WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/16 
7 July 2004 
 
 (04-2925) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES 
 
Report by the Chairman to th e Trade Negotiations Committee  
 
 
 The Council for Trade in Services in Special  Session met on 28 June  and 2 July 2004.  
 
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. With respect to the Assessment for Trade in  Services the Council agreed to invite a 
representative of the OECD to its next formal meet ing in order to give Members an opportunity to 
pose supplementary questions on a study entitled, "Services Trade Liberalisation:  Identifying 
Opportunities and Gains" and presented by the OECD last April. 
2. Under the item Proposals Relating to the Nego tiations under Article XIX of the GATS, the 
Council held preliminary and substantive discussi ons on the basis of a formal communication on 
logistics services from Australia, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Switzerland, 
Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, Chin a.  Seventeen Members interven ed, with many underlining the 
benefits that could accrue to both develope d and developing country Members from increased 
liberalization of these services.  Possible compleme ntarities with work on multimodal and maritime 
transport services were noted by several Member s.  Generally, Members expressed interest in 
continuing discussion on this proposal, although a few Members noted a reservation with respect to 
some of the services contained in a freight logistics checklist annexed to the pr oposal and the scope of 
the GATS.  Preliminary discussion was held on an in formal joint statement made by Chile, India and 
Mexico on the Liberalization of Mode 1 under GAT S Negotiations.  While many Members expressed 
an interest in continuing discussion on mode 1, a number of delegations reite rated the importance of 
pursuing negotiations on all four mode s of supply.  Lastly, the Council reverted to an earlier proposal 
on the Liberalization of Mode 4 under GATS fro m a group of 15 developing countries.  The 
delegation of India made a few practical suggest ions to help organize and move the Council's 
discussion forward on this issue.  The Council agreed to begin a discussion on these suggestions at a future informal meeting.  In addition, the Counc il agreed to have circulated an UNCTAD report and 
joint World Bank-IOM-OECD report on Mode 4 and to invite representatives of these organisations 
to present their reports at the next meeting.  
3. Under the item of the Review of Progress in Nego tiations, Including Pursua nt to Paragraph 15 
of the Guidelines for Negotiations, one  delegation, referring to  an earlier proposal to review the extent 
to which commercially meaningful commitments have been offered to developing countries, 
presented orally a detailed analysis of the quality of  proposed mode 4 commitments in the first forty 
initial offers. 
4. Ministers at Doha agreed that initial offers we re to be submitted by 31 March 2003.  To date, 
44 offers have been received (counting the Eur opean Communities as one).  This represents 65 
Members who have submitted an o ffer, with the most recent be ing Brazil on 28 June 2004.  Apart TN/S/16 
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 from least-developed country Members, some 52 Member s have yet to submit an initial offer.  In my 
view, this is cause for serious concern. 
5. In a previous report I informed the Trade Nego tiations Committee of my intention to engage 
in "confessional" bilateral consultations with those Members that have not tabled an initial offer in 
order to ascertain the reasons for delays and to determine if any technical assistance could be 
provided.  With the exception of two Members that I plan to meet with soon, I have held such 
consultations with all of the concerned Member s that have representation in Geneva and have 
contacted non-resident Members.  Several of those Members that I have consu lted with have indicated 
their ability and willingness to submit their initial offe rs before the end of July, while other Members 
have indicated they will require more time.  Th ese meetings have been conducted in a positive 
atmosphere and have provi ded me with a fuller understanding of the political and technical difficulties 
being faced.  These difficulties include, among othe rs, the technical complexities involved in 
preparing an offer, the necessary domestic coor dination process involving government departments 
and other stakeholders, the overw helming effect of voluminous re quests, and the dampening of 
progress resulting from the missed deadlines a nd the Cancún Ministerial meeting.   
II. FUTURE WORK 
6. In considering the way forward, we should b ear in mind the "negotiating architecture" to 
which Members have agreed for the services negotia tions.  In accordance with GATS Article XIX, 
Members have adopted Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiations on Trade in Services, the 
Modalities for the Treatment of Autonomous Libe ralization and the Modalities for the Special 
Treatment for Least-Developed Countries.  These instruments continue to guide and provide the main 
direction for the negotiations. They, inter alia , reaffirm that the negotiations aim to achieve 
progressively higher levels of libera lization, require Members to give special attention to sectors and 
modes of supply of export interest to developing countries, and recognize the right of Members to regulate and to introduce new regulations.  In add ition, Members remain committed to intensifying 
their efforts to conclude the negotiations on ru le-making.  Several Members have stressed the 
importance of maintaining a balance between ne gotiations on rules and negotiations on specific 
commitments.  Members also acknowledge that full e ngagement by all participants is of the utmost 
importance for the success of the negotiations.   
7. As I have reported to the Trade Negotiations  Committee on previous occasions, the quality of 
the offers is generally modest and several Memb ers have expressed disappointment in this regard. 
8. Members agree that an important  future step in the negotiations will be the submission of 
revised offers.  A decision on the date for revised offe rs  will need to take into account the particular 
nature of the services negotiations which rely main ly on the request-offer approach.  Advancing this 
process towards a successful conc lusion may require successive rounds of revisions that would 
consolidate the results of bilateral negotiations as well as work undertaken by Members on technical 
issues.  Several Members have indicated that the da te for the submission of revised offers should be 
three to four months prior to the Sixth Ministerial Meeting.  At present, however, Members have not 
found it feasible to recommend a specific date for the submission of revised offers.  The discussion of 
a date for the submission of revised offers has been  hampered by the uncertain ty about other key dates 
relating to the DDA negotiations, including the date of  the Sixth Ministerial Meeting.  A date for the 
submission of revised offers must however be set, and several Members have expressed the view that this date needs to be decided by the Trade Negotia tions Committee as part of the expected outcome in 
July 2004.  
9. Members of the Special Session of the Council fo r Trade in Services should review all aspects 
of the negotiations in advance of the next Minist erial Meeting in order to provide a full report, 
including any possible recommendations, to the Trade Negotiations Committee.  TN/S/16 
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 10. Consequently, I am pleased to report that the Special Session of the Council for Trade in 
Services has agreed to pursue further progress in the services negotiations on the basis of the attached 
recommendations, and I propose that the Trade Ne gotiations Committee endorse them to guide the 
upcoming phase of the services negotiations. TN/S/16 
Page 4  
 
