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S/CSC/M/73  
 
17 June 2015  
(15-3121)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Specific Commitments    
 
 REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2 JUNE 2015 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC) held a meeting on 2 June 2015, chaired by Ms. 
Brigitte Lüth from Austria. Under Other Business, she said that she would report to the Committee 
on the recent consultations she had held with respect to possible future work of the Committee. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/CSC/2, was adopted as modified. 
 
1  ITEM A - CLASSIFICATION ISSUES 
1.1.  The Chairperson first drew delegations' attention to the mandate of the Committee. She also 
noted that the Committee was a forum for Members to share knowledge and exchange experience.  
She then recalled that at the last meeting in March 2015, the Committee had continued to review 
the issue of "new services". Several delegations ha d expressed their concerns over the implications 
of the exercise and had cautioned that the scope of existing commitments should not be affected. 
More specifically, some did not want to see the scope of their existing commitments expanded to 
cover "new services", while others were worried  that the arguments for the existence of "new 
services" would risk reducing the scope of existi ng commitments. She stressed that the purpose of 
the current discussion on classification issues was to deal with challenges arising from the 
application of the existing classification system with a view to ensuring the technical clarity and 
coherence of specific commitments. Members had noticed that a number of services were not 
explicitly referred to in either W/120 or the CPC Provisional, as listed in the Secretariat Note 
(JOB/SERV/189). The exercise attempted to seek clarification in cases where the existing 
classification system did not provide clear guidan ce. Instead of debating "new services" in the 
abstract, a technical discussion on the nature of those "complex", technology-intensive services 
would help clarify certain issues arising from classification, and the discussion on cloud computing 
was a good start in this regard. Members had expr essed divergent views about the nature of cloud 
computing services, i.e. whether they were computer and related services or telecommunication 
services. The underlying question would be what should be the factors that determined the 
essential nature of cloud computing, functions of  the services, or technical means applied in the 
supply of services. Cloud computing deserved a furt her exchange of views. Similar discussions on 
other complex services listed in the Secretariat Note were also desirable. 
1.2.  The representative of Turkey noted that any work on new services might have implications 
for future commitments. Nevertheless, her delegati on remained ready to engage in the technical 
discussion suggested by the Chairperson.  
1.3.  The representative of China echoed the Chairperson's view expressed in the annotated 
agenda that a technical discussion on the nature of those hybrid or bundled services would be 
beneficial to Members. Such discussion would help  clarify the scope of Members' existing GATS 
commitments, particularly in computer and related services as well as telecom services. China 
agreed that the discussion on cloud computing could be a good start in this regard. As indicated in the previous meetings of the Committee, China no ted that cloud computing consisted of different 
components and not all of them were of the nature  of computer and related services. According to 
China's experts, those cloud computing services  based on a network in many cases bore the 
nature of telecommunication services. Noting di fferent views expressed on the nature of cloud 
computing, China wished to explore this issue wi th Members through technical discussions without 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to thei r rights and obligations under the WTO. S/CSC/M/73 
 
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  prejudice to its position. Referring to his delegation's proposal that the Committee invite experts 
from the UN Statistical Department to make a presentation on CPC version 2, he sought information from the Secretariat about the feasibility of the proposal.  
1.4.  The representative of the Secretariat said that it had explored the possibility of inviting 
experts from the UN Statistical Department to make a presentation as suggested. The feedback 
from the UN was in principle positive. Due to resource constraints, the presentation could be made through a video conference. Another option was to ask the UN experts to provide content and that 
the presentation could be delivered by the WTO Secretariat in a more interactive manner. 
1.5.  The representative of China said that his delegation was open to both options.  
1.6.  The representative of the European Union stated that his delegation was also ready to 
engage in the discussion on classification issues. He noted that China had raised important 
questions not only related to cloud computing, but also about the approaches to the interpretation 
of specific commitments and how to deal with serv ices that were delivered in a new way. The fact 
that the network was used in the supply of services did not change the nature of services. It was 
important to distinguish enabling and enabled services. The involvement of new technologies did 
not necessarily change the nature of services. Ta king mobile banking as an example, the use of 
mobile device did not change the nature of the services as banking services. With respect to the 
proposal for a presentation on CPC version 2, while his delegation was open to the two options, he 
cautioned that there was no linkage between the technical discussion on hybrid/bundled services and CPC version 2. He noted that most GATS  commitments were made based on the CPC 
Provisional.   
1.7.  Echoing the statement made by the European Union, the representative of Australia was also 
concerned about linking the discussion on classification issues to CPC version 2.   
1.8.  The representative of South Africa supported  the proposal by China. The issue here was to 
get a better understanding of so-called "new serv ices", "bundled services" or "enabled services" 
people had been paraphrasing in the context of  digital economy. When Members had scheduled 
their commitments during the Uruguay Round, most of these services had not existed or even had 
not been imagined. The world had changed dramatic ally since then. Although South Africa was the 
biggest economy of the continent, it still did not have a law on cyber security. Cybercrime had recently emerged as one of the biggest problems in  South Africa. In view of the fast growth of 
cybercrime, the government was in the process of drafting the national cyber security law. 
Concerns about cloud computing had much to do with security issues, be corporate or national 
security issues. Finally he reiterated that the discussion should only promote better understanding of the issues involved and in no way be deemed to have any interpretative connotation on specific 
commitments.   
1.9.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation was open-minded to the 
discussion aimed at having a better understanding of such services as cloud computing, which 
often took the characteristics of data processing. Echoing the statement by the European Union, he 
noted that the use of telecommunication services enabled many services, but it did not change the central feature of those services. For instance, banking services provided through mobile network did not change the central feature of financial services in that regard. His delegation had concerns 
about the suggestion that cloud computing was a new service as cloud computing was essentially a 
data processing service. For those having commitments on data processing services under mode 1, he wondered how cloud computing would fit in with that. While his delegation was open to 
the proposal for a presentation on CPC version 2, he drew attention to the fact that the 
classification developed by the UN was for statistical purposes and should not be interpreted for trade negotiations.  
1.10.  The representative of India referred to her statement at the last meeting that any 
discussion on new or hybrid services should not have any impact on the scope of existing 
commitments. Only under that condition could her delegation agree to enter into any discussion. Her delegation firmly believed that the existi ng commitments could not be extended to new 
services. Members had undertaken GATS commitments based on the positive list approach and 
following the classification of W/120 which was based on the CPC Provisional. Services that had not existed at that point of time had not been mentioned in CPC and W/120. There was a temporal S/CSC/M/73 
 
