RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGMTS/15
27June1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-2493)
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
NOTE ONTHE MEETING OF25JUNE 1996
1. Thefifteenth meeting oftheNegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services tookplace
on25June1996. Theagenda ofthemeeting wascontained inAirgram WTO/AIR/368 of21June1996.
2. TheChairman noted thathehadconsulted delegations onthethree issues onwhich decisions
wereneeded: whattodoabout thenegotiating process itself-whether negotiations onmaritime transport
services would resume inthecontext tothenewRound oratsome earlier date; whattodoabout the
offers onthetable-whether toimplement themasscheduled commitments orfreeze themasconditional
offers; andwhattodoabout thecurrent suspension ofArticle II-whether torenew itorletitlapse.
Onthebasis ofhisconsultations, andwiththeaimofharvesting themaximum from thecurrent
negotiations andtocreate thebestpossible basis forfuture negotiations, theChairman putforward
aproposal: first, negotiations would beresumed attheearliest datewhich would giveareasonable
prospect ofsuccess, andcertainly nolaterthantheyear2000, when, inanycasenegotiations were
mandated bytheGATS; second, participants would consolidate, asspecific commitments, theoffers
theynowhadonthetable, onthebasis ofanagreement thatthese commitments could bemodified,
andifnecessary withdrawn inthecontext oftheresumed negotiations (thisability torevisit commitments
would alsoapply tothecommitments already intheschedules which wereundertaken intheUruguay
Round); third, itwould beagreed tomaintain, untiltheconclusion oftheresumed negotiations, the
current suspension ofArticle IIoftheGATS inthemaritime sector, inorder toavoid thenecessity
forcountries totakeMFN exemptions.
3. ThePhilippines, speaking onbehalf oftheASEAN countries, andTurkey supported the
Chairman 'sproposal onthecondition thatsimilar support wasforthcoming frommajor trading partners.
ThePhilippinesremindedparticipantsthatattheconclusionoftheUruguayRound,theASEANcountries
maintained theircommitments onmaritime transport services while other participants downgraded or
evenwithdrew theiroffers. Other delegations responded totheChairman 'sproposal byfocusing on
itsindividual elements.
4. Thefirstelement oftheChairman 'sproposal wasgenerally acceptable toparticipants, even
though thereweredifferences ofopinion regarding theprecise dateofresumption. Argentina, Canada,
Hong Kong, India, NewZealand, Norway, United States, sawlittlepoint inreengaging prematurely
andpreferred towaituntilthenextround. Nigeria found itacceptable towaituntilthenextround,
asdidAustralia,eventhoughitwouldhavepreferredtoresumebeforethenextround.Brazil,Colombia,
Cuba, theDominican Republic, theEuropean Communities, Mexico, Morocco, Switzerland andTurkey
favoured aresumption ofnegotiations before thenextround, some atanearly date. Japan andthe
Republic ofKorea would havepreferred anextension ofthenegotiations byashort period, butwere
willing toagree toaresumption before thenextround. Romania saidthatitmaybebetter tocontinue
negotiations rather thantosuspend them, evenifthedeadline wasfarremoved. While Poland supported
thiselement oftheChairman 'sproposal, Chile wasprepared toaccept anyconsensus thatemerged
onthequestion.
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Page2
5. Thesecond element oftheChairman 'sproposal wassupported byHong Kong, NewZealand
andNorway whowerekeentoseenahighlevelofconsolidation ofoffers. Canada saidthatitwould
consider partial bindings onanMFN basisandapolitical commitment toimplement therest,provided
others were willing todothesame. Australia suggested thatitwould maintain itsUruguay Round
commitments andleave itsbestofferonthetableifothers didthesame. Japan saidthatittoowould
consider acombination ofconsolidation andfreezing ifitwere agreed tosuspend negotiations only
forashort period oftime. Mexico saidthatifnoconsensus could beachieved onatemporary binding
ofoffers, theyshould atleastbefrozen withapolitical commitment toimplement them. Morocco
saidthatallthathadbeenachieved should notbelostandsome compromise solution should befound.
Argentina expressed legaldoubts about themeaning ofconsolidation when theMFN obligation was
suspended, andsuggested thatitmaybemore appropriate tomake political commitments inthe
circumstances. Switzerland saidthatitwould finditdifficult toconsolidate itsofferbutwould consider
making apolitical commitment. TheDominican Republic, theEuropean Communities, Japan, Morocco
andSwitzerland wereamong those whobelieved thatitmaybenecessary tobeflexible regarding the
secondelementoftheproposal.Brazil,Cuba,Colombia,DominicanRepublic,Nigeria,Poland,Romania
didnotsupport consolidation, andfavoured onlyafreezing ofoffers. Chile andtheEuropean
Communities saidthattheywould finditdifficult tomake commitments intheabsence ofatruly
multilateral agreement inwhich allmajor trading partners participated. TheRepublic ofKorea said
thatitwasnotinfavour ofanagreement which would result inasmall package which excluded certain
major participants.
6. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, theDominican Republic, theEuropean
Communities, Japan, theRepublic ofKorea, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Switzerland andTurkey
supported thethird element oftheChairman 'sproposal, i.e.acontinued suspension oftheMFN
obligation. TheEuropean Communities, Morocco, Switzerland andTurkey wereamong those who
saidthatitwould benecessary tospecify afirmdateatwhich thesuspension would end. TheUnited
States stated thatitwould consider suspension, eventhough thiswasnotitspreferred option, provided
thatnegotiations would beresumed onlywiththenewround. Hong Kong, India, NewZealand and
Norway expressed strong concern about thecontinued suspension oftheMFN obligation beyond the
endofJune1996. Nigeria waswilling toaccept anyconsensus which emerged onthisissue.
7. TheEuropean Communities, Singapore andSwitzerland supported theideaofapeace clause,
i.e.participants would nottakeanymeasures toimprove theirbargaining position. TheUnited States
saidthatitwould beunprecedented tohaveapeace clause when therewerenonegotiations inprogress.
8. Cuba andIceland submitted conditional offers.
9. TheChairman saidthathewould continue informal consultations onhisproposal withaview
toarriving ataconsensus.