S/CSC/29  
 
27 November  2023 
(23-8000) Page: 1/2 
   
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (20 23) 
Since its 20 22 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Committee on Specific 
Commitments (CSC) held four formal meetings, on 5 December 2022, 10 March  2023, 15 June 2023 
and 2 October  2023 respectively.2 At these meetings, t he Committee consider ed four items: 
Implement ation of Specific Commitments, Classification Issues , Scheduling Issues , and the 
Functioning of the Committee in the Context of WTO Reform . 
1  IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
1.1.  During the reporting period, the Committee continued to consider a proposal ( S/CSC/W/73 ) 
from the delegation of Türkiye on implementation issues related to specific commitments and 
Article  II (MFN) on cross -border supply of road transport services under the GATS. The proposal 
mainly raised three issues for discussion  in the Commit tee: 1) the compatibility of imposing truck 
quotas with full market access commitments in Mode 1 on road transport services; 2)  the 
understanding of "Unbound" in market access and "N one" in national treatment with respect to 
cross-border supply of road transport; and 3)  the MFN obligation with respect to all measures 
affecting international road transport including truck quotas, passage fees, customs measures, etc.  
At the meeting on 5  December 2022, th e Turkish delegation made a detailed presentation providing 
more clarity on its proposal with a view to helping Members better understand the issues raised .  
1.2.  At the meeting on 15 June 2023, as agreed, the representatives from the UNESCAP,  the World 
Bank and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD were invited to present their work on 
cross-border road transport with a focus on the quota system, the core issue raised in the Turkish 
proposal. The purpose of these presentations was to  facilitate further discussions on the Turkish 
proposal.  
1.3.  At the meeting on 2 October 2023, the delegation of Türkiye suggested that the Committee 
consider a formal “Understanding on Interpretation of Obligations in Cross Border Supply of Road 
Freight Transport Services” . According to Türkiye, such document would include three elements: 
1) an updated assessment on the current international outlook of international road freight 
transportation services ; 2) a comparison of multilateral quota scheme s with bilateral arrangements ; 
3) an analysis or a depiction of the scheduling methods by Members on international road freight 
transportation . 
1.4.  Engagement in the discussion on the Turkish proposal has been limited. Some Members noted 
the complexity of the issues involved, while others cautioned  that the interpretation of specific 
commitments would go  beyond the mandate of the Committee . The Chairperson would hold 
consultations on how to move forward under this agenda item.  
2  CLASSIFICATION ISSUES  
2.1.  At the meeti ng on 5 Decem ber 2022, the UN Statistics Division and the WTO Secretariat 
presented a new functionality of the visualization tool that enable d the navigation between the 
 
1 Annual Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments to the Council for Trade in Services (20 22), 
contained in document S/CSC/2 8 dated 6 Decem ber 2022.  
2 The reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/CSC/M/ 90, S/CSC/M/ 91, S/CSC/M/ 92, 
and S/CSC/M/ 93, which should be read in conjunction with this report.  S/CSC/29  
 
- 2 - 
 
  W/120 and the different CPC versions . This visualization tool is now accessible throug h the trade in 
services portal at the WTO website.  
2.2.  At the meeting on 15 June 2023, the W TO Secretariat made a presentation on Version 2 of the 
Handbook on the Measurement of Digital Trade. The presentation highlighted the latest 
developments in the measur ement of digital trade by the international statistical community with a 
focus on the conceptual framework, trade in services, and related classification challenges.  
3  SCHEDULING ISSUES  
3.1.  At the meetings on 15 June and 2 October 2023, the Committee discussed the idea of inviting 
APEC to present its Model Schedule of Commitments for Environmental and Environmentally Related 
Services . While this idea received general support from delegations,  one delegation advised that the 
presentation be made by an AEPC member given  that APEC was not an observer of this Committee . 
The Chairperson would hol d consultations on how to move forward under this agenda item.  
4  FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMITTEE IN THE CONTEXT OF WTO REFORM  
4.1.  At the meeting on 2 October 2023, the Committee started to consider the functioning of the 
Committee in the context of WTO Reform. The C hairperson would hold consultations to seek 
Members' contribution in this respect.  
__________