RESTRICTED  
  
TN/S/M/44  
 
10 September 2014  
(14-5147)  Page: 1/10  
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session    
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 JUNE 2014 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services held a formal meeting on 19 June 2014 
chaired by Ambassador Gabriel Duque of Colombia . The agenda for the meeting, contained in 
document WTO/AIR/4318, was adopted. 
1  ITEM A: EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON THE POST-BALI WORK PROGRAMME 1.1.  The Chairman said that this topic remained the focus of the Special Session's work, which 
was to develop the services component of a Work Programme for 2015. Success would carry 
Members closer to the objective of a successful conclusion of the Doha Round services 
negotiations. When he had assumed the chairmanship in early April, he had begun informal consultations by asking delegations basic question s on what the Post-Bali Work Programme should 
contain, and how one could best proceed. These questions continued the fruitful conversation 
begun by the former Chairman of the Special Se ssion, Ambassador Fernando de Mateo. Over the 
past several weeks, the Chairman said that he had continued these informal consultations. 
1.2.  In his consultations he had repeatedly heard about the need for balance, among the DDA 
market access pillars and within services topics,  the importance of development issues, and the 
need for procedural transparency, inclusiveness and 'doability'. Much of what he had heard was at the level of general principle. More specifically, however, most Members conceded that one of the 
next milestones in the services negotiations could be the presentation of revised offers. The 
existing offers were already nine years old, and one could expect that in many cases they no longer reflected current priorities or patterns of trade. If that were the case, it would seem 
important that the Work Programme reflect these changes, in order to facilitate the submission of 
revised offers. For that purpose, Members mi ght wish to update other Members on their 
expectations for such offers, and to consider, for example, a fresh round of requests, either 
bilateral or collective. In this regard, it was interesting to note that, in the lead-up to Hong Kong, 
the Report of the Chairman to the TNC (TN/S/23)  had annexed a detailed listing of "sectoral and 
modal objectives as identified by Members", a listing that cast a useful light on the negotiating priorities of Members at that time. 
1.3.  The Chairman observed that it was alre ady half way through the year. After the August 
break, there would be little time to begin putting together an effective Work Programme. In listening to delegations, what had become clear was the vital need to focus attention on more 
specific proposals. There was a need to move the discussion from principles to detailed proposals 
that illuminated the way ahead, and could lead to an exchange of revised offers or other concrete 
deliverables. 
1.4.  Some delegations were currently developing detailed proposals. The Chairman had heard, for 
example, of the notion of grouping certain relate d sectors together for the purposes of negotiation 
around themes such as global value chains, or e-commerce. Such a notion might help to stimulate the negotiations, without implying that other sectors or modes would be excluded from the 
                                               
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. 
  TN/S/M/44 
 
- 2 - 
 
  negotiations. On the other hand, he had heard from certain delegations that new and concrete 
steps required clearer progress on the other pillars of the DDA. 
1.5.  In thinking about specific proposals for a post-Bali Work Programme, some delegations had 
informed the Chairman about the need to take into  account useful 'references' from earlier in the 
services negotiations. These references might include objectives or processes to be found in the 
Doha mandate, the Negotiating Guidelines adopted early in the services negotiations, Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, the list of Sectoral and Modal Objectives as Identified by 
Members mentioned above, or the fruitful, post-Hon g Kong plurilateral request-offer process. Just 
as it was important not to repeat errors from the past, it seemed reasonable that one should not abandon lightly useful references that had arisen in the course of the lengthy services negotiations. On the other hand, different proposals might benefit from alternative approaches, 
like those developed in other agreements, or directly linking discussions to sectors covered in the 
other two market access pillars of the DDA. 
1.6.  The Chairman then opened the floor for an exchange of views on the post-Bali Work 
Programme, asking that delegations be as detailed and specific as possible. 
1.7.  The delegation of Egypt observed that the se rvices offers were nine years old, and that there 
had been many developments since 2005. Egypt was open to all proposals for opening and 
resuming consultations in the Special Session. Ho wever Members needed to avoid having parallel 
tracks, since trade in services was linked to each of them. Grouping certain sectors and tying them to other areas would help. There was a need also to explore how trade in services could help promote global value chains. At the same time, the results of further liberalization in trade in 
services had first to be quantified, in order to determine how Members should proceed with rule-
making. 
1.8.  The delegation of the European Union said that a strong services component needed to be 
part of the DDA. It had to be realistic, and mirro r the other core areas in its level of ambition. The 
EU had worked on a set of ideas that would have to be compatible with, inter alia, the following premises.  First, a services initiative could build on the success of the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
covering goods. Second, whatever was undertaken ha d to be doable and realistic, and it was not 
realistic to proceed on the basis of the negotiat ing approach and the offers on the table in 2008. 
The world had been changing.  A myriad of FTAs  between developed and developing countries had 
been concluded since 2008 at a level of ambition well beyond the 2008 package. Also, electronic 
trade was not as relevant in 2008 as it was today, and global value chains had revolutionised the 
way goods were produced. Third, whatever was done should add value for the services industry and the global economy overall. Finally, any initia tive had to be cross-cutting and comprehensive, 
avoiding the selection of a handful of sectors of interest for a given Member. Based on these three 
premises, the EU wished to present an open list of creative and tangible ideas which could be a 
starting point for discussion.  
1.9.  First, trade facilitation for services. This  would complement the trade facilitation of goods, 
building upon the success of the Trade Facilitation  Agreement. It could cover the elimination of 
administrative barriers to the provision of serv ices. From the EU perspective, licensing and 
authorisation-related issues were particularly important. The negotiation would need to establish 
whether rules on administrative barriers applied to all sectors, or to the sectors included in 
Members' schedules. Any rules would need to be wi thout prejudice to the completion of the built-in 
agenda contained in Article VI of the GATS. 
1.10.  Second, electronic commerce.  This had evolved into a key enabler for a number of services 
sectors. A possibility could be to add a series of additional rules or disciplines to a permanent moratorium. Topics could cover consumer protection, e-signatures, and other matters. This 
initiative would also be relevant beyond the services sphere.  
1.11.  Third, services that are strong enablers of trade in goods.  These services contributed to the 
integration of the global economy by supporting gl obal value chains, responding to the increasing 
'servicification' of world econom ies. These could include two types of services: (a) services 
necessary for the technical and economic viability of exports of goods. Ty pically, these services 
would have a strong mode 4 component, as the sale of a good would come with the movement of individuals to, for example, install, maintain, or repair the good, and/or train the technicians that TN/S/M/44 
 
