S/CSC/19  
 
29 October 2013  
(13-5974)  Page: 1/2  
   
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS 
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRAD E IN SERVICES (2013) 
Since its Annual Report of 2012 to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Committee on Specific 
Commitments (CSC) held three formal meetings, respectively on 6 December 2012, 
20 March 2013 and 20 June 2013.2  During the period covered by this report, the Committee 
addressed three items:  classification issues; scheduling issues; and the review of procedures 
under Article XXI.   
1  CLASSIFICATION ISSUES  1.1.  The examination of classification issues ba sed on the Secretariat's sectoral Background Notes 
continued to be the focus of the Committee's work this year.  As in the previous year, in order to 
facilitate exchange of view, discussions were carried out in informal mode, and an informal, non-
attributable summary of the discussion was circul ated to Members after each meeting under the 
Chairperson's responsibility.  During the reportin g period, services sectors that were considered 
under this item include: postal and courier, distribution, maritime transport, logistics, and legal 
services.  To stimulate discussions, for each sector  under examination, the Secretariat prepared an 
informal Note providing an overview of relevant classification issues and suggesting specific 
questions for Members' consideration (JOB/SERV/110, JOB/SERV/111, JOB/SERV/129, 
JOB/SERV/137, and JOB/SERV/138).   
1.2.  With a view to adding input to the Commi ttee's sectoral discussion under this item, at the 
request of the Committee, the Secretariat also prepared a background Note (S/CSC/W/61 and 
Corr.1) examining services classification issues arising in the WTO jurisprudence, including the 
interpretative approach applied by panels and the Appellate Body.  Discussions were undertaken based on this Note as well.   
1.3.  At the meeting on 20 March 2013, the Trade Statistics Section of the WTO Secretariat made 
a presentation on guidelines set out in the new IMF Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6) and the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services with respect to the classification of 
international transactions related to intellectual property products (IPPs).  
2  SCHEDULING ISSUES 2.1.  There was no substantive discussion under this item during the reporting period.  At the 
meeting of 20 June 2013, it was suggested that Members could share scheduling experiences that 
had been gained outside the WTO on an intellectual and educational basis so as to ensure the 
uniformity and clarity of services commitments in future negotiations.  The Chairperson is holding consultations on how to proceed with this proposal.  
                                               
1 S/CSC/18, dated 6 December 2012. 
2 The reports of the formal  meetings are contained in documents S/CSC/M/65-67, and should be read in 
conjunction with this report. S/CSC/19 
 
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  3   REVIEW OF THE OPERATION OF PROCEDURES UNDER ARTICLE XXI 
3.1.  This item was included in the agenda since October 2012 at the request of Australia.  Under 
this item, Members shared their experiences with using the Procedures for the Implementation of 
Article XXI of the GATS (document S/L/80), and the Procedures for the Certification of 
Rectifications or Improvements to Schedules (d ocument S/L/84), adopted by the Council for Trade 
in Services respectively in July 1999 and April 2000.  As agreed, to facilitate the exercise, the Secretariat prepared, on the basis of publicly available information, a factual Note containing a 
statistical account of the application of these procedures to date.  It was circulated in document 
JOB/SERV/123.   
3.2.  At the meeting on 6 December 2012, the Committee held informal discussions under this 
item, and a non-attributable summary was circulated under the Chairperson's responsibility 
(JOB/SERV/131).  A number of important issues were raised in the discussion, concerning inter 
alia the invocation of Article XXI, timing of negotiations, conclusion of the process, and 
consolidation and distribution of the results of negotiation. 
3.3.  There was no further substantive discussion at subsequent meetings during the reporting 
period.  It was agreed that th e Committee would revert to this item at a future meeting. 
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