with further liberalization.  This required a
two-fold approach:  on the one hand, a stock-taking exercise of the legal and policy framework
created by five years of GATS implementation and its effect on national economies;  on the otherhand, an analysis of the broader implications of services liberalization on national economies and
social systems in general.  Third, and particularly from a developing country perspective, a thorough
assessment could serve as a valuable input for the design of developing countries' individual
negotiating positions.  Overall, a careful analysis of the existing legal and socio-economic
environment laid the basis for an ex-ante assessm ent of a possible future GATS regime.  Only if
negotiators were able to draw upon a thorough assess ment would they be able to ensure that their
overall approach to services liberalization led to economic growth for all Members.
181. He noted that the Council had extensively discussed the limitations and constraints relating to
an assessment of trade in services.  Lack of data, analytical and methodological problems, among
others, made it difficult to conduct a detailed empirical assessment of services trade.  However, thosedifficulties should not delay the assessment discussion and process in the WTO context.  Rather,
Members might wish to engage in a broader discussion relating to the appropriate nature of the GATS
assessment.
182. He stated that paragraph 14 of the guidelines established that Members conduct the
assessment "with reference to the objectives of the GATS and of Article IV in particular".  Based on
this, Members might wish to consider different as pects of the assessment, key questions and issues,
such as the ones that he was highlighting.  Until then, the assessment had focused on quantitative,economic and trade-flow related data.  However, when analysing existing data, it was important to
focus on those economic objectives of the GATS which particularly related to developing countries.
These included:  the promotion of economic growth of all trading partners;  increased participation of
developing country Members in services trade; and liberalization in sectors and modes of supply
interest to developing countries.  According to its Preamble and Article IV, the GATS aimed tostrengthen developing countries' domestic services sectors, their efficiency and competitiveness.  This
was important to increase developing countries' partic ipation in services trade, but also to ensure that
they be able to serve their domestic needs and markets.  As a means to achieve this goal, the GATS
required that developing countries' access to technology and to distribution channels and information
networks be improved.  When analysing whether the GATS had strengthened developing countries'domestic services sectors, Members needed to give special emphasis to the varying impact foreign
direct investment might have on developing countries' domestic service providers.
183. WTO Members and Secretariat also needed to assess whether the GATS had achieved its
broader goals, namely those set out in the Preamble of both the GATS and the WTO Agreement.  As
part of the multilateral trading system, the GAT S aimed to promote the development of developingS/CSS/W/104
Page 34
countries, raise standards of living and allow for the optimal use of the world's resources in
accordance with the objective of development.  To adequately analyse whether the GATS had
fulfilled those goals, Members needed to complement their quantitative assessment of economic and
trade flow data with qualitative analyses incorporating development aspects.  For example, Members
might wish to:  identify relevant social, economic and environmental indicators, such as access to and
quality of water, access to basic education, access to health services, access to telecommunications,
which provided information on the broader goals described earlier;  ask the Secretariat to identify
information sources and collect relevant data;  analyse whether the GATS had had an impact on those
indicators, and particularly whether it had improved  or deteriorated a Member's performance in those
aspects.  Such broader assessment was important because the GATS covered all services sectors,
including many basic services such as the ones he had referred to.  Improving provision of essential
services was crucial for raising living standards and for promoting the overall development of a
country.  Consequently, when conduction such a broa der assessment, Members needed to give special
consideration to a country's level of economic development and related national policy objectives.
184. The GATS suggested expansion and progressive liberalization of services trade as a means to
promote the goals he had previously mentioned.  However, the GATS also recognized that, in order to
achieve those goals, efforts to liberalize trade in services needed to be balanced with an adequateregulatory framework.  In its Preamble, the GATS specifically stated that due respect had to be given
to national policy objectives, and recognized the right to regulate and to introduce new regulations to
meet national policy objectives.  The GATS also acknowledged the particular need of developing
countries to exercise their right to regulate.  Consequently, Members might wish to assess whether the
GATS had allowed developing countries to fully exercise their right to determine their national policyobjectives;  whether it had granted developing countries the flexibility to achieve those objectives
through the type and means of regulation they considered appropriate;  and whether it had weakened
or strengthened domestic regulatory frameworks fo r foreign investment, which were crucial to ensure
that developing countries truly benefitted from increasing foreign investment.  When analysing such
questions, Members should give particular emphasis to developing countries which were goingthrough structural changes in their economic, social and other policy environment.
