RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/WPGR/M/15
27February 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-0819)
Working Party onGATS Rules
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF13FEBRUARY 1998
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Thefifteenth meeting oftheWorking Party onGATS Rules waschaired byMs.JillCourtney
ofAustralia. Theagenda forthemeeting wascontained inWTO/AIR/761. 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.
ITEM A: NEGOTIATIONS ONSAFEGUARDS UNDER ARTICLE XOFTHE GATS
2. TheChairperson noted thatsince themandate forthenegotiations onemergency safeguard
measures hadbeenextended untiltheendofJune1999, theWorking Party needed toconsider how
tostructure itswork inorder tousethetimeavailable mostproductively. Sherecalled thattheidea
ofawork programme hadcome upinprevious discussions andsuggested thatitmight bepossible
todesign suchaprogramme soastopreserve abalance between different views, including those
pertaining tothedesirability andfeasibility ofsafeguards. Thesuggestion received support from
delegations.
3. Onedelegationexpressedtheviewthatdesigningaworkprogrammedidnotnecessarilyprejudge
theoutcome ofthediscussions. Insuchawork programme other options, likescheduling safeguards
asopposed toasafeguard mechanism, should bediscussed, although ithadbeenargued thatitmight
notalways bepossible toforesee allcircumstances thatwarrant asafeguard measure. Several delegations
favoured awork programme consisting offurther discussion ofthequestions identified intheinformal
notedated 3June1997, where conceptual issues suchasinjury, causal link,andlikeness could also
betaken up.Afewdelegations saidthatitmaybeuseful tosettimelimits fortheexamination of
eachquestion, preserving some flexibility inviewofthecomplexity oftheissues. TheChairperson
saidthatshewould consult withdelegations regarding thestructure ofthework programme, which
would include abrainstorming session clearly focused onspecific issues.
4. Hong Kong, China, made asubmission on"Emergency Safeguard Measures: Awayforward
onthepossible principles" (circulated asS/WPGR/W/26). Inintroducing thesubmission, Hong Kong,
China indicated thatthepaper suggested possible guiding principles foranemergency safeguard
mechanism. Theprinciples hadbeenclassified intotwogroups, fourthatweregeneral andderived
fromother WTO agreements, andfivethatwereoperational. Delegations weregenerally inagreement
withmostoftheprinciples butsought clarification withregard tosome ofthem. Afewdelegations
saidthattheyhadnoobjections todiscussing broad principles, butemphasized alsotheneedtoaddress
therelevant conceptual andpractical issues. Onedelegation noted thattheprinciples needed toaddress
issues raised bythefourmodes ofsupply. Several delegations expressed theviewthattheoperational
principles could bedeveloped further. Onedelegation suggested thepossibility ofestablishing alink
between theduration ofsafeguard measures andtheperiod oftimethatthemodification ofascheduleS/WPGR/M/15
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might take. Theneed foramechanism tomonitor safeguard measures wasalsoraised. Afew
delegations saidthattheywould submit comments inwriting.
5. Interms ofareasofparallel work, onedelegation suggested thatthediscussions ofthefeasibility
ofsuch amechanism could beadvanced byfurther considering concepts such asunforeseen
circumstances, likeproducts, assessment ofinjury, andthedetermination ofcausality. Itwasalso
suggested thatsome ideaofthedesirability ofasafeguard provision could beobtained ifMembers
examined theirschedules ofspecific commitments toidentify situations where liberalization hadbeen
stalled bytheabsence ofasafeguard provision. Afewdelegations expressed reservations about the
usefulness ofthelatter approach.
ITEM B: NEGOTIATIONS ONSUBSIDIES UNDER ARTICLE XVOFTHE GATS
6. TheChairperson noted thattheinformation exchange mandated byArticle XVhadnotadvanced
significantly, andurged delegations toprovide responses soon since suchinformation would put
delegations inabetter position toproceed withsubstantive discussion. Sherecalled thatattheprevious
meeting, theneedtocontinue thetechnical analysis ofsubsidies related toservices wasexpressed.
