RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/C/W/30/Add.1
17February 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-0592)
Council forTrade inServices
COOPERATION BETWEEN
THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION (ITU) AND THE WTO
Background Note bytheSecretariat
Addendum
1. Atitsmeetingof26November1997theCouncilconsideredanotebytheSecretariat(S/C/W/30)
drawing attention tothefactthatthequestion ofapossible cooperation agreement between theWTO
andtheInternational Telecommunication Union hadbeenconsidered bytheITUandraised withthe
Secretariat bytheSecretariat oftheITU. TheCouncil thenagreed thattheSecretariat should submit
asomewhat detailed background noteonthepossible needforacooperation agreement orother formal
framework governing cooperation between theWTO andtheITU. Inresponse, thisnotesummarises
theagreements theWTO hasalready concluded with other international organizations, further
developments intheITUconcerning proposed cooperation withtheWTO, andpossible elements for
consideration bytheCouncil inthisregard.
2. Atpresent, theWTO hasinplace formal cooperation agreements withthree international
organizations: theInternational Monetary Fund, theWorld Bank, andtheWorld Intellectual Property
Organization. Ithasalsoconcluded anexchange ofletters withtheOffice International desEpizooties
(OIE). Approval oftheGeneral Council wasobtained forallofthese arrangements.
3. Adecision toapprove theagreements withtheFund andtheBank (WT/L/195) wastaken by
theGeneral Council inNovember 1996. Theagreements (WT/L/194) were expected tostrengthen
andformalize theWTO 'scooperative relationships withtheFund andtheBank while fullymaintaining
theirrespective independence anddifferent roles. Theagreements include provisions onobservership,
procedures forconsultations toensure theadoption ofconsistent andmutually supportive policies,
exchange ofdocuments andaccess todatabases, andtechnical cooperation; ingeneral theyprovide
forincreased cooperation inallareas ofmutual concern. Inparticular, theycallforconsultations "with
aviewtoachieving greater coherence inglobal economic policymaking". Under theDecision approving
theagreements, theDirector-General isrequired toholdconsultations withMembers, aresponsibility
which includes reporting toMembers onconsultations heldwiththeother organizations. Inhis1997
report, theDirector-General provided details oftheactivities pursued thusfarunder theagreements,
characterizing themasconsisting mainly of:1)participation inoneanothers 'meetings; 2)exchange
ofviews andinformation, including work oncoherence; and3)technical cooperation (WT/GC/W/68).S/C/W/30/Add.1
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4. Theagreement withWIPO wasapproved bytheGeneral Council inDecember 1995(IP/C/6).
Itprovides forcooperation inthreeareas: 1)thenotification andtranslation of,andprovision ofaccess
torelevant lawsandregulations; 2)theimplementation oftheprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis
Convention (relating totheprotection ofnational emblems) forthepurposes oftheTRIPS Agreement;
and3)theprovision oflegal technical assistance andtechnical cooperation bythetwosecretariats.
Concerning technical cooperation, theTRIPS Council (IP/C/12) reported in1997 thattheWTO
Secretariat hadorganized, jointly withtheInternational Bureau ofWIPO, aworkshop (itssecond) on
specific aspects oftechnical cooperation, which included anexchange ofviews among Members of
theorganizations ontechnical cooperation needs andexperiences related totheimplementation ofthe
TRIPS Agreement.
5. InOctober 1997, theGeneral Council approved thetextsofanexchange ofletters between
theWTO andtheOffice International desEpizooties (OIE) (G/SPS/W/61). Theletters provide for:
1)cooperation andconsultation between thetwoorganizations; 2)participation inoneanothers '
meetings; 3)exchange ofinformation anddocuments; and4)jointactivities inappropriate areas,
including, butnotlimited to,procedures forthesubmission ofquestions totheOIEbytheSPS
Committee, participation inseminars, andtechnical assistance. TheSPSCommittee alsomaintains
closeworking relationships withtheFAO/WHO JointCodex Alimentarius Commission andtheFAO's
Secretariat fortheInternational Plant Protection Convention.
6. Matters related topossible further cooperation withtheWTO willbeontheagendas ofthree
significant forthcoming ITUevents. First, inregard totheITU'sSecond World Telecommunication
Policy Forum (16-18 March 1998) which isontrade intelecommunications, twoofthefourdraft
"opinions" being prepared forapproval attheforum include recommendations relating totheWTO:
oneproposes thattheITUSecretary General continue toexplore acooperation agreement withthe
WTO andtheotherproposes thattheITUexpand incollaboration withtheWTO itstechnical assistance
andother information dissemination activities related toWTO commitments ontelecommunications.
Second, ITURegional Development Conferences heldoverthepasttwoyears haveadopted resolutions
calling ontheITUDevelopment Bureau toinstitute more programmes andactivities inregard toWTO
commitments ontelecommunications. These resolutions areexpected tobetaken intoconsideration
attheITUWorld Development Conference on23March to1April 1998. Finally, attheITU's
quadrennial Plenipotentiary Conference inDecember 1998, astrategic planandrelated budgetary
proposals forthenextfouryears, which mustbesubmitted forITUMembers 'approval, isduetotake
intoaccount theresults oftheevents noted above.
7. Regarding existing andpotential areas ofcooperation between theWTO andtheITU, the
negotiations onbasic telecommunications haveledtoaneedforgreater collaboration inanumber of
respects,butparticularlyintheareaoftechnicalassistancetodevelopingcountriesontheimplementation
ofmarket access andregulatory commitments. Inrecent years, bothorganizations havereceived and
responded tonumerous requests fortechnical assistance onsuchmatters. Thisisprobably themost
likely areaofcooperation between thetwoorganizations. However, thereareavariety ofother forms
further cooperation might assume. Itmight bepossible, forexample, tomake information obtained
byeachorganization from itsMembers regarding regulatory andother telecommunications reform
developments, more systematically available toMembers oftheother organization. Inthisrespect,
theinformation gathering activities oftheITUinanumber ofareas dealtwithintheGATS additional
commitmentsonregulatoryprinciples(e.g.tariffpolicies,regulatoryreforms,frequenciesandnumbering)
areworth noting. Members ofITUandWTO might alsowishtoconsider working onharmonized
approaches tocollecting andprocessing sector dataorother relevant information thatmaybesupplied
bytheirMembers onmeasures affecting trade intelecommunication services.S/C/W/30/Add.1
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8. Tofurther explore these elements, theCouncil maywishtoconsider:
- thepossible content ofanagreement, forexample: information exchange; cooperation
andconsultations; participation inmeetings; otherissues, forexample legalobligations
ornotification requirements common tobothorganizations thatcould besimplified
orcombined intheinterest ofreducing theworkload onnational administrations;
- theneedforandthepossible coverage ofaformal framework forcooperative efforts
ofthetwoorganizations;
- whether alessformal framework, forexample, anexchange ofletters between the
Secretariats ofthetwoorganizations, might besufficient toaddress some orallofthe
kinds ofcooperative activities occurring orenvisaged.
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