185. The representative of the European Communities concurred with Pakistan that the assessment
had to be of a qualitative nature.  As concerned the Secretariat paper, she welcomed the fact that the
quality and comparability of services statistics had improved.  She noted that work still needed to be
done and that the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services would be available in
English by the end of 2001, and hoped that it would be translated soon, as its implementation  would
still take time.  She encouraged the Task Force to produce a users' manual and expressed interest inregular updates on the work of the Task Force and on UNCTAD's pilot projects.
186. The representative of New Zealand sought a clar ification from the Secretariat on its note.  He
had noted that paragraph 4 of Appendix 1 of Annex I stated that "except for the treatment of
construction services, the recommendations contained in the manual are consistent with BPM5" and
wondered what the reason behind this was, in light of his delegation's interest in this sector.  Arepresentative of the WTO Secretariat said that they would look into the matter and provide an
answer.
187. Summing up the discussion on this item, the Chairman said that the Council would take note
of the statements made and revert to this standing item at its next meeting.
R. MEETING OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES HELD ON 9 TO
12 J ULY 2001 (S/CSS/M/10)
188. The Chairman recalled that, at the May meeting, two new papers had been tabled:  a
Secretariat note providing an update on the work of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics ofS/CSS/W/104
Page 35
International Trade in Services, in document S/CSS/W/81;  and a communication submitted by the
delegation of Norway in JOB(01)/71, titled "D iffusion of Information Technology, SADC and
International Production".  Members had held only a preliminary discussion of the two papers.
189. The representative of Cuba said that the assessment of trade in services was of the outmost
importance and had to be kept as a permanent item on the agenda of the Special Session.  The
exercise had to arrive at an assessment of the effect of liberalization for developing countries.  To that
effect, the impact of Members' commitments and the extent to which such commitments had
contributed to increasing the participation of developing countries to services trade had to be
examined.  On the basis of the discussions carried out until then and of WTO statistics, it was possible
to conclude that no concrete benefits had accrued to developing countries.  Using WTO statistical
information on services trade for the year 2000 and other submissions tabled on the assessment, the
following picture emerged.  First, international trade in commercial services was highly concentrated;the top 15 services exporters and importers accoun ted for 71 and 68 per cent of world exports and
imports of services, respectively.  Second, services trade took place mainly amongst developed
countries;  the top exporters coincided to a great extent with the top importers.  Third, the
preponderance of developed countries' participation in services trade was evident from their exports,
accounting for 72 per cent of world exports of services in 1999.  Fourth, developing countries'participation in services trade was not favourable:  their main export headings were not related to
technological innovation, knowledge or information, but were travel and transportation services;  in
most developing countries, the share of services in  total exports was below average;  many developing
countries exhibited persistent deficits in their services trade balance;  and developing countries'
participation was less than 20 per cent in world exports and imports of services.  Fifth, Latin Americaand Africa contributed only to 6 per cent of the world commercial services market.  Sixth, the level of
geographical concentration of services exports was high in the case of developing countries.  In Latin
America, 5 countries, namely Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, represented 64 per cent
of the total;  in Africa, Egypt and South Africa accounted for nearly 50 per cent of exports;  and in the
Middle East Israel and Saudi Arabia accounted for 69 per cent of services exports.  Such dataindicated that the assessment of trade in servic es needed to focus on determining how and to what
extent the objectives of the GATS, and especially those of Article IV, had been achieved.
