S/WPGR/24  
 
29 October 2013  
(13-5976)  Page: 1/1  
   
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRAD E IN SERVICES (2013) 
Since its Annual Report of 2012 to the Council for Trade in Services1, the Working Party on GATS 
Rules (WPGR) held two formal meetings, on 20 March and 20 June 2013.2 In addition, it met 
informally on 5 December 2012. During the peri od covered by this report, the Working Party 
continued to engage in discussions on all thr ee GATS Rules subjects; however, progress on 
substance was limited due, inter alia, to the overall context of the DDA negotiations.   
 1  NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SA FEGUARD MEASURES (ARTICLE X) 
The proponents presented a revised version of their room document (RD/SERV/79/Rev.1), 
compiling their proposals and positions since 1995. This systematic reference documentation 
could, in their view, serve as a starting point for possible future work. They recalled that their 
October 2007 Communication (JOB(07)/155) proposed rules to implement a safeguard clause in a 
Member's domestic framework, not a fully-fledged one-size-fits-all mechanism. At the June 2013 
meeting, the proponents suggested initiating a dedicated technical discussion on emergency 
safeguard provisions in regional trade agreemen ts (RTAs) whereby Members, notably those that 
were signatories to agreements containing such provisions, could share their experiences. 
Members agreed to further discuss a possible framework for such a dedicated discussion at the next WPGR meeting. 
2  NEGOTIATIONS ON GOVERNMENT  PROCUREMENT (ARTICLE XIII) 
The work on government procurement saw two main developments: firstly, it was agreed that 
Members would discuss a (yet to be finalized) WTO Staff Working Paper on the scope of government-procurement-related commitments in RTAs; secondly, at the June meeting, the 
Secretariat made a presentation on the main fe atures of the revised Government Procurement 
Agreement (GPA), formally adopted in March 2012, and its significance for trade in services. The 
representative of the Secretariat stressed the interface and complementarity between the GPA and 
the GATS, both from a legal and economic perspe ctive. The revision had an important services 
dimension, through additions notably in terms of public entities and services sectors covered by 
the Parties. The presentation was followed by a substantive and stimulating discussion.    
3  NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBSIDIES (ARTICLE XV) 
At the June meeting, several delegations ma de interventions based on the Secretariat's 
Background Note titled  "Subsidies for Services Sectors ‒ Information contained in WTO Trade 
Policy Reviews"  (S/WPGR/W/25/Add.6). The Note presents updated empirical evidence of subsidy 
programmes in service sectors, based on information contained in the Secretariat's Trade Policy 
Review reports. Members agreed that more conc eptual work needed to be undertaken to better 
understand how subsidies were provided and what trade effects they might have.   
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1 S/WPGR/23, dated 29 November 2012.  
2 The reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/WPGR/M/80 and 81, and should be read 
in conjunction with this annual report.