- 3 - 
 
  would be responsible of the functioning of the eq uipment exported; and (b) services necessary for 
the delivery of goods. This would target services related to, for example, transport, logistics, express delivery and distribution, i.e. all services that are necessary to physically move a good from point A to point B. Coverage would extend also to telecoms and computers because of their 
essential role in global supply chains (telecoms infrastructure was critical for e-commerce), 
banking (e.g. letters of credit) and insurance (e.g. MAT – maritime and air transport insurance). This initiative would cover all modes of supply. 
1.12.  The EU thought these initiatives would provide benefits to all WTO Members, and would 
benefit industry around the world. They would demonstrate that there was scope for the further multilateral services negotiations. The initiatives would cover interests in developed and developing countries alike. The EU was not proposing to embark on defining a set of modalities, 
but had been inspired by the success of the negotiation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The 
initiatives were intended to open the debate. Sinc e the ideas were cross-cutting, they would be of 
interest to all Members.  
1.13.  The delegation of Switzerland said that its main work objective in services was to continue 
work on the basis of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. In this sense, Switzerland 
had no new proposal to make. However, this meant that in addition to the core market access 
request/offer negotiations, the other negotiating mandates had to be fulfilled. There was a need to 
work on the further development of rules, in particular on domestic regulation. With regard to market access, there was a need to return to concrete negotiations as soon as possible. It was important also to take into account what had been achieved in the past, while keeping in mind 
more recent developments in trade in services. All sectors and modes of supply were important, 
and therefore there could be no a priori exclusions in this respect. Market access negotiations thus needed to be comprehensive. 
1.14.  The delegation of Costa Rica said that its preliminary reaction was to support the ideas put 
forward by the EU. They were innovative and corresponded to the objectives of Costa Rica and 
many other developing countries. The services component was a part of the DDA, and Costa Rica 
was committed to moving forward in this area. Costa Rica thought facilitating rules in trade in 
services could be a good idea, and wished to make further progress in e-commerce. In this respect, the moratorium needed to be made permanent. Finally, services were a fundamental element in global supply chains, and the WTO needed to ensure that all Members were better able 
to participate in them. 
1.15.  The delegation of China said that it  had an important stake in the WTO services 
negotiations. According to 2013 statistics, China was now the third largest market for trade in 
services. China's services sectors would continue to be opened up, and be subject to regulatory 
reforms. Recent policies adopted in connection with the Shanghai Free Trade Zone had shown that the Chinese government was making serious efforts to push forward the service and investment 
liberalization process through pilot projects in many key sectors such as telecommunication, 
securities, and maritime transport services. With respect to the post-Bali Work Programme for services, China wished to share several preliminary ideas. 
1.16.  First, the service negotiations should proceed  in parallel with those in agriculture and NAMA. 
In other words, the services negotiations should  not be advanced on their own. Members needed 
to be realistic when exploring the levels of ambi tion and the relevant approach for the services 
negotiations. Second, Members should respect and follow the objectives and mandate of the DDA, 
in particular Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, and recognize that request and 
offer approach remained the main negotiating approach. Third, in the services negotiations, each sector and mode of supply should be treated equa lly, bearing in mind the development dimension. 
For many developing countries that had export interests in the movement of natural persons, the 
balance of interests usually meant that their market access request under mode 4 had to be positively addressed with a tangible outcome. Fourth, the 2005 revised offers could form the basis of the next round of offers. Furthermore, the ou tcome in the Signalling Conference of 2008 could 
also be used as a reference point for offers when substantial progress was being made in 
agriculture and NAMA negotiations. Fifth, the nego tiations on domestic regulation needed to be 
resumed in parallel with the market access negotiations in services. The Chair text on disciplines 
on domestic regulation had been widely recognized as the negotiating basis, and text-based 
negotiations needed to be accelerated to fulfil the negotiation mandate. Finally, on the new issues, China was open to discussion on e-commerce and global value chains, and trade facilitation related TN/S/M/44 
 
