RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/WPGR/M/14
2December 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-5289)
Working Party onGATS Rules
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF26NOVEMBER 1997
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Thefourteenth meeting oftheWorking Party onGATS Rules waschaired byMs.JillCourtney
ofAustralia. Theagenda forthemeeting wascontained inWTO/AIR/719. Itconsisted offiveitems:
negotiations onsafeguards under Article XoftheGATS; negotiations onsubsidies under Article XV
oftheGATS; negotiations ongovernment procurement under Article XIIIoftheGATS; dateofthe
nextmeeting oftheWorking Party; andother business, under which itwasagreed toconsider the
finalisation oftheReport oftheWorking Party totheCouncil forTrade inServices.
ITEM A: NEGOTIATIONS ONSAFEGUARDS UNDER ARTICLE XOFGATS
2. TheChairperson informed delegations thatonthebasisofthediscussions oftheWorking Party,
shehadproposed totheCouncil forTrade inServices toadopt theDecision extending themandate
forthenegotiations onemergency safeguard measures under Article XoftheGATS untiltheendof
June1999.OnedelegationobservedthattheDecisionwouldensureacontinuedmandatefornegotiations
under Article Xwithout modifying Article Xinanyother way. Inparticular, paragraph 2ofArticle X
would stillberelevant onlyforthemodification orwithdrawal ofcommitments within three years of
theircoming intoforce. Inallsuchcases, paragraphs 2to5ofArticle XXIwould continue toapply
afterthenotification procedure. Another delegation, speaking onbehalf ofseveral delegations, noted
thatprocedures formodification ofschedules under Article XXIhadnotyetbeenagreed, andthat
negotiations onsuchprocedures should proceed without prejudice tonegotiations under Article X.
3. Onedelegation suggested thatitwould beuseful toagree onawork programme inorder to
usethetimeavailable most productively. Onepossibility wasthatthefirstsixmonths ofnextyear
bedevoted tonegotiating broad-based legally binding disciplines, suchasthose suggested initsearlier
submission (S/WPGR/W/18) andtherestofthetimetomore detailed discussion. Itoffered tosubmit
apaper onthesubject. Several delegations supported theidea, buttwodelegations wereconcerned
thatagreeing onsuchawork programme mayprejudge thequestion ofwhether there should bea
safeguard provision intheGATS. Some delegations suggested thatthework programme could be
designed topreserve abalance between different views, andaconsideration ofthedesirability and
feasibility ofsafeguards could proceed inparallel withadiscussion ofother issues. TheChairperson
saidthatshewould consult withdelegations onthissubject, aswellasthepossibility ofholding a
"brainstorming" session onthesubject ofsafeguards some timenextyear.
ITEM B: NEGOTIATIONS ONSUBSIDIES UNDER ARTICLE XVOFGATS
4. TheChairperson noted thatsofaronlytworesponses tothequestionnaire onsubsidies had
been received, even though 15May1997 hadbeen established asthedeadline forsubmission of
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responses. Sheurged delegations tomake aneffort toprovide responses soonsince thisinformation
would putdelegations inamuch better position toproceed withsubstantive discussions. Onedelegation
emphasized theimportance ofwork inthisarea, andsuggested thattheanalysis ofsubsidies related
totrade inservices could continue while more responses tothequestionnaire wereawaited. Tothis
end,theSecretariat wasasked tocollect information onthesubject fromtheWTO tradepolicy reviews
andother sources.
ITEM C: NEGOTIATIONS ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT UNDER ARTICLE XIII
OFGATS
5. TheChairperson informed delegations thatataninformal meeting onprocurement heldon
6November 1997, twosortsofissues hadbeenraised. Onsubstance, afewdelegations hadsuggested
thatwork should focus initially onthedefinition ofgovernment procurement andtheprinciple ofnon-
discrimination. Onprocedure, several delegations hademphasized theneedtoaddress theproblem
ofduplication ofwork between different foradealing withgovernment procurement intheWTO. One
delegation saidthatthere wasclearly needfordiscussion intheWorking Party ontheelements of
government procurement specifically related totrade inservices, suchastheroleofconcessions on
public utilities. Itintended tomake awritten submission dealing withdefinitional issues andillustrating
theparticularities ofservices procurement, inorder todemonstrate theneedtomake progress inthis
areawithin theWorking Party. Another delegation saidthateventhough previously ithadbeenless
thanenthusiastic about theprospect ofsuchwork, itnowfullysupported theidea. Ithadcome to
theviewthatthere wasneedforwork toimprove theunderstanding ofwhatdisciplines could apply
toservices procurement andthatthegoalshould betodevelop suchdisciplines. Athirddelegation
alsoexpressed aninterest inpursuing suchwork within theWorking Party andwelcomed thepositive
indications ofinterest from other delegations.
ITEM D: DATE OFTHE NEXT MEETING
6. Itwasagreed thattheWorking Party would meetnextonFriday, 13February 1997.
ITEM E: OTHER BUSINESS
7. TheWorking Party adopted, withminor modifications, theannual Report totheCouncil for
Trade inServices.