RESTRICTED  
  
S/SECRET/14/CL/1  
 
4 January 2024  
(24-0007) Page: 1/1 
Trade in Services  Original: English  
 
 
MODIFICATION OF SCHEDULES  
INVOCATION BY CANADA  OF ARTICLE XXI OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES 
(GATS)  
NOTIFICATION OF CLAIM OF INTEREST FROM SOUTH AFRICA  
 The following communication from the delegation of South Africa , dated  2 January , is being 
circulated to all WTO Members.  
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The delegation of South Africa hereby conveys the concern that the interests of South Africa under 
the General Agree ment on Trade in Services (GATS) may be affected by Canada’s proposed 
modification of its schedule of specific commitments to incorporate new additional commitments , as 
described in the "Notification from Canada Pursuant to Article XXI of the General Agree ment on 
Trade in Services", S/SECRET /14, dated 28 November 2023, notified to the Council for Trade in 
Services. The delegation of South Africa presents this claim of interest in accordance with paragraph 
3 of the Procedures for Implementation of Article XX I of the GATS ( S/L/80 ). 
 
Canada had earlier initiated the certification of these amendments to its schedule of specific 
commitments  under the "Procedures for the Certification of Rectifications or Improvements to 
Schedule of specific commitments" as contained in document S/L/84 . South Africa had raised 
objections to this certification request, and, on that basis, it had held consultations with Canada. 
However, these consultations had not satisfied the concerns raised by South Africa. Therefore, 
South  Africa had been unable to lift its objections to the certification requests by Canada under 
S/L/84 . The consultation timeframes under S/L/84  have been exhausted.  
 
South Africa maintains that information and clarifications are required in order to assess the legal 
basis and the effect of the proposed modifications, particularly their interaction with Members’ 
existing rights and obligations under the General Agreement on  Trade in Services and the Marrakesh 
Agreement Establishing the WTO . 
 
South Africa further points out that Canada’s proposed modification of its specific commitments, as 
described in S/SECRET/1 4, do not satisfy the conditions under S/L/80 , which requires under 
paragraph 2 that the notifications shall include a list of commitments intended for modification or 
withdrawal, and that for each such commitment the notification shall indicate whether the intention 
is to modify or withdraw in whole or in part a commitment and the exact nature of the proposed 
modification. The generic horizontal schedule circulated by Canada did no t provide the required 
details with respect to how the proposed commitments modified the specific scheduled commitments 
in whole or in part.  
 
Pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Procedures for Implementation of Article XXI ( S/L/80 ), Sout h Africa 
requests that Canada enters into negotiations with a view toward reaching agreement that addresses 
South Africa’s concerns.  
 
This notification should be read in conjunction with the paper WT/GC/W/819/Rev.1  circulated at the 
request of  India, South Africa, and Namibia.  
 
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