- 4 - 
 
  services. However, discussion on those issues should not increase existing gaps between Members 
in the services negotiations. 
1.17.  The delegation of Australia declared a strong interest for a good services outcome in the 
round. That interest was commercial, and in providing an engine for growth. Australia wished to 
achieve market access outcomes in services commensurate with those in agriculture and NAMA. 
Also important was an outcome on domestic regulation. Australia was open-minded on how to achieve a good outcome in services, and was mindful of the Director General's parameters for the 
Work Programme, including his call for creativity. In reacting to the ideas heard so far at the 
meeting, Australia said it was particularly interested in proposals relevant to the way that business is conducted in 2014, and to ideas that related work on services to progress in the other areas of the negotiations. For example, outcomes in services that supported the movement of goods along 
value chains, and domestic regulation disciplines that supported trade facilitation would, in 
Australia's view, be in the interest of a broa d range of WTO Members, both developing and 
developed. Australia looked forward to further participating in the discussions on how to achieve 
an outcome in services commensurate with those in the other major pillars of the DDA. 
1.18.  The delegation of the United States said that it did not have new ideas to put forward, but 
wished to reiterate points it had made on balanc e across the three pillars. It was open-minded on 
the ways that this could be done. The EU had noted that the commitments made under free trade 
agreements over the past few years went well beyond what was on the table in the DDA negotiations. The offers were now nine years old, and the world of services looked much different from that in 2001 or 2008. Members needed to consider ways in which multilateral trade 
commitments could be moved closer to actual practice, and what they had done bilaterally or 
regionally in services. The post-Bali Work Programme on services could focus on this point. The low level of ambition in the DDA made it difficult to generate interest from stakeholders in an 
outcome. 
1.19.  The ideas of the EU on sectoral approach es were something that the United States could 
consider, put in the context of balancing out across the three pillars. The suggestion on making the 
moratorium permanent had long been supported by the United States, but the question was 
whether this was a broader issue than trade in services. Overall, the United States remained committed to working with others, and was open-minded about approaches. 
1.20.  The delegation of Hong Kong, China said that Members could not afford to wait for results in 
other sectors of the DDA before discussing the post-Bali Work Programme. There was a need for 
balance across all pillars of the DDA mandate, and parallel negotiations were the best way to calibrate that balance. Hong Kong, China had floated some time ago the idea of building on the 
success of the trade facilitation negotiations, and on global value chains. There was a need for 
trade liberalization in the WTO to keep abreast of developments in the real world. The commercial reality was that global value chains were the paradigm of international trade, and that 
participation in these chains was a major engine for development in both developing and 
developed countries. Any services that enabled participation in international trade or global value chains could be the starting point of thinking about how to build on the success of the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement. The EU had said that it sh ared similar ideas, and cited a list of services. 
This list should not of course be exhaustive. The idea was to have a framework list in order to 
make a start and make incremental progress that would create synergy with the achievement in the other pillars. Services that enable trade in goods, or that enable developing countries to 
participate in international trade would be one way of giving meaning to having development as 
the central theme of the Work Programme. Sectors such as transport, logistics, information, 
insurance, finance and other business services would be relevant, and the list was not a closed 
one. Hong Kong, China did not have a specific proposal to make at present, but was open to any 
practical proposal. 
1.21.  The delegation of New Zealand supported an ambitious outcome in the services pillar, in the 
context of an outcome that was ambitious and bala nced within and across all three market access 
pillars. New Zealand concurred with the comments just made by Hong Kong, China, in particular 
that in searching for the optimal balance across the three pillars one needed to be careful to ensure that services did not fall behind. There was a need to make a start in the services 
negotiations, to proceed in parallel, and to calibra te as one proceeded. In terms of approaches in 
the post-Bali Work Programme, New Zealand support ed creative ones both inside and alongside 
the Special Session. New Zealand did not have at present its own concrete proposal, but were very TN/S/M/44 
 
