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TN/S/M/43  
 
4 June 2014  
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Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session    
 
 REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1 APRIL 2014 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
On 1 April, the Special Session held a meeting under the chairmanship of 
Ambassador Gabriel Duque. The outgoing Chairman, Ambassador Fernando de Mateo, opened the 
meeting, and secured the adoption of the agenda contained in paragraph 2 of document 
WTO/AIR/4270. 
1  ITEM A – ELECTION OF THE NEW CHAIRPERSON 
1.1.  The outgoing Chairman said that, based on  the consensus reached in the General Council, he 
was pleased to pass on the chairmanship of the Special Session to Ambassador Gabriel Duque of 
Colombia. He was confident that he would guide the future work of the Special Session with skill 
and efficiency. For his part, the outgoing Chairman said he had occupied this position for over 
eight years. During that period there had been ups and downs, but throughout he had thoroughly 
enjoyed the work. The cooperative and constructive approach by delegations had allowed Members 
to make progress where it was possible, despite difficulties arising in other areas of the DDA. He 
thanked the Secretariat for its valuable support. 
1.2.  He proposed that the Special Session elect Ambassador Duque by acclamation as the new 
Chairman. It was so agreed. 
1.3.  The new Chairman thanked Ambassador de Ma teo for his kind words and hard work chairing 
the Special Session over so many years. All delegations recognized Ambassador de Mateo's 
tremendous personal qualities, and the great skil l with which he had navigated the services talks 
through often troubled waters. For his part, it was an honour to become Chairman of the Special 
Session. He thanked all delegations for their trust and was sure he could count on their full support. He would do his best to chair the Special Session in a fair and transparent way and was 
confident that with delegations' cooperation and the Secretariat's assistance the work would move 
forward smoothly and fruitfully. 
2  ITEM B – EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON THE POST-BALI WORK PROGRAMME 2.1.  The Chairman said that in early February, the TNC Chairman had asked Chairs of the 
negotiating groups to start a dialogue with Members on the issues that could be taken forward. 
The purpose was to make progress toward an ag reement by the end of the year on a post-Bali 
Work Programme. To this end, the previous Chairman had begun consultations in various 
configurations, culminating in an open-ended informal meeting of this body on 12 March. During 
that meeting, delegations had expressed their init ial views on the content of the Work Programme. 
2.2.  Since the General Council decision to entrust him with this new role, the Chairman said that 
he had prepared himself by undertaking preliminary consultations with many delegations. These 
consultations had become more pressing when he had learnt that he would be asked to present a 
                                               
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/43 
 
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  written Report and oral summary at the upcoming meeting of the TNC. The exchange of views on 
the post-Bali Work Programme to be undertaken in the present meeting would be important in producing that Report. 
2.3.  Before opening the floor for delegations' views, the Chairman described briefly what he had 
heard from many delegations in the ongoing informal consultations that he had conducted over the 
past few days. There were five main themes that he had pursued with the delegations consulted: (i) the role of services and its relationship wi th the agriculture and NAMA discussions; (ii) the 
scope of issues to be included in the discussions in  services; (iii) the relevant actions to be taken 
before reaching the point of revised offers, and that could be part of the Work Programme; (iv) any views on the development dimension of services; and finally (v) any general advice for 
conducting this process. 
2.4.  First and foremost, he had heard of a willingness to move forward, in parallel with the other 
DDA market access areas, with a view to ensuring  balance across the three pillars. Progress within 
services also needed to be balanced, as betw een rule-making and market access. Development 
was seen as a very important element. Many took the view that the plurilat eral talks on services 
taking place outside the WTO should be treated as  a parallel process, to prevent negative spill-
overs. 
2.5.  Procedurally, there needed to be transparen cy and inclusiveness, concentrating on what was 
'doable'. There was recognition that a key future step on the market access side of the negotiations would be reaching the point of ha ving revised offers. Some initial ideas were 
advanced on helping to move forward the talks, including discussing the progress made in the 
past, organizing events to deepen knowledge, and focusing talks on synergies between groups of 
services. Delegations in many cases said their views were preliminary, and needed further analysis in capitals. At this stage these tentative views we re normal. However, it was clear that delegations 
needed to move as quickly as possible to specifics in coordination with the progress made in other 
areas of the Work Programme.  
