S/C/6 3 
 
9 December 2022  
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES  
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL (2022)  
Since its Annual Report of 2021 to the General Council1, the Council for Trade in Services held four 
formal meetings, respectively on 22 October 2021, 11 March, 16 May and 14 October 2022.2  
During the period covered by this Report, the Council addressed the following matters.  
1  NOTIFICATIONS MADE TO THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO GATS ARTICLES  III:3, V:7 AND 
VII:4  
1.1.  The Council took note, altogether, of the followin g notifications:  
a. Notifications pursuant to Article III:3 of the GATS  
Russian Federation  (S/C/N/1062 -S/C/N/1063);  
Hong Kong, China  (S/C/N/1064);  
Lesotho  (S/C/N/1065 -S/C/N/1071);  
Switzerland  (S/C/N/1074);  
Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu,  
  Kinmen and Matsu  (S/C/N/1075; S/C/N/1109);  
Albania   (S/C/N/1079 -S/C/N/1098);  
Ukraine   (S/C/N/1102);  
Thailand   (S/C/N/1103 -S/C/N/1104);  
Mauritius   (S/C/N/1106 -S/C/N/1107);  
b. Notifications pursuant to Article V:7 of the GATS  
United Kingdom and Mexico  (S/C/N/10 60); 
United Kingdom and Canada  (S/C/N/1061);  
United Kingdom and Norway  (S/C/N/1072);  
Türkiye   (S/C/N/1073);  
ASEAN member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,  
 Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Malaysia,  
 The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and  
 Viet Nam) and China  (S/C/N/463/Add.1);  
Türkiye and the EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein  
 Norway and Switzerland)  (S/C/N/1076);  
Ecuador, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein  (S/C/N/1077);  
Republic of Korea and Türkiye  (S/C/N/1078);  
Australia, Brunei Daruss alam, Canada, Chile, Japan,  
 Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,  
 Singapore and Viet Nam  (S/C/N/920/Add.1);  
Iceland, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland  (S/C/N/1101);  
Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu,  
 Kinmen and Matsu  (S/C/N/500/ Add.1);  
United Kingdom and Colombia  (S/C/N/1024/Add.1);  
United Kingdom, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru  (S/C/N/1028/Add.1);  
 
1 Document S/C/62.  
2 Reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/C/M/147 to S/C/M/150,  and should be read 
in conjunction with this repo rt. S/C/6 3 
 
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  Seychelles  (S/C/N/1108);  
India and United Arab Emirates  (S/C/N/1110);  
 
The agreements notified in these documents were referred to the Committee on Regional 
Trade Agreements for consideration.  
c. Notifications pursuant to Article VII:4 of the GATS  
Russian Federation  (S/C/N/1099 - S/C/N/1100);  
Thailand  (S/C/N/1105).  
1.2.  At the meeting held in March, the Council took note of the updated Secretariat Note containing 
a statistical account of the notifications made under relevant GATS provisions.3  
1.3.  At all meetings covered by this Report, one delegation noted the low record of Article III:3 
notifications by developed Members, and urged them t o lead by example in that regard.  
2  OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE LDC SERVICES WAIVER  
2.1.  At the October 2021 meeting, the LDC Group informed Members that LDC Trade Ministers had 
adopted a Declaration outlining their priorities for MC12. Amongst the areas of interes t mentioned 
in the Declaration were a number of elements related to the LDC Services Waiver, aimed at 
improving the implementation of relevant Decisions and the preferences notified until then.  
2.2.  At the March meeting, the LDC Group called on Members to explo re how the Waiver preferences 
might be complemented and how LDC participation in global services trade might be increased. The 
Group also recalled the services -related recommendations put forward in the LDC Trade Ministers 
Declaration for MC12, as well as the elements contained in the draft outcome document for the 
Ministerial. At the May meeting, LDCs noted that Members had converged on the paragraph related 
to the Waiver in the Ministerial draft outcome document and asked for continued support to ensure 
Ministers' endorsement at MC12.  
2.3.  At the meeting held in October 2022, the Chairman reported on what he had heard from 
delegations with regard to the Waiver during his consultations on the MC12 implementation matters 
of relevance to the CTS.4 He said that M embers had generally underscored the importance of the 
Waiver and their willingness to engage further on the issue. They had also highlighted the need to 
hear from the LDCs about their needs and expectations. Several delegations had noted the data 
gaps in LDC services trade and indicated their readiness to undertake follow -up work in this regard.  
2.4.  The LDC Group, recalling the specific MC12 mandates assigned to the CTS with regard to the 
Waiver, put forward a number of suggestions on how to implement Ministe rs' instructions.  
2.5.  The importance of the Waiver and its effective implementation was stressed by a number of 
delegations at the meetings held in October 2021, March and October 2022.  
3  WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  
3.1.  At the October 2021 meeting, a coup le of delegations recalled the contributions they had made 
to the Council's discussions under the Work Programme. One Members called for the renewal of the 
Moratorium, while another advocated a clear understanding of its scope and an evidence -based 
decisio n on the matter; both delegations called for the Work Programme to be strengthened.   
3.2.  All delegations who spoke at the March 2022 meeting expressed their support for the Work 
Programme. Numerous Members called for its reinvigoration and for discussions to focus on the 
development dimension, with one delegation emphasising that discussions should also address the 
participation in e -commerce of women from developing Members. Many others stated that the 
continuation of the Work Programme was linked to the exte nsion of the Moratorium and called for 
both to be prolonged at MC12, with a couple of delegations advocating that the Moratorium be made 
 
