RESTRICTED  
  
S/CSC/M/70  
 
11 June 2014  
(14-3366) Page: 1/4  
 
Committee on Specific Commitments    
 
 REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7 MAY 2014 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC) held a meeting on 7 May 2014, first chaired by 
M s  M o n i c a  N a g e l g a a r d  f r o m  N o r w a y ,  t h e n  b y  M r .  F e l i p e  S a n d o v a l  Z a m o r a n o  f r o m  C h i l e .  T h e  agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/4292, was adopted. 
 
1  THE APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHAIRPERSON 
1.1.  The outgoing Chairperson, for transparency purposes, reported to the Committee on the 
consultations she had undertaken in March 2014 on possible future work. More specifically, on 
classification issues, delegations had been invited to consider whether, building upon the previous 
exercise, there were any issues that would warran t further reflection for the benefit of future 
negotiations. These issues could include, for exampl e, services not explicitly referred to in W/120. 
Related questions in this regard might be where these services should fall in W/120, or whether they were genuinely new services. With respec t to scheduling issues, questions suggested for 
consideration were: Would delegations have an interest in undertaking a review of scheduling 
issues in the Committee? If yes, how was it to be conducted? Would it be helpful to have an 
illustrative list of scheduling issues for discussion? What support did delegations expect from the Secretariat? 
1.2.  Delegations recognized the importance of the Committee. They however had differed at the 
urgency and priority to be accorded to different issues. A number of delegations had stressed the need to maintain the momentum of the Committee, and had come up with specific ideas on 
subsequent work that would contribute to future negotiations. Nevertheless, some other Members 
had indicated that the Committee's work should be driven by negotiations, and thus there was no 
urgency at this stage to embark on any particular work exercise. 
1.3.  Concerning specific work, several ideas had been floated during the consultations. Some 
Members had been in favour of further discussions on  the classification of ICT-related services as 
well as on the issue of new services. There had also been suggestions for a comprehensive review of scheduling issues, starting with a factual presen tation by the Secretariat, and an exercise of 
sharing scheduling experiences Members might have gained in services PTAs. 
1.4.  This meeting would give the whole membersh ip an opportunity to react to these ideas, put 
forward new ideas and hopefully provide clearer guidance to future work of the Committee. The 
Chairperson encouraged delegations to be more engaged in the Committee's work and make 
better use of this body. She stressed that it wo uld be a shame if this important Committee did not 
play its proper role. 
1.5.  She noted that the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Services had recently concluded 
his consultations on the slate of names for the Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies, and that Mr. 
Felipe Sandoval Zamorano from Chile was proposed for this Committee. She suggested that the Committee elect him as its new Chairperson by acclamation. 
1.6.  It was so agreed. 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. S/CSC/M/70 
 
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  2   ITEM B - CLASSIFICATION ISSUES 
2.1.  The new Chairperson recalled that the Committee's work over the past two years had been 
focused on the sectoral discussion on classification issues, which had highlighted challenges facing 
the 23-year old classification system (W/120 + the CPC provisional) due to dramatic technological 
and commercial changes. While the use of W/120 and CPC was not mandatory under the GATS, it 
had been recognized that a better understanding of classification would be beneficial for Members in clearly describing the scope of commitments  in the schedule. Members had engaged in 
substantive discussions with 14 sectors considered. The Secretariat had circulated the compilation 
(JOB/SERV/180) of the 40 documents produced in the exercise, which could serve as a good basis 
for future discussion. He then opened the floor, seeking views and suggestions on how to move forward from there and what should be the next step.  
2.2.  The representative of China thanked the Secretariat for the comprehensive compilation, 
believing that it would be a useful tool for furt her discussion. China endorsed the importance of the 
discussion in this Committee, not only for the benefits of future negotiations, but also for the 
current regulation of services.  
2.3.  The term of 'new services' appeared in several places in the document, accompanied by 
interesting comments. When discussing new services, China agreed with the Chairperson's 
suggestion in the annotated agenda that "one way for this Committee to deal with the issue of 
services not explicitly referred to in W/120 could be to have an illustrative list of this type of service". Afterwards Members could exchange views on the basis of this list. In working out such an illustrative list, social networking services and search engine services could be the candidates to 
be classified into new services, which emerged as result of technological developments in the 21st 
century.  
2.4.  China questioned whether a search engine  service provided, for example, by Google was 
within the scope of services defined in the GATS. If it was, was this service a telecommunication or 
a computer and related service? China noted that when using a search engine service, the user did not need to pay, since the search engine comp any's revenue was generated from its advertising 
business. As the GATS covered only services pr ovided on a commercial basis, the question was 
under which category should search engine services fall – advertising platform services, telecommunication or computer-related services? The 1991 CPC Provisional seemed inadequate to reflect the commercial reality or business model behind these services.  
2.5.  In the case of social networking services  like Facebook, the same question arose. People 
communicated with each other through the platform without paying any fees. Similarly, the suppliers of social networking services mostly collected their revenue from advertising services. 
China's preliminary view was that social networking services were not commercial services, but 
could be considered as a type of new service.  
2.6.  China welcomed Members' comments and questions on the attributes of new services.  
2.7.  The representative of Argentina noted that the compilation was a very useful document which 
could serve as a good basis for the future work of the Committee. The exercise was technical and 
neutral, and had produced good results. He thanked the Secretariat for its efforts and Members for their contribution in this regard.  
2.8.  The representative of the United States noted the challenges facing the Chair and his 
predecessor. The work of the Committee was important, and issues related to ICT services and 
new services were interesting. But these issues could not be addressed in a vacuum. The 
Committee needed Members' proposals with particular issues identified. In this spirit, he welcomed 
the questions raised by China on social networking  and search engine services. The reason that it 
was challenging to look into classification issues was that Members needed to be careful about 
calling into question the existing commitments covered in their schedules. Relevant questions 
included new services versus new ways of providing old services and the distinction between certain telecommunication services and computer related services. On the latter distinction, if both telecom and computer related services were open, the issue was less critical. However, problems 
would arise in cases where telecom was restrictive and computer related services were open. The S/CSC/M/70 
 