TheSecretariat hadbeenrequested tocollect information onthesubject fromtheWTO Trade Policy
Reviews andother sources. Anotecontaining suchinformation hadbeencirculated asdocument
S/WPGR/W/25.
7. Mostdelegations thatspoke regarded thenoteasuseful, despite itsnecessarily partial coverage.
Thepreliminary identification oftypes ofsubsidies usedindifferent sectors insome countries was
regarded ashelpful; thenotealsoillustrated thedifficulty ofidentifying thefinalbeneficiaries of
subsidies inservices. Onedelegation wasoftheviewthatMembers needed toidentify theobjective
ofthecurrent negotiations before trying toadvance anydiscussion ondisciplines. Another delegation
saidthatdueaccount should betaken ofthedevelopmental rolesubsidies hadplayed incertain countries,
particularly inareas which theprivate sector didnotfindprofitable.
8. Anumber ofdelegations indicated thattheyhaddifficulty inresponding tothequestionnaire
because itsdefinition ofsubsidies wastoowide. Theneedwasexpressed fordetailed discussion on
thescope of,andthereasons for,government involvement intheservices sector. Itwasalsonecessary
tocarry outmore analysis oftheimpact ofsubsidies onservices trade, withaviewtoidentifying trade-
distortive subsidies onwhich aworking definition should focus. Onedelegation suggested thatMembers
should come upwiththeirowndefinition ofsubsidies forthepurpose ofthequestionnaire which, in
turn, would assist theWorking Group indeveloping aworking definition more focused ontrade
distortion. TheChairperson offered toprepare anoteidentifying questions toassist Members in
addressing theconceptual issues involved. TheWorking Group agreed tothisproposal.
ITEM C: NEGOTIATIONS ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT UNDER ARTICLE XIII
OFTHE GATS
9. TheChairperson noted thattheinformation gathering exercise onnational procurement regimes
hadprovided thebasis foradiscussion ofpossible multilateral disciplines which hadalready begun.
Sherecalled thatsome delegations hadsuggested thatwork should focus initially onthedefinition of
governmentprocurementandtheprincipleofnon-discrimination.ItwasalsosuggestedthattheWorking
Party should consider howbesttocoordinate work between different foradealing withGovernment
Procurement intheWTO toavoid duplication ofwork orfragmentation ofresources.S/WPGR/M/15
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10. TheEuropean Communities made awritten contribution dealing withdefinitional issues relevant
toservicesprocurement.Inintroducingthesubmission,therepresentativeoftheEuropeanCommunities
indicatedthatthepurposewastoassistthediscussiononaworkingdefinitionofgovernmentprocurement
byaddressing three questions: whattransactions constitute procurement, whoistheprocuring entity,
andwhatisbeing procured? Delegations welcomed thesubmission. Several reiterated theneedfor
aworking definition inviewofthemultiplicity ofdefinitions ofgovernment procurement thathadbeen
identified inthereplies tothequestionnaire.
11. Onedelegation suggested thatpriority should begiven toareaswhere duplication withthework
oftheWorking Group onTransparency inGovernment Procurement wasleastlikely, namely, theissue
ofnon-discrimination and,particularly, thenational treatment principle. Onedelegation noted that
traderulesongovernment procurement needed togobeyond national treatment andensure transparency.
Some delegations supported theviewthatthework oftheWorking Party should addvalue totherules
thatalready existed andthose thatwere being developed inother fora. TheChairperson indicated
thatshewould continue consultations ontheprocedural issues ofcoordination ofwork, andagreed
withtheviewthatwork inother forashould bebeneficial for,rather thanaconstraint on,progress
ofnegotiations within theWorking Party.
ITEM D: DATE OFTHE NEXT MEETING
12. Itwasagreed thattheWorking Party would meetnextonMonday, 27April 1998.
ITEM E: OTHER BUSINESS
13. Nomatters were raised under other business.