3 Document JOB(09)/10/Rev. 12. 
4 The Chairman's report was subsequently circulated in document JOB/SERV/CTS/6.  S/C/6 3 
 
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  permanent. One delegation cautioned that the scope and impact of the Moratorium needed to be 
better understood. Several  Members shared their experience and initiatives in the digital sphere.  
3.3.  At the May meeting, some Members presented information about domestic developments in e -
commerce. One delegation urged Members to strengthen the Work Programme, focusing on the 
challen ges faced by developing countries. Another Member recalled the draft Ministerial decision to 
extend the Work Programme and the Moratorium that many delegations had co -sponsored and called 
on Members to support it.  
3.4.  At the meeting held in October 2022, the C hairman provided an account of the views he had 
heard with regard to the Work Programme during his consultations on MC12 implementation 
matters.5 He said that many Members had welcomed the reinvigoration of the Work Programme, 
including its development di mension, and the extension of the Moratorium at MC12. While 
delegations were supportive of holding dedicated discussions on e -commerce in the General Council, 
they held varied views on the role of the CTS, particularly in relation to the Moratorium. Some 
delegations had noted the usefulness of the information shared in the Council about domestic e -
commerce initiatives and developments and had indicated their readiness to remain engaged, the 
Chairman reported.  
3.5.  A group of Members said that it would update an earlier communication it had submitted, and 
another Member recalled the specific topics it had proposed that the General Council address. A 
number of delegations commented further on the contribution the CTS could make to deliberations 
under the Work Progr amme, and a few suggested that the Secretariat compile information shared 
by Members. One delegation provided information about domestic e -commerce developments, and 
another pointed to an e -commerce technical assistance event it was organising.  
4  DATE OF TH E NEXT REVIEW OF MFN EXEMPTIONS  
4.1.  At the March 2022 meeting, the Council addressed the question of when to hold the next review 
of MFN exemptions, as per the agreement Members had reached at the end of the preceding review 
in 2016. Members decided to start the fifth review of MFN exemptions at the last Council meeting of 
2022.  
5  IMPLEMENTATION MATTERS FROM MC12 MANDATES  
5.1.  At the October 2022 meeting, the Chairman reported on the views he had heard from 
delegations in the course of his consultations on the MC12 i mplementation matters of relevance to 
the CTS.6 Under this agenda item, he focused on the WTO's Pandemic Response and WTO reform. 
On the Pandemic Response, delegations indicated that they were open to discussing ideas that other 
Members might bring forwar d, as long as these were part of the WTO's core mandate, forward -
looking and relevant to services trade. On WTO Reform, Members' views differed with regard to the 
process, but in terms of substantive elements that could be taken up in the CTS many delegati ons 
referred to the Council's monitoring and deliberative function.   
6  UPDATE OF THE SECRETARIAT BACKGROUND NOTE ON MODE 4  
6.1.  The Council addressed this agenda item, upon India's request, at all meetings covered by this 
Report. India reiterated its request that the Secretariat update the Background Notes on mode  4 
along with Notes on the other three modes of supply. India's sugge stion was echoed by one 
delegation. India also supported the proposal for the preparation of a Note by the Secretariat on 
intermodal linkages, which, however, should not replace the separate modal Notes. While affirming 
that a Note on intermodal linkages w ould be useful, one Member was of the view that updating the 
Note on mode 4 had no added value; nevertheless, the Member was ready to engage bilaterally with 
India to find an acceptable way forward.  
 