190. The representative of Uruguay, speaking on behalf of the MERCOSUR countries (Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), stated that Article XIX:3 of the GATS mandated, for the purpose of
establishing the negotiating guidelines and procedures, the Council for Trade in Services to carry out
an assessment of trade in services in overall terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the
objectives of the GATS, including those set out in Article IV:1, which referred to increasing theparticipation of developing countries to services trade.  Members had carried out extensive
discussions on the assessment and the general emphasis had been on the benefits that had accrued to
developing countries from their liberalization efforts.  He stressed that this should not be the only
aspect of the discussion;  the objective of the assessment should rather be if, and to what extent,
developing countries had benefitted from market access provided by developed countries, in keepingwith the objectives of Article IV.  The paper submitted by Argentina in document S/CSS/W/44
showed that 75 per cent of world services exports came from fifteen developed countries and that the
level of participation of developing countries in services exports had not changed since the GATS had
entered into force, having diminished in a few instances.  He stressed the importance of determining if
developing countries had benefitted from developed countries' liberalization of access to their servicesmarkets and, if not, what the reason was.  He underscored the relevance that this had for the
negotiations, in light of the objectives of Article IV and its effective implementation;  in this regard,
he recalled that Members had agreed, in paragraph 14 of the negotiating guidelines and procedures,
that the assessment would be an on-going activity and that the negotiations would be adjusted in the
light of the results of the assessment, and, in paragraph 15, that to ensure the effective implementationof Articles IV, the Council would consider the extent to which the objectives of that Article were
being implemented and suggest ways and means of promoting the goals established therein.S/CSS/W/104
Page 36
191. The representative of Senegal underscored the importance of the assessment of trade in
services, not only in light of what had been agreed in the negotiating guidelines and procedures of
28 March 2001, but also, and particularly, because it allowed Members to deal with the assessment
and to demonstrate their willingness to make it a concrete reality in the negotiations.  The adoption of
the negotiating guidelines was a decisive step towards ensuring that the assessment be given the sameimportance in the negotiations as the negotiating proposals and the guidelines themselves, and not be
a simple agenda item without substance.  His dele gation continued to attach great importance to the
guidelines, but was of the view that the Council had only taken partially into account the mandate of
Article XIX.  The GATS contained a dual-faceted mandate:  the establishment of the guidelines and
the assessment.  The mandate in Article XIX was e ssential for credible negotiations, and had to be
dealt with as soon as possible.  Without calling into question the negotiating process and the
negotiating proposals tabled, his delegation was of the view that the Council needed to give the
necessary priority and importance to the assessment as to the negotiations.
192. Devoting the necessary attention to the assessment did not mean making it an academic
exercise.  The assessment was at the heart of the GATS and of the way in which WTO Members, and
developing countries in particular, had to participate in the negotiations.  Paragraph 14 of the
negotiating guidelines mandated that the assessment be an on-going activity of the Council and that
the negotiations be adjusted in the light of its results.  On the one hand, the assessment had to evaluate
the impact of Members' commitments on their national economies and establish a balance of rights
and obligations, so as to measure Members' degree of participation in services trade, in conformity
with the objectives of the GATS and, of Article IV in particular.  On the other hand, the assessment
had to determine the progress made in achieving the objectives of the GATS, and in particular, asstated in the Preamble and in Article IV, that of increasing the participation of developing countries to
services trade.  Article XIX needed to be read in conjunction with Article IV, in order to have the full
measure of the mandate and objectives of the Agreement.  Besides, in conformity with the GATS, the
assessment would allow developing countries to participate in the negotiations with the necessary
grasp of the issues, transparency, equity and flexibility, guarantees of a multilateral trading systemopen and credible for all Members.  The assessment would also pay justice to the objectives of the
GATS, whose structure guaranteed of good faith, openness and benefits for all Members.
193. The GATS contained no ambiguity with respect to the mandate for the assessment and it was
therefore essential to give it full attention.  It required political commitment, technical expertise and
cooperation that extended beyond the WTO.  Developing countries were looking for concrete signals
with regard to the assessment, which, in the run-up to the Fourth Ministerial Conference, would give
certainty and confidence in the system.  He acknowledged that difficulties existed in conducting theassessment, but noted that the symposium on tourism and the seminar on services statistics had been
useful and had allowed for important progress.  Such were the actions that were needed to perfect the
preparatory work for the negotiations.
