S/WPGR/25  
 
17 November 2014  
(14-6738)  Page: 1/2  
  
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRAD E IN SERVICES (2014) 
 
Since its Annual Report of 2013 to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Working Party on GATS 
Rules (WPGR) held four formal meetings, respectively on 29 October 2013, 25 February, 7 May and 18 September 2014.
2 During the period covered by this report, the Working Party continued to 
engage in discussions on all three GATS Rules to pics. Progress, however, was limited due notably 
to the overall context of the DDA negotiations.   1  NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SA FEGUARD MEASURES (ARTICLE X) 
1.1.  In 2014, the Working Party commenced a dedicated discussion on emergency safeguard 
provisions in regional trade agreements (RTA s) – as proposed by the 'Friends of ESM'
3 in their 
October 2013 Communication entitled "Emergency Safeguard Measures (ESM) in Regional and 
Bilateral Trade Agreements: A Proposed Dedicated Discussion".4 The proponents presented the 
ESM provisions contained in several RTAs involving them either individually or collectively, explaining the political economy reasons for adopting these provisions. So far, none of the 
proponents has ever invoked a safeguard measure in services. A Note from the Chairperson
5 
summarizes the views expressed in the February 2014 dedicated discussion. Furthermore, at the 
request of the Members, the Secretariat prepared an updated factual Note providing a consolidated list of safeguard–type and safeguard–related prov isions for trade in services in some 122 RTAs 
notified to the WTO under GATS Article V:7.
6  At the September 2014 meeting, several delegations 
made preliminary comments on the Note. The ESM proponents informed delegations that the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which acceded to the WTO in February 2013 and was a signatory to 
ASEAN's FTAs, had joined the 'Friends of ESM'. 
2  NEGOTIATIONS ON GOVERNMENT  PROCUREMENT (ARTICLE XIII) 
2.1.  As previously agreed by Members, the Working Party discussed a preliminary version of the 
WTO Staff Working Paper entitled "The Relationship between Services Trade and Government 
Procurement Commitments: Insights from Relevant  WTO Agreements and Recent RTAs" prepared, 
in their personal capacity, by staff members from the Secretariat's TRIPS Division in charge of the GPA and the Trade in Services Division.
7 The Paper analyses commitments' coverage with respect 
to procurement of services, including approaches  to scheduling, both in the GPA and the GATS, 
and in the 68 regional trade agreements identified as covering services procurement. Following two rounds of discussion in the Working Party, in October 2013 and February 2014, in the course 
of which delegations provided many useful suggestions for improvement, a more in-depth 
discussion of the final version of the Staff Work ing Paper is expected to take place in 2015. 
                                               
1 S/WPGR/24, dated 29 October 2013.  
2 The reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/WPGR/M/82 to 85, and should be read in 
conjunction with this report.  
3 The following delegations,  as proponents on emergency safeguards in services, constitute the 'Friends 
of ESM": Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. 
4 JOB/SERV/163, Communication from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, 
Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, dated 18 October 2013.  
5 JOB/SERV/186, dated 5 May 2014. 
6 S/WPGR/W/64, dated 4 September 2014. 
7 The views expressed in the Paper are the authors' personal responsibility and should not be attributed 
to the WTO or its Secretariat. S/WPGR/25 
 
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  3  NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBSIDIES (ARTICLE XV) 
3.1.  Upon request from the Working Party, the Secretariat issued a revised version of its 
Background Note entitled "Subsidies for Services Sectors ‒ Information contained in WTO Trade 
Policy Reviews".8 The difference with previous versions is  that Addendum 7 structures the updated 
empirical evidence on subsidy programmes (based on information contained in WTO Trade Policy 
Review reports by the Secretariat) according to individual service sectors. Several delegations 
welcomed the updated Background Note; others underlined that it did not identify any trade 
distortions related to the subsidies described. More conceptual work would be needed to better 
understand how subsidies are provided and what trade effects they might have.  
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8 Document S/WPGR/W/25/Add.7, dated 17 April 2014.