2.6.  The Chairman then opened the floor for an exchange of views among delegations on the 
post-Bali Work Programme. In order to advance the discussion, he urged delegations to be as 
practical and constructive as possible, with specific suggestions where appropriate. 
2.7.  The delegation of Singapore agreed with the Chairman's views on the consultations he had 
conducted. He noted that in the past the sequ ential negotiating approach between the three 
market access pillars might have been an obstacle to reaching a satisfactory outcome. More 
generally, it was useful to look to the past fo r what went wrong and what went right. Looking 
forward, Singapore supported the Chairman's call fo r constructive engagement. In doing so, it was 
important to achieve a balance between rules and market access, given the special role of rules in 
the services area, and to take account of current market realities.  
2.8.  The delegation of Venezuela said that agricu lture remained at the centre of the DDA and that 
appropriate balance had to be established be tween the three market access pillars of the 
negotiations. Venezuela stressed the importance of the single undertaking and hoped that priority would be given to outstanding issues in the DDA, such as those related to LDCs, as well as topics where no binding outcomes could be reached in the Bali Ministerial Meeting. The delegation did not 
support the plurilateral negotiations on services in the context of the Trade in Services Agreement 
(TISA) nor its purported multilateralization. Such agreement would have a negative impact on the multilateral system. The level of ambition sought  in such a type of agreement did not correspond 
to what could realistically be achieved in the WTO. 
2.9.  The delegation of Hong Kong, China prefac ed his remarks by noting that the new Chairman 
had named his informal consultation forum the 'Frijolada'. He likened this Colombian dish to the 
current negotiations - a high-ambition super-thick stew in which there was no 'sequencing' for 
cooking the ingredients. It could be eaten as a 'single undertaking', but also tasted good when eaten in 'small packages'. 
2.10.  The delegation of Hong Kong, China did no t wish to repeat statements made in recent 
informal meetings of the Special Session. At this point, it was enough to say that it strongly looked TN/S/M/43 
 
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  forward to meaningful engagement in all aspects of the services agenda, and would fully support 
the Chairman's efforts in the regard. 
2.11.  The delegation of China fully supported the reinvigoration of the multilateral service 
negotiations. It was encouraging to see that Members widely shared the view that services should 
be an important part of the Post-Bali Work Programme, and considered that it was necessary to 
put multilateral services negotiations back on track as soon as possible. This was in the interest of all, since services trade was becoming an increasingly important part of the economies of both 
developing and developed countries.  
2.12.  On the way forward in the services negotiations, it was important to keep an open mind. 
Now was the time for delegations to plant the seed s and let them grow. Work needed to start now 
so that delegations could have, at the appropriate time, a better picture of what the services 
harvest could be in a broader context.  
2.13.  Development needed to remain at the ce ntre of the service negotiations. The capacity 
constraints and development needs of developing Members had to be taken into full consideration. 
Traditional sectors and modes of supply of key interest to developing countries, such as mode 4, 
tourism, and maritime transport needed to be given priority and new areas where developing countries might have export potential had to be identified. Equal emphasis had to be put on the 
timely implementation of the LDC waiver, so that  LDC suppliers could share the benefits of the 
expansion of services trade. 
2.14.  The delegation welcomed the higher leve l of ambition set by the TISA participants, but 
wished to emphasize that the multilateral negotiations should remain the main channel for 
advancing the trade agenda. Since it was a shared  objective of both TISA and the multilateral 
services negotiations to pursue greater liberalization, it would be a meaningful exercise to explore ways in which TISA could contribute to WTO negotiations.  