5 The Chairman's report was subsequently circulated in document JOB/SERV/CTS/6.  
6 The Chairman's report was subsequently circulated in document JOB/SERV/CTS/6.  S/C/6 3 
 
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  7  CYBERSECURITY MEASURES OF CHINA AND VIET NAM  
7.1.  At the reque st of Japan and the United States, at all the meetings covered by this Report the 
Council addressed various cybersecurity measures adopted and under development by China and 
Viet Nam, respectively. The two requesting delegations shared their concerns about  various aspects 
of those measures, which they alleged could be inconsistent with China and Viet Nam's WTO 
obligations, and sought additional information and clarity on the same. Their concerns were echoed 
by a number of other Members.  
7.2.  In reply, China sai d that its measures had been drafted in a transparent and WTO -consistent 
manner, taking into account national conditions and international practices, as well as stakeholders' 
comments. Viet Nam noted that its legislative process was open, transparent and had given due 
consideration to stakeholders' remarks and its measures were compatible with its international 
commitments.  
8  5G-RELATED MEASURES OF AUSTRALIA  
8.1  At the request of China, the Council addressed 5G -related measures of Australia at al l the 
meetings covered by this Report. China expressed its concerns about the measures under discussion, 
which it alleged run counter to Australia's WTO obligations.  
8.2  In reply, Australia stressed that its 5G -related measures were country -agnostic, transpar ent, 
risk-based, non -discriminatory and fully WTO -consistent.  
9  SOFTWARE PRE -INSTALLATION MANDATE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION  
9.1  At the request of the United States, at its October 2021 meeting the Council addressed a 
measure by the Russian Federation on the pre -installation of Russian software. The United States 
shared its concerns about the measure in question, which could run counter to the Russian 
Federation's WTO obligations. The US concerns were echoed by a number of other Members.  
9.2  The Russian Federation st ated that the measure was fully consistent with its WTO obligations.  
10  MEASURES OF THE UNITED STATES RELATED TO CERTAIN APPLICATIONS AND 
TELECOM OPERATORS  
10.1  At the request of China, the Council addressed US measures concerning Chinese mobile 
applications and C hinese telecom operators at, respectively, all the meetings covered by this Report 
and at the March, May and October 2022 meetings. China expressed its concerns about the measures 
in question, which it alleged were inconsistent with the United States' WTO obligations.  
10.2  The United States stated that the actions cited had been taken to protect its national security.  
11  MEASURES OF INDIA RELATED TO INVESTMENT APPROVAL AND CERTAIN 
APPLICATIONS  
11.1  At the request of China, the Council addressed Indian measures on inve stment approval and 
banning the use of certain applications at, respectively, its October 2021 meeting and at all the 
meetings covered by this report. China voiced its concerns about the measures in question, which it 
alleged were inconsistent with India's  WTO obligations.  
11.2  India replied that its measures were fully compliant with its WTO obligations and that they had 
been introduced to ensure the protection of privacy, data security and national security.  
12  SAUDI ARABIA LOCALISATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICES  
12.1  At the request of the United States, at the October 2021, March, and May 2022 meetings the 
Council addressed a measure by Saudi Arabia on the localisation of customer services activities. The 
United States shared its concerns about the measure and sought c larifications on its scope and 
operation. At the October 2021 meeting, the US concerns were echoed by another Member.  S/C/6 3 
 
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  12.2  Saudi Arabia stated that it had provided clarifications, including in bilateral meetings with the 
United States, and had not received any complaints from enterprises operating in the Kingdom.  
13  MEASURES OF ALBANIA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, EUROPEAN UNION, ICELAND, JAPAN, 
LIECHTENSTEIN, MONTENEGRO, NEW ZEALAND, NORTH MACEDONIA, NORWAY, 
REPUBLIC OF KOREA, SINGAPORE, SWITZERLAND, UNITED KINGDOM AND THE  UNITED 
STATES  
13.1.  At the request of the Russian Federation, at the May 2022 meeting the Council addressed 
measures taken by Albania, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, 
Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, the Re public of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, 
the United Kingdom and the United States. The Russian Federation shared its concerns about the 
measures unilaterally introduced by these Members against the Russian Federation, which it alleged 
were inconsistent wit h their WTO obligations.  
13.2.  The Members concerned said the measures would not have been introduced if the Russian 
Federation had not invaded Ukraine, condemned the Russian Federation's actions, and stated that 
they had acted to protect their essential securit y interests, in line with WTO rules.  
14  RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES STATISTICS  
14.1.  At the October 2021 and October 2022 meetings of the Council, the Secretariat delivered its 
yearly presentation of recent developments in trade in services statistics .  
15  WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES  
15.1.  The activities of the subsidiary bodies in 2022 are reflected in their respective reports, which 
are annexed to this report, as follows:  
 Annex I  Report of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services (S/FIN/37)  
 Annex II  Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/28)  
 Annex III  Report of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation (S/WPDR/26)  
 Annex IV  Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules (S/WPGR/ 33). 
 