194. As concerned least-developed countries' participation in services trade, he stated that their
specific situation was explicitly recognized in th e GATS:  the Preamble called for "taking particular
account of the serious difficulty of the least-developed countries in trade in services in view of their
special economic situation and their development, trade and financial needs", and Article IV:3
mandated that special priority be given to least- developed countries, thereby granting them special
and differential treatment.  According to WTO statistics, the share of least-developed countries in
services trade had remained unchanged throughout the 1990s at around 0.42%, in spite of an increasein certain travel-related sectors, with a share of 0.63% in 2000.  Without prejudice to the outcome of
the assessment, he said that such data showed the need to strengthen capacity and technical assistance
and to implement the special and differential treatment as contained in Article IV, in order for
progressive liberalization to contribute to lasting development and the fight against poverty.  He
recognized the role of services liberalization in attracting foreign direct investment, in setting upS/CSS/W/104
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infrastructure and in building regional integration;  the GATS was promising in that regard, and the
assessment could allow for the measurement of its potential.
195. The representative of Mexico reiterated the importance of the assessment of services trade
and echoed the statements by Cuba and Uruguay.  He said that the juridical framework to conduct the
assessment was in place and noted in particular the provisions contained in the negotiating guidelines.
He asked that the statement by the representative of Cuba be circulated in writing, as it referred to
data that could help in arriving at conclusions on the assessment.
196. The representative of Pakistan supported earlier statements, which lent credence to the
importance attached by developing countries to the assessment of trade in services.  He indicated that
paragraphs 41 to 44 of document S/CSS/M/9 reflected his delegation's views on the assessment as
expressed at the May Special Session.  In terms of substance, the Council was adequately equipped to
deal with the assessment in a more conclusive manner.  A purely academic discussion would not beproductive, and delegations' statements had been fairly repetitive;  the assessment was an on-going
exercise, but it should not last indefinitely and needed to be focused and brought down to substance.
He suggested that the Secretariat produce a compilation of all statements made and of all submissions
tabled on this item to help the Council focus and make progress on the issue.
197. The representative of Indonesia said that a thorough assessment could serve as a valuable
input for the design of developing countries' indivi dual negotiating position, and for ensuring that the
overall approach to services liberalization led to economic growth for all Members.  When analysing
existing data, it was important to focus on those economic objectives of the GATS which particularly
related to developing countries.  These included:  the promotion of economic growth of all trading
partners;  increasing participation of developing country Members;  liberalization of sectors andmodes of supply of interest to developing countries;  and the improvement of access to technology, to
distribution channels and information networks.  Lack of data, analytical and methodological
problems, among others, made it difficult to conduct a detailed empirical assessment of services trade;
however, his delegation was of the view that thos e difficulties should not delay the assessment
discussion and process in the WTO context.  He suggested that Members might wish to assesswhether the GATS had allowed developing countries to exercise fully their right to determine their
national policy objectives, whether it had permitted developing countries the flexibility to achieve
those objectives through the type and means of regulation they considered appropriate.
198. Summarizing the discussion on this item, the Chairman noted that delegations had referred to
data problems with respect to services trade and to the importance of the assessment not being an
academic exercise, stressing that the Council needed to focus on the issue.  The MERCOSUR
countries had raised relevant questions, and the delegation of Pakistan had suggested that theSecretariat produce a compilation of statements and submissions on this item.  He proposed that the
Secretariat prepare such a document, to help structure the discussion, and that the Council take note of
the statements made and revert to this standing item at its following meeting.
