WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/9
27 October 2000
(00-4486)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  Spanish
COMMUNICATION FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,
EL SALVADOR AND HONDURAS
Replies to the Comments on the Proposed Annex on Tourism
The attached communication has been received from the delegations of the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador and Honduras with the request that it be circulated to Members of the Council
for Trade in Services.
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We thank the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea and the many other
Members of the WTO which have commented on the proposed Annex on Tourism (S/C/W/127),
some of them in detail.  The most noticeable feature of the comments made, is the wide support forthe consideration of tourism in this Council from an overall perspective, in view of its importance for
every country in terms of job creation, the contribution made by foreign currency to the balance-of-
payments and the share of the gross domestic product.
This gives us hope that, at the end of the negotiations, we may reach a solution that is
sufficiently comprehensive to resolve the difficulties which are preventing the liberalization of
tourism from meeting sustainable development needs through effective access to markets.
The enthusiastic support of the World Tourism Organization (WTO/OMT) and the World
Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) constitutes an important complement to the highly positive
attitude to our proposal in this Council.
Below we respond to the comments made following the same sequence as the sections in our
proposal.
Section 3 – Competitive safeguards
The vast majority of delegations expressed a positive opinion regarding the competitive
safeguards in the proposal, in particular, their close relationship to the precedent established by the
additional commitments on basic telecommunications through the regulatory document.  Other
delegations wished to look more closely at whether these safeguards should complement the specific
commitments on tourism.  Others did not consider that this part of the proposal was important.
In the opinion of our delegations, if the development of tourism is to be sustainable, there
must be additional disciplines to overcome the obstacles to trade in tourism caused by anti-
competitive practices in network services.  These obstacles have a significant impact on international
tourism and can be seen in transport and touris m distribution systems (i.e. travel agencies, tour
operators, wholesale tour operators, computerized reservation systems and global distribution
systems).S/CSS/W/9
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Several delegations have underscored the fact that tourism is the sector with the highest level
of binding in the GATS.  It is paradoxical that this high level of binding co-exists alongside a
bewildering series of mergers and take-overs of tour operators and airlines.  Such a process places
tourist destinations at the mercy of abuse of a dominant position, without being able to count on anyinternationally binding mechanism to counter its ef fects.  This is why international cooperation
mechanisms to ensure a pro-competitive environment in this sector as whole need to be developed;
this cannot be achieved through more specific commitments but through the adoption of new
disciplines applicable to the whole cluster of tourism industries.  This was noted by the expert meeting
organized by UNCTAD in June 1998, as can be s een in document S/C/W/149, which we shall submit
for the assessment of trade in services.  At th e latest UNCTAD meeting of experts on electronic
commerce and tourism further concrete cases were put forward to underline this problem.  This is whycompetition safeguards applicable to the cluster of tourism industries are being proposed.  It is a
sectoral solution closely based on the precedent set by basic telecommunications.
Resolving this problem through additional disciplines applicable to the cluster of tourism
industries is the condition for achieving the objectives referred to in Article IV of the GATS inrelation to market access already given to foreign suppliers of tourism services.  We should remember
that Article IV seeks increased participation by developing countries in international trade in services
through negotiated specific commitments that give them better access to distribution channels and
information networks.  To date, no Member of the WTO has presented any evidence to show
compliance with these provisions.
Nevertheless, it must be made clear that it is not our intention to encourage indirectly
negotiations on air traffic rights (hard rights).  This is a decision that will have to be considered in the
appropriate forum.
Section 4 – Consumer safeguards
Only a few delegations have commented on this section.  Almost without exception, there
appears to be a degree of uncertainty concerning the need for such provisions in the proposal.  The
arguments put forward should continue to be examined and reconsidered in the future.
Section 5 – Access to and use of information
Some delegations consider that this section contains aspects that should be discussed in the
Committee on Domestic Regulation.  Others consider that the terms used need to be defined.
Members are aware of the position of our delegations on referral of issues for negotiation to
subsidiary bodies.  In this case, it is our view that such a decision is not appropriate because the
Council for Trade in Services in Special Sessio n is the only body mandated by the General Council to
negotiate on services.  Consequently, our decision on this section should emerge from the discussions
to be pursued in this Council.