 
_______________  
 
 S/C/6 3 
 
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  ANNEX I  
  
  
S/FIN/3 7 
 
7 December  2022 
(22-9100) Page: 1/1 
   
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2022)  
 
1.1 Since its previous Annual Report to the Council for Trade in Services 1, the Committee on Trade 
in Financial Services held one formal meeting, on 14 October 2022. 2  
1.2 The purpose of the meeting was to consider the proposal from Canada to organize a thematic 
seminar on "Financial Services: Trade, Inclusion and Accessibility", contained in document 
JOB/SERV/CTFS/1. As decided at the mee ting, the Chairperson will hold consultations on the way 
forward and the Committee will revert to this proposal at the next meeting to be held 
on 7 December  2022.  
__________  
 
1 S/FIN/36 , dated 18 October 2021.  
2 The report of the formal meeting is contained in document S/FIN/M/95 , and should be read in 
conjunction with this report.  
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  ANNEX II  
  
  
S/CSC/2 8 
 
6 December 2022  
(22-9051) Page: 1/2 
   
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (202 2) 
 
 
Since its 2021 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Committee on Specific 
Commitments (CSC) held three formal meetings, on 18 October 2021, 10 March 2022 and 
1 July 2022 respectively.2 At these meetings, t he Committee consider ed three items: 
Implementation of Specific Commitments, Classification Issues  and Scheduling Issues.  
 
1  IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
1.  During the reporting period, the Committee continued to examine conditional commitments 
contained in the Schedules of Specific Commitments under the GATS, an exercise initiated by a 
Communication from the United States dated 5  March 2020  with a view to improving transparency 
of commitments. 3 The exercise was facilitated by the Compilation of Conditional Commitments 
prepared by the Secretariat. 4 The Compilation encompasses those entries in the Schedules of 
Specif ic Commitments under the GATS  which make the  entry into force , implementation , or updating 
of specific commitments conditional upon a domestic process such as new legislation or policy 
review. Information related to the implementation of conditional commit ments were later added to 
the Compilation, subject to the availability of information. 5 Members were also invited to verify and 
complement such information.  
2.  Engagement in the exercise on conditional commitments was on a voluntary basis. During the 
reporting period, a few Members provided updates on the implementation of their commitments 
included in the Compilation, and four further revisions of the Compilation were circulated 
accordingly. 6 In particular, Thailand informed the Committee of the impleme ntation of its conditional 
commitments in telecommunications and the certification of the improvements of its schedule 
pursuant to document S/L/84.  
3.  At the meetings of 10 March and 1 July 2022, the Committee considered 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 und er the GATS. The proposal mainly 
raised three issues for discussion in the Committee: 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 "None" 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 
 
1 Annual Report of the Co mmittee on Specific Commitments to the Council for Trade in Services (2021), 
contained in document S/CSC/27 dated 19 October 2021.  
2 The reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/CSC/M/87, S/CSC/M/88 corrected by 
S/CSC/M/88/Corr.1, and S/CSC/ M/89, which should be read in conjunction with this report.  
3 The communication from the United States is contained in document S/CSC/W/69.  
4 The Compilation of Conditional Commitments is contained in document S/CSC/W/70.  
5 S/CSC/W/70/Rev.1.  
6 S/CSC/W/70/Rev.2, S/CSC/W/70/Rev.3, S/CSC/W/70/Rev.4  and S/CSC/W/70/Rev.5.  
S/C/6 3 
 
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  transport including truck quotas, passage fees, customs measures, etc. Some delegat ions noted that 
they were still considering the proposal and would revert to it with more detailed comments. Some 
other delegations indicated that  the Committee was not an appropriate body to interpret schedules.   
2  CLASSIFICATION ISSUES  
4.  At the meeting o n 18 October 2021, the UN Statistics Division presented to the Committee an 
additional tool to help visualize the correspondence between the CPC Provisional and CPC 
Version  2.1. This was welcomed by Members. Members also showed interest in adding the Servi ces 
Sectoral Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120) to the visualization tool. At the subsequent meetings 
during the reporting period, the Secretariat informed the Committee of the progress in this respect.  
3  SCHEDULING ISSUES  
5.  The Committee did not engage in substantive discussions under this item.  
 
