S/C/N/812  
 
27 July 2015  
(15-3834)  Page: 1/2  
Council for Trade in Services  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE WITH RESPECT TO  
THE MINISTERIAL DECISION CONCERNING PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO SERVICES 
AND SERVICE SUPPLIERS OF LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
The following notification from the delegation of Singapore, dated 24 July 2015, is being circulated 
to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.  
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1.   The Government of the Republic of Sing apore has the honour to refer to the decision 
by Ministers at the WTO’s Eighth Ministerial Conference on the waiver from GATS Article II:1 to 
provide preferential treatment to services and service-suppliers of least-developed countries 
(WT/L/87) (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministerial Decision of 17 December 2011”). 
Paragraph 1 of the Ministerial Decision of 17 December 2011 provides that: “Notwithstanding 
the provisions of Article II:1 of the GATS, Me mbers may provide preferential treatment to 
services and service suppliers of least-developed countries with respect to the application of 
measures described in Article XVI and any other measures as may be annexed to this waiver, 
than to like services and service suppliers of other Members. Any such treatment shall be granted immediately and unconditionally to like services and service suppliers of all least-developed country Members. Preferential treatmen t with respect to the application of measures 
other than those described in Article XVI, is subject to approval by the Council for Trade in 
Services in accordance with its procedures and will be annexed to this waiver.” 
2.   The Government of the Republic of Singapore has the further honour to refer to the 
decision by Ministers at the WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference on Operationalization of the 
Waiver Concerning Preferential Treatment to Se rvices and Service Suppliers of Least Developed 
Countries  (WT/L/918) (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministerial Decision of 7 December 
2013”). Paragraph 1.2 of the Ministerial Decision of 7 December 2013 provides that: “With a 
view to accelerating the process of securing meaningful preferences for LDCs’ services and service suppliers, the Council for Trade in Serv ices shall convene a Hi gh-level meeting six 
months after the submission of an LDC collecti ve request identifying the sectors and modes of 
supply of particular export interest to them . At that meeting, developed and developing 
Members, in a position to do so, shall indicate  sectors and modes of supply where they intend 
to provide preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers.” 
3.   The Government of the Republic of  Singapore welcomes The Collective Request 
Pursuant to the Bali Decision on the Operationali zation of the Waiver Concerning Preferential 
Treatment to Services and Service Suppliers of Least-Developed Countries (S/C/W/356) dated 
21 July 2014, and the High-Level Meeting of the Council for Trade in Services which was held 
on 5 February 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the “High-Level Meeting”). At the High-Level 
Meeting, the Government of the Republic of Singapore indicated certain sectors and certain modes of supply where it intends to provide preferential treatment to least-developed country 
Members services and service suppliers.  
4.   Paragraph 2 of the Ministerial Decision of 17 December 2011 provides that “Each 
Member according preferential treatment pursuant to the waiver shall submit a notification to 
the Council for Trade in Services. The notification  shall specify the preferential treatment made 
available, the sectors or sub-sectors concerned and the period of time during which the Member is intending to maintain those preferences. A supplemental notification shall be made if the 
preferential treatment is subsequently modified . The notifications shall be made before the 
preferential treatment is granted or modified.” S/C/N/812 
 
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  5.   With reference to the above, the Gove rnment of the Republic of Singapore has the 
honour to notify the Council for Trade in Services that the Republic of Singapore hereby provides preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of least-developed countries in 
respect of market access for Mode 2 (consumption abroad) and Mode 3 (commercial presence) 
supply of service only, with respect to the following sub-sectors: 
 CPC 97011 Laundry collection services 
 CPC 97012 Textile and fur product cleaning services 
 CPC 97013 Dry cleaning services 
 CPC 97014 Pressing services 
 CPC 97015 Dyeing and colouring services 
6.   The Government of the Republic of Singapore has the further honour to notify the 
Council for Trade in Services that such preferential treatment will be provided with effect from 
1 August 2015 and it intends to maintain such preferential treatment whilst the waiver under 
the Ministerial Decision of 17 December 2011 remains in force. 
 
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