The objective of this section is to obtain a commitment with reliable information and access
to information based on transparent, reasonable, objective and non-discriminatory criteria.  We do not
see how these minimum objectives could lead to controversy because they are consistent with the
Codes of Conduct voluntarily adopted by a large number of Members of the WTO, particularly as
they are essential to meet the objectives of Article IV regarding access to information networks.
Some delegations also considered that the question of computerized reservation systems
should be dealt with in the context of the review  of the Annex on Air Transport.  It should be
emphasized once again that the intention underlying our proposal is not to question indirectly theS/CSS/W/9
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decision adopted in this Annex, but to achieve a minimum regulatory commitment that will allow us
to comply with Article IV in the case of tourism.
The aspects related to the definitions could be considered in a future version of the proposal.
Section 6 – Air transport, ancillary services and security measures
Regarding this section, we repeat the comments made relating to Sections 3 and 5.
Section 7 – Cooperation for sustainable development of tourism
This section closely follows the agreed provisions in Section 6 of the Annex on Basic
Telecommunications.
Several delegations have expressed their appreciation of the proposed wording on cooperation
for the sustainable development of tourism.  Other delegations have found difficulties with the
references to the supply of information on technology or cooperation to ensure compliance withinternationally agreed standards.  Unlike Secti on 6 of the Annex on Basic Telecommunications, our
proposal is simply aimed at cooperation for the regulation and competitive and sustainable
development of tourism;  in other words, instead of proposing the transfer of technology, information
is sought on how to ensure that the sector functions in a pro-competitive way.
Concerning internationally agreed standards, it is understood that compliance with such
standards is a growing demand on the part of tourists visiting any country.  A commitment binding on
all the Members of the WTO and cooperation in applying such standards could be an important
element in the sustainable development of international tourism.  In this respect, the European Union's
document proposes a possible link between this cooperation objective and access to high-qualityenvironmental services and it should be developed more fully so as to facilitate its consideration by all
the Members of this Council.
Section 8 – Relationship to other international organizations
This section is also an adaptation of the agreed provisions in Section 7 of the Annex on Basic
Telecommunications.
Just as international standards are needed to ensure that networks can function together, they
are equally necessary for the sustainable development of tourism, in particular in relation to its
economic, environmental and quality aspects.
Just as cooperation among intergovernmental organizations is important for the efficient
functioning of telecommunications, cooperation for the safe and efficient functioning of all activities
in the tourism industry cluster is even more important.
To summarize, the reference to the role of thes e international institutions in these essential
aspects of cooperation so that our proposal can be implemented effectively is a recognition of the
importance that this work will continue to have in the future once we have overcome the problem of
the inadequate treatment of tourism in the GATS.S/CSS/W/9
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Appendix
A large number of delegations have expressed concern at the extensive sectoral coverage in
the Appendix in our proposal, which includes "characteristic sectors" and "related sectors" for
tourism, which make up what we propose as the "tourism industries cluster".
At other meetings, we have indicated that this wide coverage reflects a prior definition in the
Tourism Satellite Account, which was agreed at the International Conference held in Nice in
June 1999.  Subsequently, in March 2000, in the United Nations Statistical Commission in New York,
a definition of the satellite account was agreed which reflects the global consensus and is limited to
the "characteristic" sectors.  A future version of the Appendix to our proposal will reflect this new
consensus definition of the satellite account.
Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that some delegations have shown an interest in using
the idea of the cluster as a checklist for the deve lopment of specific commitments.  We consider that
such use is appropriate and our delegations will take it into account when seeking commitments on
tourism and other sectors of interest.
Nevertheless, the nature of our proposal for a tourism annex is distinct from the specific
commitments.  Our proposal seeks the adoption of new disciplines that will allow the problems which
persist despite the widespread liberalization of tourism to be overcome.  Achieving the objective of
sustainable development of tourism using these new disciplines means that they must apply to thewhole cluster of tourism industries and not only to some industries or sectors.  The use of the cluster
for regulatory purposes, in this particular case, is not the same as that which is being proposed for the
specific commitments.
Other comments
It has been suggested that the proposal be complemented by the elaboration of a model list of
specific commitments for one part of the sector, for example, hotels and accommodation.  We
consider that this is a positive proposal and are at the disposal of the Member in question to prepare
this list.  We consider, however, that it would be interesting also to develop a model list for the
tourism cluster as a whole, based on an analysis of the barriers that continue to be applied.
Nonetheless, this is an idea applicable to other se ctors of interest with a view to complying with the
provisions of Articles IV and XIX, for example, maritime transport.
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