199. It was so agreed.
III. SUBMISSIONS TABLED ON THE ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES
200. To help structure the discussion, the submissions tabled on the assessment of trade in services
have been grouped into three categories.  The first category contains all documents examining
economic effects of liberalization policies in services;  the second lists documents analysing theS/CSS/W/104
Page 38
effects of services trade liberalization under the GATS;  and the third compiles available documents
addressing developments in world services trade.2
A. ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF SERVICES LIBERALIZATION
Notes by the Secretariat
S/C/W/26 Economic Effects of Services  Liberalization
S/C/W/26/Add.1 Economic Effects of Services Libe ralization: Overview of Empirical Studies
S/C/W/94 Recent Developments in Services Trade – Overview and Assessment
Background Notes Prepared for the Information Exchange Programme :
S/C/W/37 Distribution Services
S/C/W/38 Construction and Related Engineering ServicesS/C/W/39 Postal and Courier Services
S/C/W/40 Audiovisual Services
S/C/W/43 Legal Services
S/C/W/44 Architectural and Engineering Services
S/C/W/45 Computer and Related ServicesS/C/W/46 Environmental Services
S/C/W/47 Advertising Services
S/C/W/49 Education Services
S/C/W/50 Health and Social Services
S/C/W/51 Tourism ServicesS/C/W/52 Energy Services
S/C/W/59 Air Transport Services
S/C/W/60 Land Transport Services Part I – Generalities and Road Transport
S/C/W/61 Land Transport Services Part II - Rail Transport Services
S/C/W/62 Maritime Transport ServicesS/C/W/72 Financial Services
S/C/W/73 Accountancy Services
S/C/W/74 Telecommunication Services
S/C/W/75 Presence of Natural Persons (Mode 4)
S/C/W/99 and Structure of Commitments for Modes 1, 2 and 3Corr.1
Job No. 6551 Note by the Secretariat:  Summaries of Sectoral Discussions
Job No. 6500 Note by the Secretariat
Job No. 7008 Note by Secretariat:  Summaries of Discussions
Members' submissions
S/C/W/149 Communication from the Domi nican Republic - Conclusions and
Recommendations of the Expert Meeting on Tourism, Organized by
UNCTAD
S/CSS/W/18 and Communica tion from Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovak
Corr.1 Republic – Note on Assessment of Trade in Services in Certain Transition
Economies
                                                     
2 Moreover, Members may want to take into consid eration Secretariat Notes on subsidies for services
sectors.  These Notes, based on WTO Trade Policy Reviews, were prepared for the Working Party on GATS
Rules (documents S/WPGR/W/25,  Add.1 and Add.2).S/CSS/W/104
Page 39
. Informal submission by Norway and South Africa – Liberalization of Trade
in Producer Services – The Impact on Developing Countries, October 1999
. Informal submission by Korea – Korea's Liberalization of Trade in Services
and its Impacts, September 2000
JOB(01)/71 Communication from Norway – "Diffusion of Information Technology,
SADC and International Production"
Informal Papers submitted for the Information Exchange ProgrammeJob No.
2050 Note from the Chairman:  Options for the I. E. P.
1890 Communication from Norway:  Information Exchange Programme
1951 Communication from Singapore:  New Negotiations in Services
2392 Note from the Chairman:  Exchange of Information on Services
Communication from Japan:  Distribution Services
Communication from Japan:  Communication ServicesCommunication from Japan:  Construction & Engineering
Communication from Australia:  Construction & Engineering
Communication from Australia:  Distribution Services
Communication from Australia:  Communication Services
3623 Communication from Peru:  Construction Services3626 Communication from Peru:  Postal & Courier Services
3891 Communication from Canada:  Courier and Postal Services
3892 Communication from Canada:  Construction Services
Communication from Australia:  Advertising Services
Communication from Australia:  Computer-Related Services
Communication from Australia:  Architectural Services
Communication from Australia:  Environmental ServicesCommunication from Australia:  Legal Services
Communication from Poland:  Postal & Courier Services
4156 Communication from Canada:  Legal Services
4157 Communication from Canada:  Engineering Services
4158 Communication from Canada:  Architectural Services4159 Communication from Canada:  Environmental Services
4160 Communication from Canada:  Computer Related Services
Communication from Japan:  Advertising Services
Communication from Japan:  Legal Services
Communication from Japan:  Architecture & EngineeringCommunication from Japan:  Environmental Services
5420 Communication from European Communities:  Courier & Postal Services
5441 Communication from New Zeal and:  Education Services
5443 Communication from New Zealand:  T ourism and Travel-related Services
5444 Communication from New Zealand:  Energy Services5468 Communication from Hong Kong, China:  Educational Services
5472 Communication from Norway:  Health and Social Services
5474 Communication from Norway:  Education Services
5476 Communication from Norway:  Energy Services (Pipeline)
Job No.