2.15.  The delegation of Saudi Arabia acknowledged that the services negotiations were at an 
impasse. To facilitate swifter progress, delegati ons needed to explore more fully new roads and 
avenues that would put them on the highway leading to the final destination: the conclusion of 
Doha Round. While drawing up a road map, delegations had to ensure that the passengers – the 
three market access pillars of agriculture, NAMA and services – were aboard and treated in a fair 
and a balanced manner. In order to ensure a safe, comfortable journey on a well-maintained vehicle travelling under to good conditions, delega tions had to respect certain rules and codes such 
as transparency, inclusiveness and openness that would be the headlights to light the way. To 
keep the vehicle on track, there was a need to fo cus on an appropriate level of ambition, and to 
take into consideration the development dimension of the DDA all along the way. 
2.16.  The delegation of Bolivia stressed that the services negotiations did not take place in a 
vacuum, but rather in the broader context of the DDA. Consequently, balance in terms of the 
intensity of the negotiations had to be achieved across the three market access pillars, in 
particular agriculture which was of interest to the majority of developing countries. Agriculture 
continued to be at the centre of the Round. The delegation hoped to see progress in this area, 
rather than backward movement. The level of ambition on services had to be commensurate with that on agriculture. The delegation also indicated that any work programme had to take into 
account the implementation of LDCs modalities. 
2.17.  The delegation did not favour a 'cherry-picking' approach. Trying to negotiate small 
packages of deliverables would weaken the single undertaking, and was not an approach favoured 
by the majority of developing countries. Regarding plurilateral negotiations taking place outside 
the WTO, the delegation did not support such types of approaches. 
2.18.  The delegation of Chinese Taipei supported the reinvigoration of the services negotiations. 
Regarding the Post-Bali work on services, it thought that the three core issues - agriculture, NAMA 
and services – should be balanced and treated as a trinity. In other words, no single issue should be treated independently of the other two. Market  access and domestic regulation were, above all, 
the two items mature enough to be the starting point for the Post-Bali work on services. There was 
a need to avoid the failures of the past, and to be open to exploring different negotiating 
approaches, according to the MC8 guidance, while taking into account the needs and flexibilities of TN/S/M/43 
 
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  Members at different levels of development, including the RAM Members who had made extensive 
commitments at the time of their accession. Furt hermore, the FIT principle (full participation, 
inclusiveness and transparency) had to be  respected throughout the process.  
2.19.  The delegation of Uruguay said it was ready to move forward in a significant manner in the 
services negotiations, in particular with respect to market access and but also in the more 
technical areas. Progress had to be in line with that taking place in other pillars of the negotiations, especially agriculture, which would determine the level of ambition in other pillars. 
Services was a sector of increasing importance in the world economy, including because of their 
reinforcing effect on goods trade and positive impact on competitiveness. There were various examples in Uruguay of services sectors that were growing very rapidly, generating quality jobs, and underpinning goods trade. 
2.20.  The delegation of India said it had explaine d its basic views on services in a recent enchilada 
meeting, as well as in the recent informal meeting of the Special Session. However, it wished to 
reiterate some of the basic points. In its view, any discussion to develop the Post-Bali Work 
Programme in services had to respect the following major points. 
2.21.  First, development was at the heart of the Doha Round, and needed to be preserved as a 
central pillar. It had to inform all areas of the post-Bali negotiations. Thus, under the services 
negotiations, it was essential to ensure that there were no imbalances. It was necessary that the 
development needs and constraints of developing countries were taken into account in other Member’s requests, and the sectors of export interest to developing countries were fully reflected in the offers from other Members. However, in the past there had been a continued failure to 
deliver on the development mandate. Among other things, in order to succeed, there would be a 
need to see commitments in areas and sectors of export interest to developing countries. A critical aspect of the development dimension of the Do ha Round under the services pillar was the 
operationalization of the LDC services waiver. India appealed to all Members to work towards the 
early operationalization of this waiver. 
2.22.  Second, it was essential to keep in mind that for the conclusion of the Doha Round the level 
of ambition had to be calibrated by that in  agriculture. However, Members had to work 
simultaneously in all three areas of negotiations to develop a realistic, meaningful and doable post-Bali Work Programme. Any such discussion would have to be within the mandate of the DDA. Members could not throw away the valuable work th at had already been done in the services area 
– on the contrary, they had to build on it.  