  
Recommendations of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services 
 
to the Trade Negotiations Committee  
  
 The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services has agreed to pursue further progress 
in the services negotiations on the basis of the following  recommendations: 
  
(a) Members who have not yet submitted their initial offers must do so as soon as 
possible. 
(b) A date for the submission of a round of re vised offers should be established as soon 
as feasible.  
(c) With a view to providing effective mark et access to all Members and in order to 
ensure a substantive outcome, Members shall strive to ensure a high quality of offers, 
particularly in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to developing countries, 
with special attention to be given to least-developed countries. 
(d) Members shall aim to achieve progressively higher levels of liberalization with no 
a priori exclusion of any service sector or mode of supply and shall give special attention to sectors and modes of supply of ex port interest to developing countries.  
Members note the interest of developing countries, as well as other Members, in 
Mode 4. 
(e) Members must intensify their efforts to conclude the negotia tions on rule-making 
under GATS Articles VI:4, X, XIII and XV in accordance with their respective 
mandates and deadlines.   
(f) Targeted technical assistance should be provided with a view to enabling developing 
countries to participate effectively in the negotiations.   
(g) For the purpose of the Sixth Ministerial meeting, the Special Session of the Council 
for Trade in Services shall review progress in these negotiations and provide a full 
report to the Trade Negotiations Committ ee, including possible recommendations. 
 
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