RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/CSC/W/8
10October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4452)
Committee onSpecific Commitments
CALENDAR AND BUDGET ASPECTS OFTHE CREATION OFAGGREGATED
AND ELECTRONICALLY UPDATED SCHEDULES FOR SERVICES
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Following thediscussion heldatthemeeting of16June1997 oftheCommittee onSpecific
Commitments andtheendorsement byMembers oftheSecretariat proposal ofthecompilation of
aggregated andelectronically updated schedules forservices without legalvalue, theSecretariat has
examined indetail thepossible calendar andthebudgetary implications ofthisproposal. Indeciding
whether togoahead withthisproject theCommittee should beaware ofthefollowing points:
I. BUDGET AND CALENDAR
2. Asstated inparagraph 10ofdocument S/CSC/W/5, thedataentry andchecking would require
sixman-months ofG2level consultancy (temporary personnel), aswasthecasefortheelaboration
oftheservices database. Therefore theinitiation oftheproject in1998 issubject totheavailability
offunds fortemporary personnel, which areexpected toremain stable in1998 ascompared to1997.
3. Ifthisdifficulty issolved, itissuggested thatthework willbegin in1998 butwillonlybe
completed in1999: thefuture results ofthefinancial services negotiations willonlyhavebeenratified,
hopefully bytheendof1998 (depending onthedatetobefixed bytheFifth Protocol) andcanonly
beaggregated afterratification, thatisprobably inJanuary-February 1999. There would beapossibility
toproduce afirstversion oftheaggregated schedules, without thefinancial services results, inJune-
September 1998, butthiswould mean theprinting anddispatching ofaround 625,000 pages (2sets
of2,500 pages sentto131delegations), thatwould beoutofdatesixmonths laterandwould have
tobereprinted. Itistherefore suggested thatifwork canbegin in1998, itshould becompleted by
February-March 1999 andinclude thefinancial services negotiations results.
4. Ifnofunds areavailable fortemporary personnel in1998, completion ofthework would be
delayed untiltheendof1999.
II. FORMAT, CIRCULATION, AND PRICES
5. Asstated inparagraphs 6and7ofdocument S/CSC/W/5 theformat ofthecompilation would
havetoinclude anadditional column toindicate thedateofthecommitments. Additionally thematerial
presentation ofthefootnotes would slightly differ from thetreaty copies. Ineffect thematerial used
toelaborate thecompilation comes fromtheservices database. Databases arestructurally unable to
accommodate footnotes astheyarestructured horizontally byfields. Therefore itissuggested that
footnotes would appear alsoinacolumn, butthatthiscolumn would betypographically distinct from
theschedules, would bearthename "footnotes" andthattheCommittee willacknowledge initsminutes
thatthispresentation inacolumn-form doesnothavetheeffect ofincluding thefootnotes intheschedule
itself. Members willfindannexed tothepresent document adraftformat fordiscussion.
./.S/CSC/W/8
Page2
6. Itissuggestedtopresentthesetofcompiledschedulesintheformoftwofoldersandtodistribute
freely twosetstoeachdelegation, andthatadditional copies should besoldtodelegations ataprice
similar toVolumes 28,29,30and32oftheUruguay Round results (thatisintotalSwF205).
7. Itisalsosuggested tooffer thecompilations forsaletothegeneral public asalldocuments
forming partofthem arederestricted andalready available. Thiswould alleviate thecostperunit
ofthefolders andwould create additional receipts fortheOrganization.
8. Based onthose parameters theadditional costsintheprinting budget havebeenestimated for
1000 copies ofasingle language version of2,500 pages including thepurchase ofthefolders to
SwF27,000 forin-house printing andtoSwF40,000 foroutside printing.
9. Asfarastheelectronic formoftheschedules isconcerned theestimated costwould lieinthe
region ofSwF20,000 if400copies wereproduced forfreedistribution. Sales ofadditional copies
would reduce thenetcost.
III. VERIFICATION PROCEDURE
10. Asproposed inparagraph 12ofdocument S/CSC/W/5 itissuggested toadopt thefollowing
procedure:
- TheSecretariat would produce afirstdraftofanaggregated schedule;
- Thisdraft would besenttothedelegation concerned forapproval orifneed be
modification;
- Failingcommentswithinsixtydaysbythedelegationconcernedtheaggregatedschedule
would becirculated toalldelegations. AnyMember mayatanytimeraise inthe
Committee questions concerning theaccuracy oftheaggregation.