2.23.  Third, Members had to be careful there was no 'cherry-picking' of issues to be included in 
the Work Programme. They had to decide collectiv ely to conclude the DDA on the basis of the 
single undertaking at one final go, and not try to take several bites at it, since the latter would not 
succeed.  
2.24.  Finally, India was keen to hold discussion s on defining the post-Bali Work Programme on 
services as long as the final outcome satisfied th e basic mandate of inclusiveness, transparency, a 
single undertaking, and the strengthening of multilateralism. Any discussion had to be based on a multilateral consensus, firmly anchored within the Doha Mandate. Any such initiative had also to respect the development mandate which was at the core of the Round. 
2.25.  The delegation of Egypt said it was committed to positively engage in the process for the 
preparations leading to the Post-Bali Work Programme. It wished to reiterate some of the 
principles which would be useful in moving the work forward. First, since Egypt supported the 
multilateral trading system, and the negotiations under the WTO, it would be concerned about any 
negative effect resulting from parallel tracks of negotiations within the WTO. Second, it was important to address the concerns of Members in an equitable manner. Third, there was a need to 
have a balanced outcome among the negotiating pillars, and within the services pillar itself, taking 
into consideration the centrality of agriculture. Finally, there had to be recognition of the role of development as the core cross-cutting goal of the DDA. 
2.26.   The delegation of the United States was willing to explore all options for a work programme 
on market access for services. Any outcome from a work programme would have to be balanced TN/S/M/43 
 
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  across each of the three market access areas. With in each of these areas an internal balance also 
had to be reached. 
2.27.  The broad DDA objectives of the United States for market access in services were to 
substantially reduce the 'water' in commitments and to achieve new market access. Without new 
market access, an agreement would not be of great interest to stakeholders. The overall 
environment for services looked vastly different today than 12 years ago. In order to remain relevant to stakeholders, trade commitments  needed to reflect that new reality. 
2.28.  Within these broad objectives, a wide range of options were available. Many Members had 
done substantially more in bilateral or regional trade agreements to undertake commitments that reflected current practice. Binding that level of openness in the WTO would help the multilateral system keep up and provide a good basis upon wh ich to pursue new market access. Other options 
that could be considered included focusing on particular sectors where services liberalization was 
particularly relevant in today’s global economy. There were many different combinations that could be explored in shaping a work programme. In addition, delegations would have to examine 
questions that remained unanswered, for example,  had positions of Members really changed since 
these issues had last been discussed? If Members were asking the same questions, would they be 
getting the same answers? If so, were Members headed for the same outcome? 
2.29.  Regarding plurilateral negotiations, the United States saw no reason why aspects of the 
Doha Agenda could not be pursed in parallel with  work on other agreements. All delegations were 
accustomed to working in multiple venues. Focus had to be put on developing a WTO work programme that was relevant and sufficiently compelling to justify the support of the Members. 
2.30.  The delegation of Uganda, on behalf of the LDC group, said that LDCs were currently 
undertaking internal consultations within the group and with capitals, and that their views were 
therefore preliminary. They thought that the Bali  Ministerial Declaration provided a very good 
starting point on the way forward. Ministers had directed that issues in the Bali Package where 
legally binding outcomes could not be achieved would be prioritised. To that end, LDCs called upon Members to prioritise work on the operat ionalization of the LDC services waiver. 
2.31.  While the LDC group was working tirelessly  on the submission of a collective request, 
Members should not restrain themselves on vol untarily and proactively extending preferences to 
LDCs' services and service suppliers, consistent with the waiver Decision, and which would have commercial value and promote economic benefits to LDCs.  
2.32.  With regard to the work in the Special Session, LDCs noted that negotiations should start 
from the point where they were stopped in 2011. The LDCs' concerns and interests needed to be 
duly reflected in the work of the Special Session. Development had to be the pillar of the 
negotiations. Progress was needed on all fronts, and nothing should be excluded. 
2.33.   Plurilateral approaches would undermine the value of the multilateral trading system. The 
LDC preference was for a multilateral approach that addressed issues that had a global 
development dimension. Overall, the principles of  transparency and inclusiveness needed to be 
respected.  