5475 Communication from Norway:  Energy Services (Electricity)S/CSS/W/104
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5479 Communication from Norway:  Audiovisual Services
5482 Communication from Norway:  Postal Services
5545 Communication from Norway:  Tourism Services
5547 Note from the Chairman:  Summary of Sectoral Discussions
5549 Communication from Poland:  Education Services5570 Communication from Australia:  Tourism Services
5572 Communication from Australia:  Energy Services
5573 Communication from Australia:  Education Services
5540 Communication from Australia:  Health Services
5575 Communication from Japan:  Energy Services
6096 Communication from Canada:  Tourism Services
6097 Communication from Japan:  Education Services6101 Communication from Japan:  Health and Social Services
6102 Communication from Japan:  Tourism Services
6394 Communication from Norway:  Maritime Transport Services
1058 Communication from New Zealand:  Land Transport Services
1060 Communication from New Zealand:  Maritime Transport Services1061 Communication from New Zealand:  Discussion Paper on Air Transport
Services
1059 Communication from New Zealand:  Air Transport Services
6408 Communication from Japan:  Transport Services
6512 Communication from Australia:  Air Transport Services6511 Communication from Australia:  Maritime Transport Services
6630 Communication from Australia:  Land Transport Services
6503 Communication from Turkey:  Maritime Transport Services
6504 Communication from Turkey:  Air Transport Services
6505 Communication from Turkey:  Postal Services6506 Communication from Turkey:  Tourism Services
6786 Communication from Poland:  Transport Services
6797 Communication from Poland:  Tourism Services
6880 Communication from Poland:  Health Related &  Social Services
6943 Communication from Australia:  Telecommunications Services
6944 Communication from Turkey:  Financial Services
6969 Communication from Japan:  Financial Services6968 Communication from Japan:  Accountancy Services
6967 Communication from Japan:  Telecommunications Services
732 Communication from Australia:  Accountancy Services
7039 Communication from Czech Republic:  Health Services
7050 Communication from Australia:  Financial Services7051 Communication from Australia:  Movement of Natural Persons
640 Communication from European Communities:  Financial Services
978 Communication from Pakistan:  Movement of Natural Persons
1013 Communication from European Communities:  Transport Services
1078 Communication from European Communities:  Movement of Natural Persons
Formal Documents submitted for th e Information Exchange Programme
S/C/W/55 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Education Services
S/C/W/56 Communication from the United St ates:  Health and Social Services
S/C/W/57 Communication fr om the United States:  Tourism Services
S/C/W/58 Communication fr om the United States:  Energy Services
S/C/W/71 Communication from the United  States:  Transportation ServicesS/CSS/W/104
Page 41
S/C/W/76 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Distribution Services
S/C/W/77 Communication from the United St ates:  Construction and Engineering
Services
S/C/W/78 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Audiovisual Services
S/C/W/79 Communication from the United States:  Express Delivery Services
S/C/W/80 Communication fr om the United States:  Legal Services
S/C/W/81 Communication from the United St ates:  Computer and Related Services
S/C/W/82 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Advertising Services
S/C/W/83 Communication from the United St ates:  Architectural and Engineering
Services
S/C/W/89 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Financial Services
S/C/W/90 Communication from the Unit ed States:  Accountancy Services
S/C/W/91 Communication from the United States:  Telecommunication Services
Others
Job No. 3971 Communication from Internati onal Bar Association:  Legal Services
Job No. 6541 Communication from ICAO:  Statement by Representative of ICAO
Job No. 6651 Communication from IFAC & IASC:  Accountancy Services
B. SERVICES TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNDER THE GATS
Notes by the Secretariat
S/C/W/94 Recent Developments in Services Trade – Overview and Assessment
Job No. 2748/Rev.1 The Developmental Imp act of Trade Liberalization under GATS
Members' submissions
S/C/W/105 Communication from  Japan:  Assessment of Trade in Services
S/CSS/W/44 and Communication from  Argentina:  Assessment of Trade in Services:  The
Corr.1 Participation of Developing Countries
Others
Job No. 4235 Assessment of Trade in Services of Developing Countries: Possible
Contribution by UNCTAD
C. DEVELOPMENTS IN WORLD SERVICES TRADE
Notes by the Secretariat
S/C/W/27 A Review of Statistics on Trade Flows in Services
S/C/W/27/Add.1 A Review of Statistics on Trade Flows in Services - Addendum
S/WPGR/W/32 Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services –
Progress Report, May 2000
S/CSS/W/81 Inter-Agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services -
Progress Report, May 2001
Job 4418 Overview of Sectoral Servic es Statistics from Non-BOP Sources
Job 4418/Add.1 Overview of Sectoral Servic es Statistics from Non-BOP Sources –
Addendum
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