RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/M/70 
29 March 2004 
 (04-1405) 
Council for Trade in Services  
   
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1 MARCH 2004 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
1. The Council for Trade in Services held a special meeting on 1 March 2004 chaired by 
Ambassador Ousmane Camara (Senegal).  The age nda for this meeting is  contained in document 
WTO/AIR/2252 & Corr.1. 
2. The Chairman 
suggested that the agenda be adopted as circulated. 
3. The Council so agreed . 
REQUEST  FOR  A WAIVER  FROM  SPECIFIC  COMMITMENTS  UNDER  THE  GATS     
PURSUANT  TO ARTICLES  IX:3  AND 4 OF THE  MARRAKESH  AGREEMENT  
ESTABLISHING  THE  WORLD  TRADE  ORGANIZATION 
4. The Chairman  recalled that at the last Council meeting held on 5 December 2003 Albania had 
presented a request for a waiver, contained in document S/L/148, to allow it to postpone the 
implementation of certain commitments in telecommunications services. The request was made pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article IX of  the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World 
Trade Organization. This Article stipulated th at in exceptional circumstances, a Member might 
request a waiver from an obligation imposed on it  by any of the Multilateral Trade Agreements, 
including the GATS. He indicated that a request  for a waiver concerning the GATS was to be 
submitted initially to the Council for Trade in Serv ices for examination within a period of 90 days. 
5. The Chairman
 drew the Council's attention to the fact  that at its meeting on 5 December 2003, 
a representative of Albania had explained its waiv er request providing necessary information, and that 
several delegations had made interventions expressing th eir interest in the matter. At that meeting he 
had proposed that Albania undertake consultations w ith Members and that the Council revert to this 
item at a following meeting.  He noted that Albani a had held consultations with interested Members 
since then, and that as a result of the consu ltations, Albania had presented to the Council a 
communication with a revised draft decision related to its waiver request, contained in document 
S/L/148/Rev.1.  
6. The representative of Albania  thanked the Secretariat for its  support with respect to his 
government's request for a waiver which would a llow Albania to postpone the implementation of 
some GATS commitments in telecommunications services until 1 January 2005. He stated that 
Albania had had experienced great difficulties in 1997-1998 and in the Kosovo War in 1999, which 
had had repercussions on Albania' s economy, and that consequently the implementation of some 
commitments with respect to economic reforms ha d been delayed. He further stated that his 
government had made great efforts to speed up these refo rms, and that it was in this general context of 
difficulty that his government had requested a waiver  in order to obtain an additional period of grace 
for the privatization of Albtelecom. Referring to arguments made by Minister Malaj in his letter 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. S/C/M/70 
Page 2  
 
addressed to the Director General and to recent facts regarding progressive  elimination of the 
exclusivity of Albtelecom, the representative of Alba nia noted that liberalization was an irreversible 
process from which the economy of his country would benefit. He emphasized that the expression "modification of commitments", which had been used in Minister Malaj's letter, did not aim to bring 
changes to Albania's commitments in telecommunica tions services, but meant a temporary freeze of 
the implementation of these commitments until 1 January 2005. Hoping Members could understand 
his government's request, he reiterated that hi s government was committed to continuing its 
liberalization reforms so as to integrate the country  into world trade. He specially thanked those 
delegations which had taken part in co nsultations for their valuable help. 
7. The representative of the United States
 stated that Albania had undertaken consultations with 
her delegation in accordance with the request made by her delegation at the last meeting of the 
Council. She further stated that, having heard the st atement made by the representative of Albania, her 
delegation was prepared to support the waiver on the grounds that Albania had outlined exceptional 
circumstances resulting from the Kosovo war and the di sruption that had taken place, and that Albania 
had been committed to fulfilling its GATS commitments by 1 January 2005. 
8. The Chairman  drew the Council's attention to the word s between the brackets in the preamble 
of the draft decision. Inviting Members to comment on them, he asked whether those words should be 
removed. 
9. The representative of the Philippines  stated that the position of his delegation was that the 
language between brackets referring to the Guiding Principles to be followed in considering 
applications for waivers adopted on 1 November 1956 (BISD 5S/25) should be retained and that the 
brackets removed. He further stated that his dele gation would be prepared to explain the rational 
behind this position if other Members so desired. He said, however, that his delegation would defer 
this explanation until requested in order to keep th e discussions brief. He had no intention of delaying 
the approval of Albania's waiver request to whic h he believed that each delegation present at the 
meeting would accord a favourable consideration. 
10. With regard to the text of the draft d ecision, the representative of the United States  suggested 
that the paragraph starting with "referring to the e xplanatory note..." make reference to the statements 
made by Albania at the meeting.  
11. The Chairman  proposed that the brackets in the prea mble of the draft decision be removed 
and that the paragraph mentioned above by the United States be modified as followed: " Referring to  
the explanatory note presented by Albania and circ ulated on 21 November 2003, and the statements 
made by the delegation of Albania to the Council for Trade in Services at its meetings held on 5 
December 2003 and 1 March 2004." 
12. The Council so agreed . 
13. The Chairman  stated that there was co nsensus in the Council to approve Albania's waiver 
request. He therefore proposed that the Council ta ke note of the statements made, conclude the 
examination of the request contained in document S/L/148/Rev.1, and move to the subject of the 
report to the General Council. 
14. The Council so decided . 
15. The Chairman  drew the Council's attention to paragr aph 3 of Article IX of the Marrakesh 
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organizati on. In accordance with this Article, the Council 
was to submit a report to the General Council at the end of the 90-day time period. He proposed that 
the Council adopt the draft report contained in document S/C/W/235, and recommend that the draft 
decision as revised along the lines agreed be forw arded to the General Council for adoption.   S/C/M/70 
 Page 3 
 