- 5 - 
 
  open minded and actively considering various approaches. The key was to ensure that any 
services market access outcome responded in a meaningful way to the objectives laid in the various annexes and guidelines, including Annex C,  and that any outcome addressed the priorities 
of a range of Members, both developing and developed. Finally, New Zealand reiterated that 
robust rules on domestic regulation would contribute hugely to the overall value of a market 
access package in services, by ensuring that the hard work put into market access outcome was not subsequently undermined by opaque and unnecessarily burdensome regulation. There was a 
mandate to finish unfinished business, and there wa s a growing body of experience in negotiating 
and implementing such rules in the context of Me mbers' regional and bilateral FTAs. There was a 
2011 Chair's report and a text that, as China noted, provided a comprehensive working basis, and there was the benefit of the extensive technical discussions on the text. All of this would allow 
Members to make progress in domestic regulation in close coordination with that in market access 
in the period ahead. 
1.22.  The delegation of Norway said that a substantive result in services was an important result 
for the round. The Work Programme had to be doable, balanced and contain a development 
dimension. The three pillars of market access also had to be addressed. In developing the services 
component, it was necessary to take into account the balance with the other negotiating areas, 
and to have an open-minded approach to resp ond at the appropriate level of ambition. The 
services sector had experienced substantial liberalization since the Uruguay Round, and binding existing levels of access would contribute greatly to  a deal by increasing predictability for service 
suppliers.  
1.23.  Norway also acknowledged the need to be gradually more concrete, and was open to 
discuss the entire universe of issues for services. There was a need also to identify and clarify 
what was doable and realistic in the services pi llar, and to determine how such elements would 
contribute to a balanced outcome for services 
1.24.  The delegation of Chinese Taipei considered that the services negotiations should be 
conducted in parallel with those in agriculture and NAMA. It recalled that at MC8 ministers 
provided the political guidance to explore the di fferent negotiating approaches, looking to where 
progress could be achieved. At this critical junc ture, Chinese Taipei was open to any proposal for 
possible formats, under two conditions. First, the proposal would need to address the needs of developing country Members, and benefit Members at  different levels of development. Second, the 
proposal would need to advance the negotiation process. Chinese Taipei welcomed the EU's ideas, 
especially on global value chains, while recognizing that these suggestions were not exhaustive. 
1.25.  The delegation of Ecuador said that, with respect to the post-Bali Work Programme, services 
should figure alongside agriculture and NAMA. Ho wever, preference needed to be given in the 
negotiations to S&D for developing countries by means of different levels of ambitious offers. 
These offers needed to be balanced, and to achiev e that it was important to keep in mind S&D. 
With respect to the plurilateral services negotiations, these had to be examined more carefully to 
ensure that they were in line with the principles and disciplines of the WTO, in particular Article V 
of the GATS. With respect to the sco pe of the negotiations, and in line with the basic principles of 
the WTO, in particular transparency, the participants should present detailed information on the 
disciplines that would cover matters within the scope of the GATS, especially on market access and 
the GATS requirement on current multilateral bindings. If participants wished to make an initial contribution to promote the multilateral trading system, they could make proposals in line with 
MFN, as had been done in the area of information technology. This would support the basic 
multilateral principle in the WTO.  
1.26.  The delegation of South Africa welcomed  the specific proposals that had been made, 
although it did not necessarily agree with them. Although the Chairman had requested that 
Members focus on specifics, it was important to step back and examine the context within which 
the negotiations were taking place. Several de legations had referred to the new ways of doing 
business, such as global value chains and e-co mmerce. While the world of business and commerce 
had changed over the past ten years, it was true also that over that time societies across the 
world had modified their views. Income inequality now predominated discussion in the multilateral arena, including in some of the wealthiest countries. Social spill-overs resulted from this growing 
income inequality. Thus South Africa, while recognizing the reality of global value chains and e-
commerce, was still committed to its quest to ri se above being hewers of wood and carriers of 
water. South Africa was still not convinced that the value coming to developing countries, TN/S/M/44 
 