2.34.  The delegation of Australia did not wish to repeat its position, but wanted to highlight a few 
points. There was a need to ensure that the discussion of services in the post-Bali work 
programme was commensurate with the importance of services in the global economy, and with 
the other pillars of the negotiation. Services needed to be looked at together with agriculture and NAMA. Australia would be looking for an ambitious,  doable work programme on services, including 
meaningful market access and rules, including domestic regulation. This was commensurate with 
what Australia would be looking for in the other pillars of the negotiation. Australia was open-minded about how Members went about their work. Finally, while the focus was on concluding the 
negotiations, there was a need to think carefully about how Members approached the elements of 
the Doha Round agenda, to make sure they did not repeat the mistakes of the past. 
2.35.  The delegation of Argentina said that trade in services was an important part of the world 
economy, as well as that of the country. It want ed to see greater growth of services trade and 
greater participation of developing countries. However, the services negotiations were not dealt TN/S/M/43 
 
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  with in isolation in the DDA. Other areas of negotiations were much less advanced than services, 
where modalities had been finalized and what remained was the submission of revised offers. 
2.36.  Services negotiations had to be guided by the same level of ambition and political will as in 
other important areas of the post-Bali Work Programme, in particular agriculture, where, 
unfortunately, much still had to be achieved. Argentina hoped that other Members would commit 
in these other areas at the same level achieved by Argentina in services liberalization. Without a clear sense of progress in other areas, in particular agriculture, it was very difficult for Argentina to 
have substantive discussions on services. Recent discussions on agriculture did not raise 
Argentina's level of optimism. If the problems we re the same as before, the results would be the 
same. 
2.37.  Some delegations had wished to erode the balance between areas of negotiation by trying 
to get rid of the concept of sequencing. This concept figured in the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration, where it was agreed that the final services offers would only be presented after agreement on modalities for NAMA and agriculture. Furthermore, the offers and signals given by 
developed countries in response to requests from  developing countries had not been satisfactory. 
Greater efforts were needed in that regard. 
2.38.  With respect to plurilateral negotiations on services that were taking place outside the WTO, 
Argentina recalled that paragraph 7 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration 
established that results of negotiations taking place on a plurilateral basis had to be extended on the basis of MFN treatment. It would be interesting to hear the views of participants to these negotiations on this matter, in particular whether all of them shared the objective of 
multilateralizing the results of these negotiations. 
2.39.  In conclusion, Argentina said that delegations had to consider what could be realistically 
achieved on services. Argentina was ready to hear the suggestions of other Members on how to 
carry out the services component of the negotiations so as to yield a just and balanced outcome. 
2.40.  The delegation of Brazil indicated that it was engaged in its own process of internal 
consultations, which involved assessments both from the government and the private sector. 
Brazil was therefore not in a position to provide detailed views at this stage. Still, initial thoughts 
expressed earlier could be restated. Brazil believ ed that agriculture was the centrepiece of the 
negotiations, but acknowledged that it was necessa ry to move forward on NAMA and services in 
order to achieve a long overdue outcome in agricu lture. Negotiations in services and NAMA could 
not have a higher degree of ambition than in agriculture. If Members were serious about moving 
forward on services, very concrete signals had to be  seen in all elements of the agriculture pillar. 
Development objectives also had to be at the heart of all delegations' concerns. Accordingly, 
flexibilities for developing countries should be preserved.  
2.41.  The delegation of Bangladesh wished to add a few initial thoughts to the statement made by 
Uganda on behalf of the LDC group. In its view, the Bali Ministerial Declaration was a very good 
starting point and guidance on finding the way forward. Ministers had directed Members to 
prioritize work where legally binding outcomes could not be achieved. As such, there was a succinct indication of what remained to be done. Negotiators in the Uruguay Round had not been able to complete their negotiations, and had agreed on a built-in negotiating mandate. These 
were, no doubt, essential from the point of transpar ency, predictability and further liberalization of 
services trade. LDCs were disheartened to wait for so long in the search of an outcome. Liberalization and softening of the 'hard' commi tments and complex disciplines on domestic 
regulation could have some positive impact on LDC' s services trade. However, in most cases, LDCs 
were still at the very start of the technical discussion. 
