WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/90
26 June 2001
(01-3211)
Council for Trade in Services
Special ServicesOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM NEW ZEALAND
Objectives for the Resumed Services Negotiations
The attached communication has been received from the delegation of New Zealand with the
request that it be circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. With the establishment of the “Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures” at the Special Session
of the Council for Trade in Services on 28 March 20011 the resumed services negotiations will now
start to enter a more substantive phase of work - a phase which will see Members, on the basis of
negotiating proposals, move forward on a range of the outstanding rule-making issues, in parallel with
specific commitment (i.e. market access and national treatment) issues.
2. It is therefore timely for New Zealand to sketch out some initial  objectives for the resumed
services negotiations in relation to both rule-making and specific commitments.2  Such objectives
complement and supplement those contained in the “Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures” and
reflect the interests that New Zealand, as an individual Member, has in the negotiations.
II. BACKGROUND
3. The Uruguay Round provided an essential first step towards integrating services trade within
the WTO’s overall framework of trade rules and opening up trade in services.  It does, however, need
to be recognised that the Uruguay Round services package is only the beginning of this process.  It is
the platform for successive rounds of negotiations, which are aimed at achieving progressively higherlevels of liberalisation.
4. The evolutionary nature of Uruguay Round services package is amply demonstrated by the
fact that the rules  (e.g. emergency safeguards, subsidies, government procurement and domestic
regulation) are not yet complete and the schedules of specific commitments  are limited in terms of
substance, with most Members not providing any substantive commitments across a range of servicessectors.
                                                     
1 S/L/93 of 29 March 2001 refers.
2 Any sectoral/modal/horizontal proposals that New Zealand might inject into the resumed services
negotiations should, of course, be read in conjunction with the objectives outlined in this paper.S/CSS/W/90
Page 2
5. The sparsity of commitments by Members is not surprising given the recent genesis of the
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), but this will start to be addressed in the course of
these negotiations.  The GATS establishes that the process of liberalisation will be progressively
achieved, taking into account national policy objectives, the level of development and the size of
economies of individual Members, both overall and in individual sectors.  Only through successive
rounds of negotiations  will Members be able to realise higher levels of liberalisation of trade in
services.
6. These negotiations - which will be the first time that Members have revisited their specific
commitments - are important for New Zealand.  The services sector forms a major part of New
Zealand’s economy.  More than two-thirds of New Zealand’s GDP and nearly three-quarters of its
employment is generated by this sector.
7. Trade in services is an increasingly important part of New Zealand’s external trade.  While
New Zealand remains a net services importer , it has significant export interests  in a range of sectors
and will actively explore ways in which such interests can be effectively accommodated, including
through the submission of specific sectoral proposals.
III. OBJECTIVES
8. In New Zealand’s view, the “Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures” have accurately laid
down the key objective  of the resumed services negotiations to be - namely, “to achieve progressively
higher levels of liberalisation of trade in services through the reduction or elimination of the adverse
effects on trade in services of measures as a means of providing effective market access, and with a
view to promoting the interests of all participants on a mutually advantageous basis and to securing an
overall balance of rights and obligations”.3
9. The “Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures”, as well as the GATS itself, will provide
Members with the reference point  for the negotiations and New Zealand would not, at this stage of the
process, want to revisit any aspect of the “Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures”, particularly as
they constitute the fulfilment of a key element of the negotiating mandate of Article XIX:3.
10. New Zealand would, however, like to provide Members with its initial  objectives for the
negotiations to complement and supplement those contained in the “Negotiating Guidelines and
Procedures”.  Naturally, such objectives reflect New Zealand’s interests, as well as its national policy
objectives, level of development and size of economy, both overall and in individual sectors.
• First , and foremost, New Zealand will actively encourage Members to explore ways in which
existing commitments in all services sectors, in terms of both market access and national
treatment, can be progressively liberalised .  This process must of course take into account
fundamental principles such as the right to regulate in order to meet national policy
objectives, as well as the undertakings in Articles IV and XIX:2 in respect of the interests of
developing countries.  But for New Zealand as a small economy, comprehensive services
negotiations offer the best prospect for ensuring that all Members benefit from the
negotiations, because of the opportunity afforded to reach balanced outcomes.
• Second , with New Zealand’s scheduled commitments some of the most extensive under the
GATS, New Zealand will be looking to its trading partners to work towards matching this
level of commitment, while fully respecting the principle of flexibility for developing and
least developed countries.
                                                     
3 Para 1 of S/L/93 refers.S/CSS/W/90
Page 3
• Third , New Zealand will actively explore ways to promote effectively the interests of small
and medium-sized services suppliers  in the negotiations.  With small and medium-sized
suppliers constituting a substantial proportion of the New Zealand economy, it is vitally
important that all services suppliers benefit from these negotiations, and not just the biggest
suppliers.
• Fourth , New Zealand will explore ways to effectively address the interests and concerns of
developing and least developed countries  in these negotiations, with a particular emphasis on
overcoming the serious challenges faced by least developed countries.  It is, after all, in the
interests of all Members that developing and least developed countries are active participants
in these negotiations and able to benefit from their outcome.
• Fifth , recognising the high level of public interest in the GATS negotiations, New Zealand
will work to ensure that these are conducted in as open and transparent fashion as possible.
New Zealand recognises the necessity of engaging in domestic consultations at an early stage,
and would encourage other Members to take a similar approach.
• Sixth , New Zealand will actively participate in any discussions aimed at developing
multilaterally agreed criteria which address the need for account to be taken, and credit given
for autonomous liberalisation  undertaken by Members since previous negotiations.  New
Zealand itself has undertaken a large amount of such liberalisation since previous negotiations
and would expect our trading partners to recognise such liberalisation in the context of the
negotiations on specific commitments.
• Seventh , New Zealand will explore ways to progress the on-going discussions on disciplines
for domestic regulation.  Disciplines targeted specifically at potential barriers to trade in
services would serve as a valuable contribution to underpinning and facilitating market
openings.  In New Zealand’s view, such disciplines should help to ensure a clearer and more
transparent view of domestic regulatory regimes for all services suppliers.
• Eighth , New Zealand recognises the importance attached to the on-going negotiations under
Article X on the question of an emergency safeguard mechanism  and will engage in these
negotiations with a view to ensuring that whatever might be achieved will serve the interests
of all Members.  This means that any mechanism which might be developed should operate in
the most objective and transparent manner as possible.
• Ninth , as Members explore ways in which to achieve progressively higher levels of
liberalisation, New Zealand will work towards ensuring the elimination of MFN exemptions
within the period specified in the Annex on MF N Exemptions insofar as this is possible.
• Tenth , New Zealand will bring to bear its wider trade policy objectives in its approach to
services so as to ensure a consistent negotiating strategy across all mandated negotiations.
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