- 6 - 
 
  especially African countries, was commensurate in terms of the sacrifice made in terms of the 
commitments being requested. Countries were striving to move up the value chain or economic ladder, and all populations were seeking to better their lives. But there could be no denying that in 
the current system, the services industry in partic ular, as well as goods trade, was dominated by 
several large multinationals. South Africa, as a developing country, increasingly saw very 
significant outflows of funds from its economy. It was now paying out royalties, dividends and licensing fees amounting to two-thirds of its curre nt account deficit. In this context, business was 
not the only stakeholder that needed to be taken into account, there were also the voters. This 
context needed to be taken into account when talking about a post-Bali Work Programme that was realistic and doable. 
1.27.  In terms of taking the negotiations forward, South Africa said that numerical benchmarks 
were inconsistent with the spirit of the GATS, in particular the principle of progressive liberalization 
and the need to undertake commitments commensurate with a Member's level of development. Numerical benchmarks did not take into account national policy objectives, something the GATS 
required when undertaking liberalization in the context of the WTO. The Bali Ministerial Declaration 
required that interests of developing countries including LDCs had to be prioritized in the post-Bali phase. In the context of the Council for Trade in Services, it meant that Members had to take 
immediate steps to operationalize the LDC services waiver. In the Special Session, negotiations 
needed to remain within the GATS framework, re specting the flexibilities given to developing 
countries. The principles of progressive liberalization and a positive list approach needed to be respected. Developed country Members needed to  make commercially meaningful commitments in 
the sectors and modes of supply of export inte rest to developing countries and LDCs. These 
sectors included mode 4 and tourism, amongst othe rs. If these principles were not observed, there 
could be no internal balance in the services negotiations. Internal balance would mean that any 
requests for bindings of the status quo in servic es, or the removal of substantial 'water', would 
have to be reciprocated with similar bindings in agriculture. 
1.28.  The delegation of India wished to re-emphasi ze aspects of its position on the post-Bali Work 
Programme. First, development was a central pillar of the services negotiations, and at the heart 
of the DDA. Commitments were thus essential in areas of export interest to developing and least developed countries. When making requests, the development needs of these countries had to be taken into account. In the past, India had been dismayed at the lack of progress on mode 4 
commitments. Second, the level of ambition in services needed to be calibrated to that in 
agriculture. Third, any discussion would have to be undertaken within the mandate of the DDA and the valuable milestones such as the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, which could not be 
abandoned. Further, there could be  n o  ' c h e r r y  p i c k i n g '  o f  i s s u e s  o r  s e c t o r s  o f  i n t e r e s t  o n l y  t o  
some, in the name of concluding the round. 
1.29.  Certain key elements needed to be incorporated in the renewed discussions on services. 
Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration needed to be the guide to restart the 
negotiations. In this regard, paragraphs 25-27 of the Declaration, which focused on the importance of Annex C, explicitly stated that particular attention had to be given to sectors and modes of supply of interest to developing countries. Further, Annex C gave clear directions on the 
specific objectives that Members should be gu ided by in making these new commitments. The 
Report of the Chair of the Special Session to the TNC in April 2011 summarized the current state of play of the services negotiations, and little ha d changed since then. This Report could therefore 
be valuable in understanding the state that the negotiations had reached. 
1.30.  The new approaches suggested by certain Members were interesting. However the real 
problems were not in the format, but in the substance of the negotiations. India did not see any 
seriousness on the part of some important Member s in responding to the requests of developing 
countries. Unless there was a willingness by key Members to respond to India's key interests, the desired outcome could not be reached. Change in process was not a solution to the current problem. 
1.31.  Specifically on the EU proposal, India wished to make some preliminary comments and 
observations. First, was the EU suggesting that Members should start discussing trade facilitation related services, including only licensing and authorization requirements, and cease discussions in 
WPDR on the text that was currently being discussed? Second, with respect to e-commerce the 
moratorium was perhaps best not discussed in th e Special Session. However, there was a need for 
developing countries to understand the benefit that could be reaped by developing countries TN/S/M/44 
 
