RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/13
24 November 2000
(00-5076)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CUBA, THE DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC, EL SALVADOR, HONDURAS, INDIA, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA,
MEXICO, NICARAGUA, PAKISTAN, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, PHILIPPINES,
SRI LANKA, THAILAND, URUGUAY, AND THE MEMBERS OF
THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY (BOLIVIA, COLOMBIA,
ECUADOR, PERU, VENEZUELA).
Elements for Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures
The attached communication has been received from the above-mentioned delegations with
the request that it be circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
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I. PRINCIPLES FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS
1. Negotiations shall be conducted on the basis of progressive liberalization as stated in
Article XIX of the GATS.
2. There shall be appropriate flexibility for individual developing country Members.
3. Negotiations shall be conducted within the existing architecture of the GATS, both in terms of
the approach to scheduling specific commitments and the four modes of supply.
4. There shall be due respect in these negotiations for national policy objectives and the level of
development of individual Members.
II. OBJECTIVES OF THE NEGOTIATIONS
5. Achieving progressively higher levels of liberalization on trade in services, according to
Article XIX of the GATS, as a means of promoting the economic growth of all trading partners and
the development of developing countries.
6. Securing an overall balance of rights and obligations through effective market access with a
view to promoting the interests of all participants on a mutually advantageous basis.
7. Increasing the participation of developing countries in trade in services, giving special priority
for least developed country Members.S/CSS/W/13
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III. SCOPE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS
8. No a priori exclusion of any service sector or mode of supply. In this regard, appropriate
flexibility for developing country Members shall be provided for in accordance with Article XIX:2 of
the GATS.
9. Liberalization shall focus on sectors and modes of supply of export interest to developing
countries.
10. Negotiations on safeguards under Article X shall be completed by ...... according to the
Decision ..... by the Council on Trade in Services. Negotiations under Articles VI.4 and XV shall be
completed prior to the conclusion of negotiations of specific commitments.
IV. ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES
11. The Council for Trade in Services (CTS) shall continue to carry out an assessment of trade in
services in overall terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of the GATS and ofArticle IV in particular.
12. Assessment shall constitute an ongoing activity of the Council and the negotiations shall be
adjusted in the light of the results of the assessment.
V. MODALITIES FOR AUTONOMOUS LIBERALIZATION
13. Based on multilaterally agreed criteria, account shall be taken and credit shall be given in
market access negotiations for autonomous liberalization undertaken by Members since previous
negotiations.
VI. MODALITIES AND PROCEDURES FOR NEGOTIATIONS
14. The services negotiations will be conducted in Special Sessions of the Council for Trade in
Services, and the CTS will report on a regular basis to the General Council, according to the decisiontaken by the General Council on 7 February 2000.
15. Negotiations shall be transparent and open to all Members and acceding States and separate
customs unions territories according to the Decision taken in this regard by the General Council on
5 May 2000.
16. The starting point for the negotiations of spec ific commitments is the current schedules of
specific commitments.
17. Request and Offer shall be the principal method of negotiating specific commitments.
Complementary methods as necessary , agreed upon by Members and consistent with the architecture
of the GATS , may also be considered as a way of moving the negotiations forward to achieve the
GATS objectives.
18. The Committee on Specific Commitments will endeavour to complete ongoing work on
scheduling guidelines and classification prior to the beginning of market access negotiations. Ifnecessary, further work on classification and scheduling guidelines may continue during the course of
negotiations.
19. There shall be appropriate flexibility for individual developing country Members for opening
fewer sectors, liberalizing fewer types of transact ions, progressively extending market access in lineS/CSS/W/13
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with their development situation and, when making access to their markets available to foreign service
suppliers, attaching to such access conditions aimed at achieving the objectives referred to in
Article IV.
20. There shall be recognition and the granting of negotiating credits for autonomous
liberalization undertaken by Members since previous negotiations.
VII. EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE IV OF THE GATS
21. These negotiations shall establish specific mechanisms for the effective implementation of
Article IV.
22. The CTS shall, whenever reviewing progress in negotiations, consider the extent to which
Article IV is being implemented and suggest ways and means of promoting the goals established
therein.
VIII.  PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS
23. Negotiations should be conducted in a flexible and efficient way, without imposing
unnecessary burden on Members, in particular with respect to the number and frequency of meetings.
Proliferation of subsidiary bodies should be avoided to the maximum extent possible;
24. Negotiating functions should be clearly assigned to the bodies concerned in order to avoid
overlaps. If necessary, consideration should be given to the reassignment of activities among theexisting bodies, only for the duration of the negotiations;
25. The needs of smaller delegations should be taken into account, e.g. by scheduling meetings in
sequence and not in parallel.
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