2.42.  Services was an integral part and a si gnificant pillar of the overall trading system. 
Integration of LDCs into the multilateral tradin g system depended, to a great extent, on the 
outcome of the negotiations undertaken by the Special Session. In this regard, it was important to recall paragraph 3 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. Ministers called for the full and effective implementation of the Modalities fo r the special treatment of LDC Members in the 
negotiation on trade in services, with a view to the beneficial and meaningful integration of LDCs 
into the multilateral trading system. Although an LDC Services Waiver was in effect since 2011, no 
individual Members had yet granted preferences under it. In this light, there was a need to restart TN/S/M/43 
 
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  work in the Special Session where it paused in 2011, in particular putting emphasis on the full 
implementation of the LDC modalities. Regarding pl urilateral approaches, LDCs thought it was not 
an option to keep the multilateral process on the side-lines, in particular on an issue where every 
Member had interests.  
2.43.  The delegation of Canada saw services as an integral part of the Doha Development 
Agenda, and agreed that negotiations should be conducted in parallel with those on the other two 
market access pillars. Services liberalization was worthwhile in its own right. It should be possible 
to find an internal balance in the services pillar that satisfied all Members, and particularly 
addressed the needs of developing countries. Still , Canada recognized the inter-linkages between 
the pillars and supported an iterative process wher e the three pillars moved in lockstep. At this 
stage, Members should not unnecessarily narrow th e scope of the discussions. Nonetheless, there 
was an ongoing need for pragmatism in the discussions – pushing on red lines would quickly result 
in a return to impasse. 
2.44.  The delegation of Cuba said that agricultur e had to be the priority of the Doha negotiations. 
There had to be an adequate level of ambition and appropriate balance between agriculture, NAMA 
and services. The services negotiations had to take into account the development dimension of the DDA, and be limited to market access. On the basis of the Bali Ministerial Decision, priority had to 
be given to the operationalization of the waiver concerning preferential treatment for least-
developed countries. Cuba reiterated that the plurilateral negotiations taking place outside the WTO were not complementary to the DDA negotiations; they constituted a distinct process and were inconsistent with various provisions of the GATS relating to non-discrimination and 
transparency. Cuba rejected these plurilateral negotiations, which reduced policy space for 
developing countries through the establishment of higher standards that undermined the multilateral system. 
2.45.  The delegation of Costa Rica reiterated its commitment to the Doha Round and to the Bali 
mandate, especially in the area of services, whic h were essential in order to promote such other 
areas as agriculture and NAMA. A high level of ambition was necessary to advance in the three 
market access pillars. What could best contri bute to development was market openness, the 
elimination of distortions – those occurring in foreign markets as well as those occurring domestically – and the promotion of synergies be tween different areas, such as those linking 
services to many other sectors.  
2.46.  The delegation of Barbados, on behalf of SVEs, expressed its preference for a multilateral 
approach based on Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. Any future process needed 
to be guided by the principles of the GATS, and in  this regard flexibility needed to be given to 
developing countries, and due concern given to trade-related concerns of small economies and 
their developmental needs. The development objective of the Round needed to be central to any future discussion in trade in services, and had to be present in any negotiating outcome. SVEs 
stressed the importance of ensuring that the core  principles of transparency and inclusiveness 
were fully respected as the basis for further negotiation in trade in services. Targeted technical assistance as agreed in paragraph 10 of Annex C needed to be provided to developing countries to enable them to participate effectively in the negotiations. 
2.47.  The delegation of Switzerland said that services was a necessary component of the post-Bali 
work programme. Although market access was important, so was the development of rules since 
rules would operate to ensure that market access. 
2.48.  The delegation of Ecuador believed that the level of ambition in the services negotiations 
depended on advances that would be achieved in other areas, especially agriculture, which was of 
particular interest to developing countries. Balance also had to be achieved within the services 
negotiations. The negotiations should not be limited to market access, but also had to cover issues 
which had not been given all due attention, such as emergency safeguard measures. The representative also recalled that Ecuador had gone through the WTO accession process and had undertaken significant commitments as a result. Accordingly, it should not be expected to 
undertake additional commitments.  
