S/WPGR/ 27 
 
23 November  2016 
(16-6424) Page: 1/2 
   
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE  WORKING PARTY ON GAT S RULES  
TO THE COU NCIL FOR TRADE IN SE RVICES (2016 ) 
 
Since its 2015 annual r eport to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Working Party on GATS 
Rules  (WPGR) held four formal meetings  respectively on 14 October 20 15, and 17 March, 16 June 
and 5 October 2016 .2 The three negotiating mandates the Working Party is entrusted with – 
namely emergency safeguard measures ( GATS Article X), government procurement (Article XI II) 
and subsidies (Article XV) − were put on the agenda of each of these meetings . In addition, in  
February 2016 , the Working Party held an open-ended informal consultation  to discuss a proposal 
by the European Union on  future work on government procurement . In all three areas , progress  on 
substance remained  limited  due notably to the overall context of the negotiations .  
 
1  NEGOTIATIONS ON EMER GENCY SAFEGUARD MEAS URES (ARTICLE X)  
1.1.  During the period covered by this report,  the group of proponents on emergency safeguard  
measure s (ESM)  – the 'Friends of ESM'3 – re-affirmed their continued interest in  pursuing  work in 
this area in accorda nce with the built -in mandate of  GATS Article X . They  invited comments from 
delegations on the dedicated discussion on safeguard -type provisions in bilateral a nd regional 
trade agreements  that the Working Party had held in late 2013 and 2014. They  also recall ed their 
2007 proposal  in favour of establishing rules for the use of  emergency safeguard measures  
contained in JOB(07) 1554, and suggested resuming technica l discussions  on statistical sources and 
indicators that could be used in service s safeguard investigations5. However, no delegation took up 
these suggestions , and Members did not engage in  any substantive work on the  subject .  
2  NEGOTIATIONS ON GOVE RNMENT P ROCUREMENT (ARTICLE XIII)  
2.1.  In October 2015, the Working Party discussed a proposal for future work on government 
procurement tabled by the European Union6 suggesting that Members exchange information on 
how they treated foreign -owned or -controlled establis hed service suppliers7 in their government 
procurement practices , as compared to their domestic suppliers . Further to such an exchange of 
information among Members, the EU delegation had suggested inviting the Secretariat to examine 
how possible discrimina tion with respect to government procurement was dealt with in Members' 
bilateral and regional trade and/or investment agreements. In subsequent meetings, d elegations 
discuss ed the purpose of the proposal as well as the  need to clarify its contours. The EU delegation 
informed Members that, based on the comments received, they were reflecting on the best way 
forward  regarding their proposal . 
                                                
1 Annual Report of 2015 contained in  document S/WPGR/2 6, dated  15 October 2015 .  
2 Reports of the se meetings are contained in documents S/WPGR/M /88 to 91 , and should be read in 
conjunction with this report.  
3 Comprising the following nine delegations: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's 
Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.  
4 Communication from Brunei Darussalam , Cambodia , Indonesia, Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines, 
Thailand  and Viet Nam of 19 October 2007, "(Draft) Annex on Article X Emergency Safeguard Measures" . 
5 At its March 2011 meeting, the Working Party had discussed the question of the availability of 
disaggregated, mode -specific statistics in the context of emergency safeguards.  The debate was introduced by 
two presentations by WTO Secretariat experts . The report of the meeting is contained in document 
S/WPGR/M/73.  
6 Communication by the European Union entitled "Proposal for Future Work on Government 
Procurement", document JOB/SERV/215 , dated  25 September 2015.  
7 These refer t o suppliers supplying services through the establishment of a commercial presence in the 
territory of another Member,  or 'mode 3'.  S/WPGR/ 27 
 
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  3  NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBS IDIES (ARTICLE XV)  
3.1.  Discussion s in this area have  stood at an impasse for some time with no new idea s or 
approaches being put forward. More conceptual work would ideally be needed to better understand 
how and in which sectors subsidies we re provided , and what effects they might have  on trade in 
services .  
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