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  United States was reflecting on relevant classification issues, particularly in e-commerce, for 
example, cloud computing. This could be an i ssue to be raised in the CSC as well.    
2.9.  The representative of Cuba indicated that he had received a number of questions on 
education, health and tourism services from his ca pital with respect to previous discussions in the 
Committee. These could be a contribution to the compilation in JOB/SERV/180. He asked whether 
he should send these questions to the Secretariat and Members.  
2.10.  The representative of Chinese Taipei said that her delegation attached great importance to 
the work of the Committee. Although the discussion on classification issues might not produce 
immediate outcomes due to the impasse of the DDA negotiations, these issues needed to be 
tackled sooner or later in future negotiations. In order to maintain the function of this Committee and regain momentum, discussions were necessary. She thanked the Secretariat for compiling 
documents produced in previous discussions. Building on this compilation, a number of issues 
could be examined further, for example, how modern  technologies were affecting trade in services, 
in particular in ICT related services. In this regard, Members could consider whether certain 
services were genuinely new services, or new ways of delivering services. As to how to proceed 
with the discussion, an illustrative list prepared by the Secretariat could be a good starting point, which should include background information and previous discussions.  
2.11.  The Chairperson noted real interest in the issue of new services as well as different 
perspectives on how to approach it. This could lead to interesting discussions in the Committee. 
Referring to the terms of reference of the Committee, he thought that the negotiation process should not affect such discussion.  
2.12.  The representative of Australia noted that the Committee on Financial Services was 
preparing a note on new services. She wondered whether this Committee could revert to the issue 
of new services when the note was issued, which might provide some food for thought.   
2.13.  The representative of the Secretariat recalled that the note currently being prepared for the 
Committee on Financial Services was a factual account of previous discussions concerning new 
services, notably under the e-commerce work programme.  
2.14.  The representative of China reiterated his suggestion that the Committee hold discussions 
on new services starting with a comprehensive illus trative list including social networking services, 
search engine services and cloud computing, which would also be useful for internal consultations.  
2.15.  The representative of the European Union noted the suggestions made by other delegations 
on new services. His delegation might come back with additional ideas to feed the discussion. 
2.16.  The representative of the United States indicated that the fact the services were included in 
the list did not imply that these services were not captured by the existing commitments or 
classification. The list should not produce the impression that a new category was created. 
2.17.  The representative of the Secretariat said that the document to be prepared by the 
Secretariat would list the services referred to by delegations as candidates for new services, 
including those services identified at this meeting, without prejudice to the positions Members 
might have.  
2.18.  The Chairperson suggested that the Secretariat start to work on the list covering the 
services raised by delegations in previous discu ssions. He also suggested that the Committee take 
note of the statements made and revert to this item at its next meeting.  
2.19.  It was so agreed.  
3   ITEM C - SCHEDULING ISSUES 
3.1.  The Chairperson recalled that there had been  no substantive discussion on scheduling issues 
in the past two or three years. This might be due to lack of progress in DDA negotiations. He noted 
that some possible work had been suggested by  a number of Members during his predecessor's S/CSC/M/70 
 
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  consultations, including a comprehensive review of scheduling issues and sharing scheduling 
experience gained in services PTAs.  
3.2.  The representative of Canada stated that the Committee should address specific issues 
Members had in their schedules. There was no great value in pursuing an academic discussion on 
scheduling practices. 
3.3.  The representative of the United States echoed the statement by Canada. As the Post-Bali 
period was starting to take shape, the United States might be in a better position to provide inputs 
to the discussion in the Committee. It did not want to embark on a detailed examination or 
rehashing of old discussions. In the absence of true negotiations, scheduling issues, while academically interesting, would not generate much interest in the US capital. 
3.4.  The Chairperson said that he remained open to consultations on this agenda item. He 
suggested that the Committee take note of the st atements made and the Committee revert to this 
item at its next meeting.  
3.5.  It was so agreed.  
4   ITEM D - OTHER BUSINESS 4.1.  There was no intervention under this item . The Chairperson then adjourned the meeting.  
 
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