2.49.  The delegation of the European Union said th at ambition on services should be calibrated in 
conjunction with ambition on agriculture and NAMA. The negotiations on the three pillars should be TN/S/M/43 
 
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  simultaneous. The sequencing mentioned in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration should be 
considered unviable. Any post-Bali initiative in the field of services should be concrete and cut across interests of developing and developed Members. Regular GATS activities should be continued, notably the review of the Air Transport Annex, and work on the LDC waiver. In terms of 
specific areas, Members could, for example, look  at: services supporting global supply chains, 
services relating to the digital economy, electron ic commerce, and trade facilitation for services, 
which would notably cover practical aspects of domestic regulation. Like others, the EU saw 
inclusiveness and transparency as key principles to guide future work. 
2.50.  The delegation of New Zealand supported an  ambitious services package, in the context of 
an overall outcome that was ambitious and balanced both across and within all three market 
access pillars. In services negotiations, market access was only one side of the coin: domestic 
regulation was also a crucial component because it supported market access commitments. While 
respecting existing mandates and the progress  already made, advancing towards a services 
outcome required: learning from the past, assessing the present (for example by giving a fresh 
look to the role of services trade, including its impact on goods trade), and planning for the future. 
2.51.  The delegation of Chile said it was pleased to re-engage in the negotiating process. 
Everything was on the table, including market  access and rules. Pragmatism and realism was 
needed to guide the process, taking into account issues of context and balance. 
2.52.  The delegation of Pakistan said that services were an important pillar of negotiations, and 
had linkages with other areas. Services negotiations were becoming important for developing 
countries, and delegations had to be cautious not to  repeat the errors of the past. Pakistan agreed 
with the delegation of China that spring was the time for sowing seeds, so that at the time of 
harvest a balanced outcome in all three pillars of agriculture, NAMA and services could be reached. 
2.53.  The delegation of Nepal associated itself with the statement made by Uganda on behalf of 
the LDC group, as well as with that made by Bangladesh. Operationalization of the LDC services 
waiver was a priority. In order to help LDCs promote their services in international markets, Nepal encouraged all WTO Members, especially developed ones, to fully implement the Ministerial 
decision in this area. Nepal hoped that substantive progress would be made in the near future so 
that all the LDCs could expand their trade and meaningfully integrate in the multilateral trading system. 
2.54.  The delegation of Korea said that ma intaining balance between the three pillars was 
important, and that the focus should be on wh at was 'doable' and meaningful. More creative 
approaches and open mindedness were needed in discussing the post-Bali Work Programme and finding a constructive way forward. 
2.55.  The delegation of Paraguay said it was inte rested in seeing progress in the services pillar 
because of the sector's impact on the competitiv eness of other sectors. Services provided an 
important contribution to development, as it could encourage technological innovation, promote 
better access to financial services, and foster, whether through transport or telecommunications, 
greater connections with remote areas. As a landlocked country, Paraguay paid particular attention to progress in the services negotiations, with a view to better connect with the world and reduce 
its production costs. 
2.56.  The Chairman said that the interventi ons made by delegations had confirmed their 
willingness to move forward in the services negotiations, the need for find balance with the other 
DDA market access pillars, the importance of internal balance in services between market access 
and rules, and the need for a strong development component.  
2.57.  Some delegations had raised specific id eas for moving the discussions forward, including 
learning from the past, and by looking at RTAs, global value chains, as well as current and 
potential areas of export interest of developing countries. The Chairman urged all delegations with 
ideas for moving the discussions forward to submit them to the Special Session as written proposals for consideration. He added that he would be submitting a written report to the TNC, in which he would draw heavily on the discussions held during the present meeting as well as in his 
previous consultations.  TN/S/M/43 
 
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  2.58.  The Chairman proposed that the Council take note of the statements made. 
2.59.  It was so agreed. 
3  ITEM C - OTHER BUSINESS 
3.1.  Since there was no other business, the meeting was adjourned. 
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