RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/7
4 October 2000
(00-4061)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM MAURITIUS ON BEHALF OF
THE AFRICAN GROUP
Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures
The attached communication has been received from the delegation of Mauritius on behalf of
the African Group with the request that it be circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in
Services.
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Introduction
1. During the Uruguay Round, negotiators were succes sful in ensuring that the structure of the
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is supportive of developmental objectives.
Members should reaffirm these objectives as well as the structure and approach contained in
the Agreement.
2. The Agreement:
(i) recognises the priority of development objectives;(ii) recognises the primacy of national policy objectives, laws and regulation; and(iii) goes further than “special and differential treatment” contained in GATT
Part IV in that it strengthens the relationship between commitmentsundertaken and advances in levels of development.
3. Article IV on Increasing Participation of Developing Countries and Article XIX:2 on
Negotiating of Specific Commitments provide flexibility in liberalizing trade in services for
opening fewer sectors, liberalising fewer types of transaction, progressively extending marketaccess in line with their development situation, and the possibility of attaching conditions to
market access commitments. In addition, Least Developed Countries are to be given special
priority taking into account the serious difficulty they face in accepting negotiated specific
commitments as a result of their special econom ic situation and their development, trade and
financial needs.
4. Developed countries are also called upon to facilitate the participation of developing countries
in trade in services through negotiated spec ific commitments to strengthen the domestic
services capacity, efficiency and competitiveness of developing countries. This may be
achieved through enhanced access to technology, distribution channels, market information,and the liberalization of markets in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to
developing countries.S/CSS/W/7
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5. In this context, developed countries should agree to take measures for encouraging the import
of services from developing countries. Various measures can be envisaged, including:
(i) reserving a specified portion of services import for government use from
developing countries; and
(ii) relaxing entry conditions for service providers from developing countries.
6. The foregoing should be viewed in the context of existing imbalances and vast differences in
the supply capacities between developed and developing countries, as well as the efforts of
developing countries to participate in service liberalisation negotiations in which they havemade extensive concessions without receiving benefits in return.
7. As we engage in new negotiations, the challenge is to ensure that the mandated services
negotiations advance in ways that re-balance outcomes to the benefit of all Members. This
requires, amongst other things:
(i) implementing the provisions of Article XIX:3 which provide for an overall
and sectoral assessment of trade in services in meeting the objectives set out
in the Agreement, for the purposes of establishing future negotiating
guidelines;
(ii) ensuring a satisfactory and timely conclusion to negotiations on an
Emergency Safeguard Measure, as stipulated in Article X, to build
confidence, encourage countries to assume greater market access
commitments, and ensure flexibility for developing countries;
(iii) establishing negotiating modalities to identify sectors and modes of supply of
interest to developing countries, and particularly the least developed among
them;
(iv) considering a negotiating menu that allows service-poor countries the scope
to acquire meaningful concessions and trade-offs in areas of interest to them;and
(iv) providing accurate information and data.
8. In the context of deep, structural inequalities amongst Members, including in the distribution
of shares of international trade in services, the GATS provides that in exchange for
liberalization in the service sector, developing countries can claim credit by seeking improved
access in other sectors of export interest.
9. The fact that commitments on market access and national treatment are subjects of
concessions, provided under a positive list, is of great importance to developing countries as it
allows members to determine, in terms of their own national development strategy and policy,
the individual service sector or transaction that they are willing to open up at a given time,
under specific conditions and limitations.
10. In adopting this approach during the Uruguay Round, Members were farsighted in
recognising that, if liberalization and reform processes are to be sustainable and to contribute
positively to promoting development, they mu st be sequenced judiciously and must proceed
at an appropriate pace. For the African Group, the policy space that this provides is vital.S/CSS/W/7
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Elements for Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures
11. Pursuant to the Preamble, Articles IV and XIX, negotiations based on these provisions shall
aim to achieve progressively higher levels of liberalisation of trade in services through
successive rounds of negotiations. Guidelines and procedures for negotiations should beagreed to before market access negotiations commence. The African Group proposes that:
(i) negotiations should be based on requests and offers, and may be supplemented by
other approaches, if agreed by Members;
(ii) special attention should be given to sectors and modes of supply of interest to
developing countries;
(iii) special treatment should be granted to LDCs as stipulated under paragraph 3, Article
IV;
(iv) for the purposes of establishing guidelines and procedures, an assessment of trade in
services in both overall terms and on a sectoral basis should be satisfactorily
completed;
(v) the starting point for negotiations should be the commitments made at the end of the
Uruguay Round;
(vi) recognition and credit should be given for autonomous liberalisation. In this context,
the African Group calls on the WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats to begin work on
defining the concepts of: ‘autonomous liberalisation’ ‘recognition’, ‘credit’,
‘binding’, as well as transparency/notification requirements of autonomousliberalisation undertaken;
(vii) in parallel, rule-making work in Domestic Regulation and Rules (emergency
safeguards, government procurement and subsidies) should be pursued;
(viii) regional integration schemes among developing countries will continue to be
accommodated under Article V; and
(ix) negotiations should take account of the results of reviews conducted by the Council
of Trade in Services of Article II Exemptions and the Annex on Air Transport
Services.
10. Some Members have indicated their wish for an ambitious work programme in the GATS
negotiations. For the African Group, progress in the negotiations should take account of
existing capacity constraints both in Geneva and in our capitals. The preparatory process is
complex, taking place in different bodies concurrently. This poses difficulties for the African
Group and other developing countries. This problem should be addressed.
11. The 26 May 2000 Road Map provides a timeframe (March 2001) for completion of this phase
of preparations and stocktaking to which all Members have agreed. There is no need, at this
time, to establish additional deadlines. At an appropriate time, the establishment of further
deadlines would require an overall assessment of the progress and dynamics in otherprocesses, including negotiations and reviews.
12. During the negotiations, developing countries should not be expected to undertake further
obligations for liberalisation in trade in services, beyond those of interest to them.S/CSS/W/7
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13. This submission is without prejudice to the part icular positions of individual Members of the
African Group. African Members of the WTO reserve their right to further elaborate on these
issues, or any other, in future, either individually or as a Group.
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