- 7 - 
 
  through e-commerce. Third, on global value chains , substantive progress could not occur if only 
some sectors of particular interest to certain countries were discussed. 
1.32.  The delegation of Brazil recalled that the purpose of the meeting was to decide what should 
be included in the Work Programme and how to proceed in order to fulfil this objective. A first 
point to make was that the discussion in services was not taking place in isolation – discussions in 
agriculture and NAMA had to be taken into account. Second, since agriculture was the centrepiece of the round, the overall level of ambition of the ro und needed to be calibrated to that achieved in 
agriculture. Any lowering of ambition in agriculture would thus result in a lowering of that in 
services, including in the rules negotiations. Third, although services should not lag behind the other DDA pillars, since services was a highly technical and time-consuming area, Members needed to resist the temptation of 'over-creativity '. Otherwise there was a risk that ambition would 
be unbalanced. Furthermore, over-creativity on topi cs such as global value chains would likely lead 
to discussions falling outside the mandates deriving from the Ministerial decisions in Doha and Hong Kong. Finally, Brazil found the EU proposal  interesting but more as a 'post Doha' agenda 
than a doable proposal that fulfilled the Doha mandate. 
1.33.  The delegation of Indonesia said that services negotiations were part of a single undertaking 
for the full completion of the DDA. Any conclusions on further liberalization in trade in services 
thus needed to relate strongly to the results of other DDA pillars, especially agriculture and NAMA.  
The Doha and Hong Kong Ministerial decisions had given mandates that the negotiations on trade in services should aim at promoting the econom ic growth and development of developing and 
least-developed countries, respecting the right of Members to regulate, with appropriate flexibility 
for individual developing countries.  To this end, there were two issues that needed highlighting. 
1.34.  First any approaches or modalities in service negotiations could not negate the rights of 
developing country Members to create policy spac e for building up their services sectors.  The 
outcome of the negotiations needed to allow these Members to enhance their productive capacities 
and improve their supply side capacities. Second, negotiations on market access in services had to go in parallel with developments in the discussions on rules, especially those in the area of 
emergency safeguard measures. Strong provisions on safeguards would give confidence to 
business sectors that needed to integrate with global trade in services, and would thus smoothen the negotiation on trade in services liberalization. 
1.35.  The delegation of Bolivia wished to emph asize some fundamental principles. Agriculture had 
a central role in the DDA – without agriculture th ere would be no round. The level of ambition in 
services and NAMA served to generate the level of ambition that was needed in agriculture. On the 
results of Bali and the success of the Trade Facili tation Agreement, Bolivia did not favour a cherry-
picking approach where developed countries achieved bindings without giving anything in return. 
The elements that were non-binding and not yet adopted had to be given priority in any future work plan. 
1.36.  The proposals made in this meeting by other Members were interesting although, as Brazil 
noted, there was a danger they could be 'overly-creative' and undermine previous agreements or mandates. In the three DDA pillars, there had to  be similar levels of ambition. On services, 
Annex C had to be the foundation of the work of the Special Session. On the moratorium, Bolivia 
did not think it should be made permanent, and the issue required further analysis. 
1.37.  The delegation of Cuba fully agreed with  the positions put forward by China, which were 
specific proposals that should be considered by the Special Session. In order not to reiterate the 
concrete proposals put forward by Ecuador regarding S&D for developing countries and specifically 
LDCs, and in addition to the aspects raised by South Africa, India, Brazil, Bolivia and others regarding the new issues raised by the EU, Cuba suggested that delegations tread with care and 
not get into issues that could be sensitive for some Members, such as the issue of the moratorium 
in e-commerce, bearing in mind this was not the only aspect within the e-commerce work programme, which contained other pending issues. 
1.38.  The delegation of Kenya, on behalf of the ACP group, said that the services negotiations had 
to be placed in their proper context. Services were one of the three DDA pillars, and had to be 
dealt with in a proper manner in the negotiations. The Bali Ministerial Declaration reiterated that agriculture, development and LDC issues were cr itical to progress on any other aspects of the TN/S/M/44 
 
