RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/C/W/31
17November 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5065)
Council forTrade inServices
COUNCIL FOR TRADE INSERVICES
Draft Report totheGeneral Council onActivities During 1997
1. TheCouncil forTrade inServices hasheldfivemeetings during 1997. Reports onthemeetings
arecontainedindocumentsS/C/M/17-21andshouldbereadinconjunctionwiththisreport.TheCouncil
addressed thefollowing matters:
I. THE IMPLEMENTATION OFTHE WORK PROGRAMME APPROVED ATTHE
SINGAPORE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
2. AttheMinisterial conference inSingapore, Ministers endorsed therecommendations ofthe
Council forTrade inServices concerning itsfuture work. Therecommendations contained threeitems:
(i)exchange ofinformation programme; (ii)Article VI:4work programme; and(iii)guidelines for
thefuture negotiations mandated byArticle XIXoftheGATS.
(i) Exchange ofInformation Programme
3. Ministers agreed thattheCouncil forTrade inServices should develop aninformation exchange
programme, aspartoftherequisite work tofacilitate thenegotiation ofprogressive liberalization of
trade inservices asmandated inArticle XIXoftheGATS. Indiscussing thisitemitwasnoted that
theexchange ofinformation might takeplace atthreelevels. Thefirstlevelwould involve anexchange
ofthesources ofinformation onservices regulations available atthenational level, which might include
thedesignation ofagencies, regulatory authorities orother sources capable ofproviding thistypeof
information. Atthesecond level, Members might wishtoexchange information bilaterally, possibly
intheform ofquestions andanswers which could thenbecirculated bytheSecretariat ifsoagreed.
Thethirdlevelwould involve amore comprehensive exchange ofinformation atthemultilateral level
which could bebased onastandardized format.
4. TheCouncil agreed tomake useofinformation already gathered bytheSecretariat aswell
asinformation available inother international organizations, inorder toavoid duplication ofefforts.
Regarding thecoverage oftheexchange ofinformation programme, some delegations suggested that
itshould becomprehensive withnoexclusion ofservices sectors. Other delegations, although agreed
thatinprinciple nosector should beexcluded, noted thatitmight bedesirable toconcentrate onthose
sectors which were more likely candidates forliberalization inthenextround ofnegotiations.
5. Atitsmeeting of25July1997 theCouncil requested theSecretariat toprepare twopapers
on"TrendsinServicesTradeFlows"andon"TheBenefitsofDeregulationandLiberalizationofServices
Markets", which would constitute thebasis forfurther work ontheexchange ofinformation.S/C/W/31
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(ii) Article VI:4Work Programme
6. TheCouncil iscalled upon toexamine, asappropriate, under paragraph 4ofArticle VIof
theGATS measures relating toqualification requirements andprocedures, technical standards, and
licensing requirements. Discussions intheCouncil revealed aclear preference onthepartofmost
delegations tostartwork onthisitemaftertheconclusion ofthedevelopment ofmultilateral disciplines
intheaccountancy sector intheWorking Party inProfessional Services. Several delegations took
theview thattheresults ofthatwork would provide valuable guidance forfuture work under
Article VI:4.
(iii) Guidelines andProcedures forFuture Negotiations
7. TheCouncil iscalled upon tobegin, atanappropriate time, theconsideration ofguidelines
andprocedures forfuture negotiations mandated under Article XIXoftheGATS. Most delegations
agreed that,although itwould benecessary toundertake work inthisarea, itwasstillpremature to
startsuchwork atthisstage. Itwasnoted thatthere wasarelationship between theexchange of
information programme andtheguidelines andprocedures fornegotiations. Several delegations took
theviewthatwork ontheguidelines should follow theexchange ofinformation exercise which would
provide thenecessary background.
II. CONCLUSION OFTHE NEGOTIATIONS ONBASIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS
8. Atitsmeeting of5March 1997 theCouncil tooknoteoftheReport oftheGroup onBasic
Telecommunications, contained indocument S/GBT/4 andofitsattachments: aNotebytheChairman
concerning thescheduling ofbasic telecommunications services commitments, another Note bythe
Chairman concerning market access limitations onspectrum availability andaListoftheSchedules
ofCommitments andLists ofMFN Exemptions which would beannexed totheFourth Protocol to
theGATS. Atitsmeeting of15April, following anexercise oftechnical verification, theCouncil
tooknoteoftheSchedules contained intheCompilation dated 11April 1997, theSchedules ofthe
European Communities (inthethreelanguages), theSchedule ofColombia, theSchedule ofDominica
andtheSchedule andMFN Exemption ListofAntigua andBarbuda, asthefinal results ofthe
negotiations onbasic telecommunications.
III. PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OFACOMMITTEE ONTELECOMMUNICATIONS
9. Atthemeeting of5March 1997, therepresentative oftheUnited States proposed thata
committeeontelecommunicationbeestablishedtoprovideaforumforthediscussionofspecifictechnical
issues, including those regarding thepro-competitive regulatory principles oftheReference Paper.
Itwasmade clear thatitwould notbeconcerned withtheimplementation oftheschedules, which
remained ataskfortheCouncil forTrade inServices. Atthemeeting of25July1997theUnited States
introduced aninformal paper dated 24July1997containing draftterms ofreference fortheproposed
Committee ontelecommunications.
10. Some delegations agreed withtheproposal andsaidthatthere wasmerit inestablishing a
committee ontelecommunications todealwithtechnical issues relating totheregulation ofthesector.
Other delegations, however, didnotseetheneedforsuchacommittee, sincetheWTO already offered
appropriate foratodiscuss issues affecting telecommunications services, namely theServices Council
andtheCommittee onSpecific Commitments. TheCouncil agreed torevert tothisitemafterthecoming
intoforce oftheFourth Protocol, when itwould bepossible toassess whether thevolume ofwork
andthetechnical complexity oftheissues warranted thecreation ofaseparate telecommunications
committee.S/C/W/31
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IV. NOTIFICATIONS MADE TOTHE COUNCIL PURSUANT TOGATS PROVISIONS
11. Atitsmeeting of5March 1997, theCouncil tooknoteofthefollowing Notifications:
(i) Notifications pursuant toArticle III:3oftheGATS concerning modifications toservices
regulations insectors where specific commitments hadbeenundertaken:
Czech Republic S/C/N/39
Liechtenstein S/C/N/40
Liechtenstein S/C/N/41
Liechtenstein S/C/N/42
Federal Republic ofGermany S/C/N/48
Federal Republic ofGermany S/C/N/49
Federal Republic ofGermany S/C/N/50
(ii) Notifications pursuant toArticle V(bis)oftheGATS concerning labour market
integration agreements:
Denmark S/C/N/34
Iceland S/C/N/35
Norway S/C/N/36
Sweden S/C/N/37
Finland S/C/N/38
(iii) Notifications pursuant toArticle VII:4 oftheGATS concerning recognition measures
andagreements orarrangements:
Switzerland S/C/N/31
Switzerland S/C/N/32
Switzerland S/C/N/33
United States ofAmerica S/C/N/51
United States ofAmerica S/C/N/52
United States ofAmerica S/C/N/53
12. Atitsmeeting of26November 1997, theCouncil tooknoteofthefollowing Notifications
pursuant toArticle V(7)concerning Economic Integration Agreements:
European Communities andtheir
Member States andBulgaria S/C/N/55
Canada andChile S/C/N/65
Australia andNewZealand S/C/N/66
V. DEADLINE FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS ONFINANCIAL SERVICES
13. Atitsmeeting of29April 1997theCommittee onTrade inFinancial Services recommended
thattheCouncil adopt aDecision toconclude thefinancial services negotiations on12December 1997
instead of30December 1997. Atitsmeeting of29MaytheCouncil adopted theDecision, which
iscontained indocument S/L/39.S/C/W/31
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VI. GUIDELINES FOR MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTS INACCOUNTANCY
14. Atitsmeeting of15May1997, theWorking Party onProfessional Services recommended
thattheCouncil approve Guidelines fortheRecognition ofQualifications intheaccountancy sector
ascontained indocument S/WPPS/W/12/Rev.1. Atitsmeeting of29MaytheCouncil approved the
Guidelines asrecommended bytheWorking Party inaDecision contained indocument S/L/38.
VII. EXTENSION OFTHE DEADLINE FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS ONEMERGENCY
SAFEGUARD MEASURES
[15. Upon recommendation fromtheChairperson oftheWorking Party onGATS Rules, theCouncil
adoptedon26November1997adecision(S/L/..)toextendthenegotiationsonthequestionofemergency
safeguard measures until30June1999 ].
VIII. WORK OFSUBSIDIARY BODIES
16. [Reports ofsubsidiary bodies willbeannexed tothisreport: S/FIN/3, S/CSC/2, S/WPGR/2
andS/WPPS/2].