 
16. Recognizing that the Council had approved Albania' s waiver request, the representative of the 
Philippines  thanked Albania for having undertaken cons ultations with interested Members. He 
suggested that certain adjustments be made to th e draft report, which, he believed, would more 
accurately reflect the process leading to the adoption of the draft decision. He proposed that the first 
sentence in paragraph 1 of the draft report, c ontained in document S/C/W235, be rephrased as 
followed: "At its meeting held on 5 December 2003,  the Government of Albania presented to the 
Council for Trade in Services a request for a waiver, contained in document S/L/148, to allow Albania 
to postpone the implementation of certain commitm ents in telecommunications services." He also 
proposed that, in accordance with Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World 
Trade Organization, paragraph 3 of the draft report be  revised as followed: "After consideration of the 
request, the Council for Trade in Services at its m eeting held on 1 March 2004, decided to recommend 
that the draft decision as attached to this report be  forwarded to the General Council for adoption. ... " 
17. The representative of the United States  stated that her delegation fully supported the two 
changes suggested by the Philippines with regard  to paragraphs 1 and 3 of the draft report. 
18. The Chairman  proposed that the Council adopt the draft report as revised along the lines 
suggested by the Philippines.  
19. The Council so decided .  
20. The representative of th e European Communities  welcomed the decision made by the Council 
to forward the draft decision to the General Counc il. She thanked the delegation of Albania for the 
courtesy and tremendous understandi ng they had shown in the consultations with her delegation and 
other delegations in order to be able to reach an agreement. She reiterated what she had stated at the 
Council meeting held on 5 December 2003 that the waiver request had been based more on the 
situation in the region than on the question of privatization per se.  Congratulating Albania on the 
success of the consultations, she hoped the Gene ral Council would accept the recommendation made 
by the Council for Trade in Services with regard to the waiver request. 
21. The representative of Japan  stated that his delegation supported Albania's waiver request and 
agreed to the draft decision as well as the report. He said, however, that his delegation wished to bring 
up the economic aspect of the waiver. He noted that  the extension of the exclusivity of Albtelecom 
was connected to the number of fixed telephones and that the Government of Albania would increase 
this number from 220,000 to 450,000-500,000 by th e end of 2005. He further noted that in 
consultations with Albania, his delegation had requested Albania to provide information on the 
number of new fixed telephones which had been inst alled during 2003. The information his delegation 
had received was only 30,000. He thought that this  number was quite modest compared with the 
target which, he felt, was very ambitious. He stated that his delegation, at this juncture, would like to 
share the determination of Albania to fulfil its  commitments by the end of 2004 despite the 
difficulties.  
22. The representative of the United States  reiterated that her delega tion would go along with the 
decision to recommend the waiver for adoption by the General Council. She stated that her delegation,  
sharing the position expressed by the European Co mmunities, had supported this waiver not on the 
basis of economic rationale. She further stated that her delegation had been comforted by the 
willingness of Albania to take into account all the c oncerns raised in the consultations requested by 
interested Members. She said that her delegation was confident that Albania would be able to meet its 
commitments by 31 December 2004, and looked forward to hearing from Albania a status report on 
the progress in doing so. 
23. The Chairman  proposed that the Council take note of all the statements made. 
24. The Council so agreed .  S/C/M/70 
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25. The Chairman
 stated that he had committed before the General Council to  hold consultations 
with respect to the appointment of the new chairper sons of the subsidiary bodies of the Council. He 
said that for the purpose of consultations, he would make himself available in the following days for 
any delegation interested in holding a chairmanship. He further stated that consultations would be 
conducted in the spirit of openness, balance and tran sparency. Before he adjourned the meeting, the 
Chairman suggested that the Council take note of the statement made. 
26. The Council so agreed .  
 
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