- 8 - 
 
  DDA. Progress had been made which Members could build on – Annex C of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration, offers still on the tabl e, and the outcome of the Signalling Conference. 
While the ACP group was open to new ideas or approa ches, these needed to fall within the existing 
mandate, and build on progress achieved so far. Wi th respect to LDC issues, there needed to be a 
very strong development component in the services commitments. On the EU ideas, an initial 
assessment was that they were not new, and when they had been previously considered they did 
not take the negotiations very far. 
1.39.  The delegation of Canada continued to plac e importance on the services pillar of the post-
Bali work plan. It appreciated as well the need fo r balance across the three pillars of agriculture, 
NAMA and services. However, it was concerned that the services pillar was already starting to fall behind the other two. In this regard, Canada welc omed the Chairman's call for concrete proposals, 
as well as the proposals put forward at the present meeting by the EU, China and others. 
1.40.  Canada agreed with China that Members could use the 2005 offers as a basis to re-engage 
in market access negotiations. Given the passage of time, some Members might need to adapt 
these offers, but the ambition of the offers should be maintained, and the 2008 Signalling 
Conference remained a useful reference point. Ca nada was also open to hearing from Members on 
domestic regulation and GATS rules elements, but stressed the need for pragmatism in defining 
the work programme. 
1.41.  Regarding the operationalization of the LDC services waiver, Canada looked forward to 
receiving the LDCs’ collective request. Canada continued to encourage LDCs to be more transparent in their deliberations and to consult with Members early to work collaboratively 
towards identifying preferences that were both meaningful and feasible. In the interim, Canada 
confirmed that it respected the LDC modalities, and would not seek new specific commitments from LDCs if they are not in a position to offer them. 
1.42.  The delegation of Bangladesh did not have a proposal to make at present, but wished to 
share some preliminary thoughts on the intere sting ideas put forward by the EU. Any future 
conversation needed to be comprehensive, in pa rticular addressing the special interests of the 
LDCs, especially in mode 4. LDCs had a strong interest also in domestic regulation. Regarding 
creativity and new approaches, S&D needed to be present at all levels. 
1.43.  The delegation of Venezuela said that given the delicate balance struck in Bali the DDA 
remained the focus of negotiations. Agriculture required specific attention. There needed to be a 
proper and adequate balance in the three pillars of the negotiations. There was a need to support 
the single undertaking approach, and S&D had to be kept in mind for LDCs. There was a need to look at services, and issues that were not the fo cus of commitments at Bali. Venezuela wished to 
echo what had been said by South Africa, India, Brazil, Cuba and Ecuador. 
1.44.  The delegation of Argentina said that trade in services was very important to it. As a result 
of the Uruguay Round, Argentina had liberalized many services sectors. For this reason, the 
regulatory regime currently applied by Argentina was largely liberal, and even less restrictive than 
that of several members of the OECD.  
1.45.   Argentina emphasized the principle of the centrality of agriculture in the DDA. It was the 
raison d'être of the round. Notwithstanding this principle, Argentina had detected no tangible 
progress in areas of interest to it since the Bali Ministerial conference. Argentina's goal was to 
engage Members in other areas of the negotiations, such as agriculture, at the same level of liberalization that Argentina had achieved in the service area. Without a clear sense of progress in 
agriculture, it was very difficult for Argentina to carry out meaningful negotiations in services. 
1.46.  The delegation of Uganda, on behalf of th e LDC group, did not have a substantive proposal 
to make, but requested that its statement made on  at the previous meeting of the Special Session 
be reflected as part of the record of the present meeting.2 Comprehensive comments would be 
made at the next meeting with respect to the pr oposals just made by the EU and others. Uganda 
also wished to echo the views put forwar d by South Africa, India and Bangladesh. 
                                               
2 Uganda's statement, on behalf of the LDC group, is found in the minutes of the previous meeting at 
paragraphs 2.30-2.33 of document TN/S/M43. TN/S/M/44 
 
- 9 - 
 
  1.47.  The delegation of Korea wished to addre ss the issue of what the post-Bali Work Programme 
should contain. Korea was open to any ideas, as long as they were doable, realistic and 
meaningful. At this point, the first item should be market access negotiations. Considering the changes occurring in the world and the importance  of services trade, it was vital to achieve 
additional liberalization of market access. The real issue however was how to proceed in the 
market access negotiations. The second item should be the rules negotiations. Among them, domestic regulation would be one of the potentia l items where one could make progress, since it 
was an area where extensive discussions had resulted in tangible progress in the past, and past 
progress was an important basis on which to  move forward. Regarding the new items or 
approaches, like global value chains, sectoral approaches and trade facilitation for services, Korea was open minded.  
1.48.  The delegation of Lesotho said that it was important to tread carefully with respect to the 
new or creative ideas that had been put forward by some delegations. It was important to respect 
the negotiating mandates, such as Annex C, and the parallel treatment of services with the three 
DDA pillars. In doing so, it was important to embed in any negotiating outcome the right to 
regulate. It was also necessary to avoid cherry-picking of negotiating topics, keeping in mind that for developing countries, especially African ones, mode 4 was very important. 
1.49.  The delegation of Turkey appreciated the e fforts of others to build a roadmap for the post-
Bali period, especially those suggesting specific sectors and ways to tackle the services 
negotiations. In addition, Turkey gave high import ance to the balance between the three pillars of 
agriculture, NAMA and services. Although for the time being Turkey did not have a specific 
proposal on the sectors to be covered, it fully agre ed on the importance of the main role of service 
sectors in the upgrading the economies of developi ng countries. Turkey was thus open minded on 
proposals with respect to specific services sectors. 
1.50.  The delegation of Singapore welcomed the ideas mentioned by both the EU and China, and 
had taken good note of the reactions from others . Singapore was already on the record as being 
supportive of looking at both rules and market access aspects of the services negotiations. It was 
noteworthy that the services mandates in the GATS predated the DDA, and required addressing 
both these aspects. That said, Singapore recognis ed the current state of negotiations, and that 
Members had to take into consideration the link  between the three pillars. The challenge for 
Members was to keep the linkage and relevant mand ates in mind without leaving any of the pillars 
behind. As others had noted, there were calls for balance, both within the services pillar and 
across other pillars, but balance meant different things to different Members. There had been work done before in services, and Members did not need  to start from scratch. Singapore reiterated its 
support for the work ahead and its willingness to look at all ideas raised. 
1.51.  The delegation of Nepal wished to associate itself with the statements made by Uganda, 
Bangladesh, India, China and other developing countries. Negotiations on services needed to be 
advanced as part of a single undertaking under the DDA. Due attention had to be paid to Article IV 
of the GATS providing differential treatment on LDC issues and concerns. Nepal requested that 
other Members assist in operationalizing the LDC services waiver, which had been stalled for over two years. On the recent EU proposals, Nepal was no t sure how far they were in line with the DDA, 
and to what extent they would help the LDCs integrate in global services trade. However, Nepal 
remained open minded and ready to discuss these matters. 
1.52.  The delegation of Malaysia had no specific  proposal to present, but wished to express its 
readiness to engage in the post-Bali Work Progra mme. It shared the view that the three market 
access areas of services, agriculture and NAMA shou ld be addressed in parallel. Despite efforts to 
intensify negotiations in January 2011, the gaps however had not been narrowed. It was thus 
important for Members to start examining all areas within the services agenda, and brainstorm 
with an open mind on how to move the negotiations forward to a conclusion. The suggestions by the EU and China were therefore welcome. As a developing country, Malaysia realised that benefits could accrue from services liberalization, and it aimed to have services contribute 70% to its GDP. 
Finally, Malaysia reiterated its position that resumption of services negotiations in all areas within 
services was pertinent.  
1.53.  The delegation of the European Union said that it would engage in the coming weeks with 
those that had made comments on its proposal. It had attempted to develop a proposal that was 
balanced between developing and developed country interests. However, it was not a closed list TN/S/M/44 
 
