. /. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/WPGR/M/46 
1 April 2004 
 
 (04-1484) 
Working Party on GATS Rules  
  
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 10 AND 15 MARCH 2004 
 
 
1. The Working Party on GATS Rules held, under th e chairmanship of Mr. Santiago Urbina 
from Nicaragua, a special meeting to discuss the dead line for negotiations pursuant to Article X of the 
GATS.  The agenda for the meeting was containe d in WTO/AIR/2258.  The agenda for the meeting 
was adopted
.   
I. NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SAFEGUARD MEASURES UNDER    
ARTICLE X OF THE GATS: DEADLINE FOR NEGOTIATIONS 
A. SESSION OF 10 MARCH 2004 
2. The Chairperson  informed delegations that he had been conducting consultations with the 
main protagonists regarding whether negotiations  pursuant to Article X should be extended beyond 
15 March 2004, and on what terms.  He noted that  these consultations had not yet permitted reaching 
a consensus.  The Chairperson then  proposed that the meeting be continued in informal mode.  The 
formal meeting was adjourned  and the Chairperson indicated it woul d be reconvened at a later time.   
B. SESSION OF 15 MARCH 2004 
3. The Chairperson  resumed the meeting of the Working Party.  He first drew attention to the  
terrorist attacks in Madrid on 11 March and condemn ed such abominable acts.  To show solidarity 
with the families of the victims and with the peop le of Spain, the Chairperson asked the Working 
Party to hold a minute of silence.  The representative of Spain  thanked the Chairperson and the 
Working Party for sharing condolences and for expressing support.   
4. The Chairperson  informed delegations that he had c onducted extensive consultations since the 
session of 10 March so as to help reach a solution w ith regard to an extens ion of negotia tions under 
Article X of the GATS.  He expressed gratitude to  those delegations who ha d expressed flexibility, as 
this had allowed him, in the c onsultations, to focus on resolving the major points of difference.  
Although not all positions could be acc ommodated in full, the draft decision which he had circulated 
under his responsibility in JOB(04)/9 represented a ba lanced outcome.  He hoped delegations could 
accept it, along with some modifications resulti ng from consultations recently held.  These 
modifications only concerned paragr aph 2 of the draft decision, which would now read:  "Subject to 
the outcome of the mandate under paragraph 1, as requ ired, the results of such negotiations shall enter 
into effect on a date not later than the date of en try into force of the results of the current round of 
services negotiations".  The Chairperson indicated th at this draft decision seemed to be gathering 
consensus.  He stressed that in  this process all protagonists had to make difficult concessions.  He 
asked if the Working Party could agree on the content of such a decision.   
5. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation was ready to show further 
flexibility and proposed to drop the reference in the draft decision to the terms "as required", which 
her delegation had previously insisted on.  The representative of the Philippines  asked for a short S/WPGR/M/46 
Page 2  
 
 recess so as to better assess that pr oposal.  The representative of Pakistan
 wished to have some time to 
consult with his authorities and thus lent  support.  The representative of Colombia  wanted to bring to 
the attention of the Working Party that the Spanish translation of the text of the draft decision did not seem entirely accurate.   
6. The Chairperson
 noted that the draft decision, which only had a few words in brackets, had 
been circulated the previous week so as to enable delegations to re ceive proper instructions from their 
authorities for today's meeting.  Regarding the Span ish translation of the decision, he thanked the 
representative of Colombia for her comments and said he was confident that the Spanish version of 
any decision adopted would accurately reflect the or iginal text.  The Chairperson proposed a short 
recess, to which the Working Party agreed.   
7. In resuming the session, the Chairperson  asked if the Working Part y was ready to agree on the 
text of the draft decision mentioned earlier, along with the modification proposed by the United States.  The representative of Pakistan
 informed the Working Party that  he was now ready to agree to 
the proposed draft decision.   
8. The representative of the Philippines  said that what he was agreeing to at this point was for 
the draft decision to be transmitted to the Coun cil for Trade in Services for approval.  The 
Chairperson  confirmed that the authority to adopt the decision rested with the Council for Trade in 
Services.  He was seeking agreement of the Work ing Party to send this particular decision for 
adoption to the Council for Trade in Services.   
9. The Working Party agreed  to send the draft decision, as modi fied, to the Council for Trade in 
Services for approval.   
 
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