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  aspect of the existing commitments. While supporting China's proposal, she cautioned again that 
any discussion should not lead to any interpretation. With respect to the options suggested by the Secretariat, her delegation could go along with any consensus.   
1.11.  Regarding the proposal by China, the repr esentative of Canada was open to the options 
suggested by the Secretariat. He however echoed the statements made by the European Union 
and Australia on the linkage between the discussion  on bundled services and CPC version 2. He 
reiterated that any discussion should not have any impact of undermining the existing 
commitments.  
1.12.  The representative of Brazil was also co ncerned about the impact of the discussion on the 
existing commitments. In particular, his delegation was worried about inadvertent expansion of 
the scope of existing commitments. 
1.13.  The representative of Nigeria shared the general concern about the implications of the 
discussion for the scope of existing commitments. His delegation was open to the technical 
discussion suggested by the Chairperson as well as the proposal made by China. Referring to the 
problem of cybercrime mentioned by South Africa, he noted that his country had recently passed a 
law in the regard. As this was a new law, there were challenges for its implementation due to lack of experience.  
1.14.  The representative of China noted that the alternatives suggested by the Secretariat for his 
delegation's proposal were acceptable to the Committee. He wished to see them realized at the 
next meeting. He agreed that any discussion in the Committee should not have impact on Members' existing commitments. For those Members like China which had undertaken substantial 
commitments under the GATS, the significance of the discussion was to identify and clarify their 
current commitments. Given the fast growth of di gital economy, China also had interest in "new 
services" for domestic policy-making reasons. China was therefore willing to engage in the 
discussion on the issue of "new services" within the mandate of the Committee.  
1.15.  The representative of Ecuador stated that the discussion under this agenda item should not 
be used to extend the existing commitments in an artificial manner.  
1.16.  The representative of Japan supported the proposal by China as well as the alternatives 
suggested by the Secretariat.  
1.17.  The representative of the European Unio n took issue with the view that there was a 
temporal element in Members' commitments. He no ted that there was no standstill in the GATS 
with respect to the undertaking of commitments. The ways services were delivered might change 
over time as a result of the evolution of technology. But this would not affect the validity of commitments as the GATS was technologically neutral.  
1.18.  The Chairperson noted delegations' willingness to engage in a technical discussion on 
complex services as she had suggested with the caveat that the discussion would not affect the 
scope of Members' existing commitments. With respect to the proposal by China, she also noted 
general support for the alternatives suggested by th e Secretariat. She instructed the Secretariat to 
proceed accordingly. Finally, she suggested that the Committee take note of the statements made 
and revert to this item at its next meeting.    
1.19.  It was so agreed.  
2   ITEM B - SCHEDULING ISSUES 2.1.  The Chairperson noted that the Committee had been dormant under this item for quite some 
time. Many Members continued to engage in various services negotiations (e.g. WTO accession, 
RTAs) and had gained more experience and additional knowledge in the scheduling of 
commitments. In addition to the issues raised in  the past, Members had encountered some "fresh" 
scheduling issues in negotiations, such as those related to local content requirements, localization 
requirements, concession requirements, etc. In  view of the above situation, she had held 
consultations with Members on how the Committee could build on previous work and look into S/CSC/M/73 
 
