RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/W/251 
23 November 2004 
 
 (04-5088) 
Council for Trade in Services Original:   Spanish 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM MEXICO 
 
Review of GATS Article II Exemptions – Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment (MFN)
 
Questionnaire on the List of MFN Exempti ons, documents JOB(04)/114 and JOB(04)/115  
 
 
 The following communication from the delega tion of Mexico, dated 15 November 2005, is 
circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in Services.  
_______________ 
 
 1. Further to the report of the meeting of the Council for Trade in Services held on 
5 October 2000 and the proposal made at that meeting,  Mexico suggested at the time that the date of 
the new review of GATS Article II exceptions should  be fixed six months before the completion of 
the negotiations on services, or six months befo re 31 December 2004, whichever was the earlier. 
2. Mexico reiterates its position regarding the reviews of GATS Article II exemptions, as 
expressed in its communications to the Council for Trade in Services, circulated in documents 
S/C/W/139, S/C/W/139/Rev.1 and S/C/W/ 196, dated 8 May 2000, 22 May 2000 and 
20 September 2001 respectively. 
3. For the purpose of contributing to the discussions, Mexico wishes to raise the following 
general and specific questions for the second revi ew of MFN exemptions with reference to 
Recognition and Mode 4 and has taken as the basis fo r this exercise the "Compilation of Article II 
(MFN) Exemptions by Sector" (JOB(04)/114). 
I. QUESTIONS CONCERNING RECOGNITION EXEMPTIONS 
A. 
GENERAL (FOR ALL MEMBERS WITH RECOGNITION EXEMPTIONS ): 
 1. What criteria are taken into account to determine each of the scheduled exemptions? 
 
 2. On what basis is approval given fo r the presence of foreign consultancies? 
  3. Have you concluded or are you about to conclude any agreement that includes 
recognition of professional services? 
 
 4. Please indicate whether bilateral agreements signed by the Member on mutual 
recognition were negotiated on the basis of  reciprocity and at the national level 
(including all the country's states or provinces)? 
 
 5. Is there any current labour policy that does not allow mutual recognition agreements 
or conventions to be negotiated and signed? 
 S/C/W/251 
Page 2  
 
 B. S
PECIFIC , BY MEMBER : 
1. Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Lithuania, Panama, Former Yugoslav Republic of 
Macedonia, Thailand and Turkey: 
 How do you guarantee reciprocity with other Members in the recognition of a profession? 
 2. Brunei Darussalam: 
 Is there any legislation prev enting or prohibiting the presence of foreign consultancies or 
placing limits on foreign equity in your territory? 
 
3. Bulgaria and Liechtenstein: 
 Is there any obstacle to concluding a mutual recognition agreement or convention? 
 
4. Costa Rica: 
 What sectors require minimum quality standards for the supply of professional services on 
your territory? 
 
5. Singapore: 
 Has an exemption in the professional services s ector been included for lack of appropriate 
protection in your legislation? 
 
II. QUESTIONS CONCERNING MODE 4 EXEMPTIONS 
C. G
ENERAL (FOR ALL MEMBERS WITH MODE 4 EXEMPTIONS ): 
 Is it possible to consider extending labour certif ication in your territory to other sectors of the 
economy? 
 D. S
PECIFIC , BY MEMBER : 
1. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Solomon Islands: 
 What is the scope of this exemption and which sectors are included? 
 
2. Austria, Cyprus, European Communities, Egypt, Estonia, Jamaica, Liechtenstein, 
Malta, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia and United States of America: 
 Could you explain whether the Agreement signed by your country is covered by 
GATS Article V bis? 
 
3. Brunei, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Switzerland: 
 Could you state which traditional, technical or non-professional work is covered by the 
exemption? 
  S/C/W/251 
 Page 3 
 
 
 4. Jordan: 
 1. Could you explain whether any agreement has been concluded that includes free 
movement of natural persons who stay te mporarily or are permanently resident? 
  2. Could you indicate whether there are s till differences in treatment between service 
providers? 
 
5. Malaysia: 
 Could you explain whether measures affecting th e movement of foreign natural persons on 
the basis of territorial proximity, religion or  cultural compatibility have been liberalized? 
 
6. Côte d'Ivoire: 
 Could you indicate whether the entry conditio ns of persons for employment purposes have 
been improved? 
 7. Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey: 
 Is there any other agreement, other than one on labour reciprocity, double nationality or 
which includes recruitment of foreign personnel? 
 
8. Cyprus and European Communities: 
 Have you considered the possibility of br oadening the preferences granted to countries 
without historical ties with knowledge of the local language? 
 
9. Philippines and United States of America: 
 Have you considered the possibility of changi ng the term reciprocity in an Agreement for 
some convention that grants similar guarantees for movement of natural persons? 
 
10. Turkey: 
 Could you explain whether this exempti on is covered by GATS Article XXVII(a)? 
 
__________