 
_______________  
  S/C/6 3 
 
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  ANNEX III  
  
  
S/WPDR/2 6 
 
6 December 2022  
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON DOMESTIC REGULATION  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (202 2) 
 
 
1.  Since its 2021 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Working Party on Domestic 
Regulation  (WPDR)  held one formal meeting, on 29 March 2022.2 
2.  At the meeting, the delegations of India and South Africa expressed concerns with respect to the 
development of disciplines on domestic regulation through a Reference Paper by the Joint Initiative  
on Services Domestic Regulation .3 Plurilateral negotiations such as those carried out in the Joint 
Initiative posed systemic challenges for the WTO  and its fundamental principles , and as the 
negotiated disciplines constituted new rules, they could only be brought into the WTO through 
multilateral consensus.4 The Reference Paper did not address areas of interest for dev eloping 
countries, such as qualification requirements and procedures, S&DT , or binding technical assistance . 
Recent research setting out potential gains from implementation of the disciplines neglected to 
assess implications for developing countries with r espect to compliance costs and regulatory space.  
India and South Africa invited suggestions from other Members to reinvigorate discussions under 
the WPDR  on domestic regulation as per the mandate of GATS Article VI :4 with the aim of achiev ing 
multilaterally agreed disciplines that would increase the participation of developing countries in 
global services trade.  
3.  Nineteen  (19) delegations that are parti cipants of the Joint Initiative stated that the GATS 
provided the possibility to Members to negotiate on regulatory measures such as those contained in 
the Reference Paper. They stated that a clear pathway for the integration of the disciplines into 
partic ipating Members' Schedules of Specific Commitments existed in the WTO. The additional 
commitments undertaken by individual Members could not be considered as either full or partial 
fulfilment of the GATS mandate  under Article VI:4 and could not in any way undermine existing 
GATS obligations. The Reference Paper reflected the results of negotiations among participating 
Members, including developing country Members.  Recent research by the WTO and OECD had 
pointed to significant trade cost savings and other po tential economic benefits flowing from the 
implementation of the disciplines. Some delegations  considered  an outcome in the Joint Initiative as 
a steppingstone towards a multilateral outcome in the future.   
4.  No convergence was reached among Members.  
 
1 Annual Report of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation (2021), S/WPDR/2 5, dated 
26 October  2021.  
2 The Report of the meeting is contained in documents S/WPDR/M/7 8, dated 9 May 2022,  and 
S/WPDR/M/7 8/Corr.1, dated 20 May 2022, and should be read in conjunction with this Annual Report.  
3 Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation, INF/SDR/2, dated 26 November 2021.  
4 As set out in document W T/GC/W/819 /Rev.1, dated 30 April  2021. 
S/C/6 3 
 
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  5.  In response to questions by other delegations on the process of giving legal effect to the 
disciplines, it was noted that the Declaration adopted by the  Joint Initiative's  participants5 set out 
that participants intended to incorporate the disciplines contained  in the Reference Paper on Services 
Domestic Regulation as additional commitments into their GATS Schedules, following  the 
certification procedure contained in document S/L/84.6  Some delegations expressed an interest in 
reinvigorating multilatera l work in the WPDR pursuant to the GATS Article VI:4 mandate.  
_______________  
 
 
 
 
5 Declaration on the Conclusion of Negotiations on Services Domestic Regulation, WT/L/1129, dated 
2 December 2021.  
6 Procedures for the Certification of Rectifications or Improvements to Schedules of Specific 
Commitments", S/L/84, adopted 18 April 2 000. S/C/6 3 
 
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  ANNEX IV  
  
  
S/WPGR/3 3 
 
6 December 2022  
(22-9060) Page: 1/1 
   
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (202 2) 
 
 
1. This report has been prepared pursuant to the Procedures for an Annual Overview of WTO 
Activities and for Reporting Under the WTO (WT/L/105).  
2. Since its 2021 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services1 , the Working Party on GATS 
Rules (WPGR) h as not held any meetings.  
 
__________  
 
 
 
1 Annual Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules to the Council for Trade in Services (2021), contained 
in document S/WPGR/32 dated 18 October 2021 .