- 10 - 
 
  and the EU was open to engage on other proposals.  On the moratorium issue, the EU was open as 
to where it should be discussed. However, there were other e-commerce issues that the EU had raised, such as e-signatures and consumer protec tion. With respect to India's question as to 
whether the proposal on trade facilitation for services meant modifying the negotiating agenda on 
domestic regulation, this was not the EU intention. However, if it were not possible to conclude the 
negotiations on disciplines on domestic regulation in the DDA, then it might be possible to focus in 
the post-Bali Work Programme on licensing requirements and procedures. However, this would be 
without prejudice to the need to fulfil the built -in agenda under the GATS on the conclusion of 
negotiations on domestic regulations. 
1.54.  The Chairman said he would try and highlight some of the things that he had heard during 
the discussion. All Members had said they were engaged in moving forward with the services 
negotiations, and that these were an import ant part of the DDA package. Some Members 
highlighted how much the world had changed since the launch of the DD, and how long it had been since progress had been made in the services negotiations. The importance of the 
development perspective was frequently raised. Most said that the momentum of the services 
negotiations had to be maintained, while some me ntioned the importance of keeping in mind the 
centrality of agriculture in the round. 
1.55.  Regarding specific proposals, the Chairman noted that there were three main items put 
forward for consideration: trade facilitation for services, certain e-commerce issues including the status of the moratorium, and services supporting global value chains. In considering these and any other proposals, some Members emphasized the importance of past 'references' for starting a 
discussion. These could include Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration and its related 
elements, and the April 2011 Report of the Chair of  the Special Session. The key importance of the 
development dimension was mentioned by many. Some Members highlighted the importance of 
eventual progress to be made on the rules side, in particular on domestic regulation.  
1.56.  Several types of ideas had emerged from the discussion. First, on exploring how to move 
the request and offer process forward, starting  at where Members were, and keeping in mind 
references such as Annex C. Second, on maki ng progress in rule-making such as domestic 
regulation. In addition to these ideas, the EU had put forward three new proposals regarding trade 
facilitation for services, certain e-commerce topics, and services relating to global value chains. 
1.57.  In considering these issues and ideas, th e Chairman wished to recall to Members the six 
principles expressed by the Chairman of the TNC that were important in all discussions: centrality 
of development, doability, balance with ot her pillars, creativity and open mindedness, 
inclusiveness and transparency, and urgency. He encouraged delegations with specific proposals 
for the Work Programme to submit them, in writte n form if possible, to the Special Session. He 
noted that he would be summarizing the discussion just held at the next meeting of TNC. 
1.58.  The Chairman proposed that the Council take note of the statements made, and it was so 
agreed. 
2  ITEM B - OTHER BUSINESS 2.1.  Since there was no other business, the meeting was adjourned. 
__________