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  "fresh" issues. Such technical work would also be relevant to the conclusion of the DDA services 
negotiations.  
2.2.  The representative of Chines Taipei said that her delegation had interest in a technical 
discussion on scheduling and classification issues that would contribute to the conclusion of the 
current negotiations. Referring to a summary of previous informal discussions on scheduling 
issues, which was mentioned in the annotated agenda, she requested that this document be recirculated to assist delegates in learning more about the background of the discussion.  
2.3.  The representative of Turkey said that he r delegation was mindful that much work had been 
done in the Committee in the past with respect to economic needs tests (ENTs). In light of current 
negotiations, it might be helpful to focus the work on mode 4-related ENTs. ENTs in mode 4 were of horizontal nature with minimal indications on the objectives and criteria applied in the tests. 
Further work could be done to enhance transparency in the application of ENTs in mode 4 and 
explore how best ENTs could be scheduled under mode 4. She noted that ENTs inscribed in schedules under mode 4 often contained little information on definition, criteria, conditions, and 
duration of application. Her delegation therefore supported any work in this area. With respect to 
the "fresh" scheduling issues mentioned by the Chairperson, she thought that the Scheduling 
Guidelines had provided clear guidance.   
2.4.  The representatives of India supported the work to revisit mode 4-related ENTs in the 
Committee.  
2.5.  The representative of China supported the proposal by Turkey on mode 4-related ENTs. He 
recalled that his delegation had made a similar proposal a few years ago, in particular on criteria 
that should be scheduled in relation to the application of ENTs under mode 4.   
2.6.  The representative of Australia also supported the work on ENTs under mode 4.   
2.7.  While supporting technical work on scheduling issues, the representative of the United States 
was reluctant to endorse Turkey's proposal. He wished to see it in writing in order to consider it 
further.  
2.8.  The representative of the European Union echoed the suggestion by the United States for a 
written proposal which would facilitate the discussion. The review of ENTs should cover all modes 
of supply and not be focused on mode 4.  
2.9.  The representative of Turkey thanked other delegations for their support and would come 
back with something concrete at the next meeting. 
2.10.  The Chairperson said that she would continue to hold consultations on future work under 
this item. She suggested that the Committee take no te of the statements made and revert to this 
item at its next meeting.  
2.11.  It was so agreed.  
3   ITEM C - OTHER BUSINESS 
3.1.  The Chairperson said that in her consultation s with delegations, an idea had been floated that 
the Committee might pick up its technical work related to the conclusion of the services 
negotiations as Members had started substantive discussions on the post-Bali Work Programme with a view to concluding the Round. She recalled that a few years ago, the Committee had carried out substantive discussions on the relationship between existing commitments currently in force 
and new commitments that would result from the current negotiations as well as issues related to 
the incorporation and verification of the outcome of market access negotiations. She therefore invited delegations to consider what kind of technical work the Committee could undertake at this 
stage so as to build on previous work and, when ever needed, contribute to the conclusion of the 
services negotiations.  
3.2.  The representative of Turkey noted that Me mbers had yet to agree on the parameters of the 
post-Bali work programme. It might not be the ti me to restart the discussion on the relationship S/CSC/M/73 
 
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  between exiting commitments and new commitmen ts that would result from the current 
negotiations. However, it might be useful to have an informative session on this issue.  
3.3.  The representative of Nigeria agreed th at it was premature to discuss the relationship 
between existing commitments and new commitments that would result from the current 
negotiations. While not objecting to the idea on an informative session, he wondered what would 
be the value-added of such a session at this stage.  
3.4.  The representative of Turkey recalled that  it had been in 2010 when the Committee had held 
discussions on the relationship between old and new commitments. Most current delegates in 
Geneva had not been present at that time. It would be beneficial to inform them of the work that had been done in 2010.  
3.5.  The representative of Nigeria thanked Turkey  for the clarification. While believing that an 
informative session would be beneficial to delegate s, he cautioned about the right timing for that 
event. 
3.6.  The Chairperson thanked Turkey for its good initiative which she believed would be beneficial 
to new delegates. She also shared the view that the informative session should add value and take 
place at the right time. She would continue to hold consultations on the initiative and suggested that the Secretariat provide delegates with an overview of relevant documents as the first step.  
3.7.  The representative of the Secretariat confir med that much work had indeed been done in the 
Committee, which was relevant to the conclusion of the current services negotiations. A list of 
related documents would soon be circulated to  Members as suggested by the Chairperson.  
3.8.  The representative of Egypt stated that providing a list of documents as soon as possible 
would help delegates prepare for the informative session. He supported the Chairperson's efforts 
and encouraged her to continue with the consultations in this regard.  
3.9.  The Chairperson suggested that the Committee take note of statements made. She then 
adjourned the meeting.  
 
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