RESTRICTED  
  
S/C/W/352  
 
15 October 2013  
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Council for Trade in Services    
 
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES 
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL (2013) 
Since its Annual Report of 2012 to the General Council1, the Council for Trade in Services (CTS) 
held three formal meetings, respectively on 6 December 2012, 21 March and 20 June 2013.2  
During the period covered by this report, the Council addressed the following matters. 
1  NOTIFICATIONS MADE TO THE COUNCIL PU RSUANT TO GATS ARTICLES III:3, III:5, 
AND V:7 
1.1.  At its meetings held in December, March and June, the Council for Trade in Services took 
note, altogether, of the following notifications: 
(a) Notifications pursuant to Article III:3 of the GATS 
South Africa S/C/N/656-657, 682-683, 689 
Japan S/C/N/659-660 
Thailand S/C/N/661-670 Switzerland S/C/N/671 
Togo S/C/N/672 
Lesotho S/C/N/673-677 Canada  S/C/N/679 European Union S/C/N/684-688 
Sweden S/C/N/690 
 (b) Notifications pursuant to Article V:7 of the GATS 
 
Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Liechtenstein; S/C/N/654  Norway; and Switzerland  
Kenya S/C/N/655 
Panama and the United States S/C/N/658 Nicaragua and Panama  S/C/N/678 Central America and the European Union  S/C/N/680 
Colombia, Peru and the European Union  S/C/N/681/Rev.1 
Canada and Panama S/C/N/691 Guatemala and Panama S/C/N/692/Rev.2 
The European Union S/C/N/693 
Ukraine S/C/N/694 Malaysia and Australia S/C/N/695 
Peru and Costa Rica S/C/N/696 
 
1.2.  The agreements notified in these documents were referred to the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements for consideration. 
1.3.  At the December and March meetings of the Council, a number of questions were raised in 
respect of a few Economic Integration Agreements that had been notified pursuant to Article V:7 in 
                                               
1 S/C/39, dated 7 December 2012. 
2 Reports of these meetings are contained in documents S/C/M/112 to 114, and should be read in 
conjunction with this report. S/C/W/352 
 
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  the past, to which the delegations concerned prov ided answers orally and in writing (document 
JOB/SERV/121).  
1.4.  With regard to the notification which ha d been submitted by Norway pursuant to GATS 
Article III:5 on a measure adopted by Thailand (document S/C/N/653, dated 26 September 2012), 
a number of supplementary questions were circulat ed by Norway for the December meeting of the 
Council (document JOB/SERV/126). The delegation of Thailand provided replies at the December and March meetings, and at the June meeting the delegations of Norway and the European Union 
offered updates on follow-up discussions. 
2  COMPLIANCE WITH GATS NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 
2.1.  The Council discussed the issue of compli ance with GATS notification requirements 
throughout the reporting period. At the December meeting, it addressed a Note by the Secretariat 
updating a statistical account of services notifi cations, contained in document JOB(09)/10/Rev.3, 
dated 23 November 2012, and reverted to an older submission by Switzerland contained in document S/C/W/297. The Council also agreed to task the Secretariat with the preparation of a 
note on the type measures that had been notified under GATS Article III:3.  
2.2.  Accordingly, a Secretariat Note titled "T ypology of Measures Notified pursuant to GATS 
Article III:3", contained in document S/C/W/351, was taken up at the March meeting. At that 
meeting, the Council also heard a presentation on  the experiences with TBT and SPS notifications, 
and reverted to the Note entitled "Means to Improve Transparency" (document JOB/SERV/136) that had been circulated in preparation for an informal open-ended meeting the Council had held on 28 February. Generally, Members seemed agreeable to taking up several of the suggestions in 
that Note, specifically those contained in paragraphs 4a, 4b, 4c and 4e. Instead, there had been 
widespread scepticism with regard to the proposal in paragraph 4f, and definite opposition to the suggestion in paragraph 4d. 
2.3.  Following up on those discussions, at the Council meeting held in June the Secretariat was 
asked to consult with its colleagues in the TBT and SPS area to explore the feasibility of setting up 
an electronic format for services notifi cations and report back to the Council. 
3  WORK PROGRAMME ON  ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
3.1.  Discussions under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce continued throughout the 
reporting period.  The Council carried on with its examination of a number of communications that had been previously submitted under this agenda item, and some Members shared information on 
their own experiences with regard to the issues  discussed in the communications. In June, the 
Council considered a new submission by the Se parate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu, contained in document JOB/SERV/140 and entitled "Protection of Personal 
Information and the Development of Electronic Commerce".  
3.2.  Following an initial proposal by the United States, Members agreed that a public workshop to 
examine services-related issues for e-commerce be organised under the auspices of the Council on 
17 and 18 June 2013. The workshop featured representatives from international organizations, the 
private sector, government ministries and regula tory agencies. At the June 2013 meeting of the 
Council, Members expressed their satisfaction in pa rticular with the diversity of the presenters, 
presentations and issues raised, and took the view  that the workshop was a positive contribution 
to the Work Programme. An informal summing-up of the event by the chairman  of the workshop is 
contained in JOB/SERV/155. 
3.3.  Duly noting the mandate in the Ministerial Decision on the Work Programme on Electronic 
Commerce adopted on 17 December 2011 (document WT/L/843), that the General Council 
periodically review progress with the Work Prog ramme, the Council agreed in December and in 
June that the Chairman would produce, under his own responsibility, purely factual reports of the 
essence of the Council's discussion under that agenda item. The reports concerned are contained 
in documents S/C/40 and S/C/41. S/C/W/352 
 
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  4  DEVELOPMENTS IN SERVICES TRADE AND REGULATION 
4.1.  Following the agreement to invite UNCTAD to contribute to discussions under this agenda 
item, at the Council meeting held in March a representative of the UNCTAD Secretariat delivered a presentation of the organization's work on services, focused on deliberations at "Expert Meetings" 
on the regulation of infrastructure services that had been held between 2009 and 2013.   
5  DEDICATED DISCUSSION ON INTERNATIONAL MOBILE ROAMING 5.1.  At the March meeting of the Council, the delegation of New Zealand reverted to this agenda 
item to provide an update of the joint market investigation into trans-Tasman international 
roaming charges conducted by New Zealand's Mini stry of Business, Innovation and Employment 
and Australia's Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy. 
6  OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE MC8 DECISION ON THE SERVICES WAIVER FOR LDCS 
6.1.  At the request of the LDC Group, an item on  the operationalization of the LDC services waiver 
was added to the Council's agenda, and addressed at the March and June meetings. The waiver foresees a dual role for the Council for Trade in Services. The Council is directed to receive 
Members' notifications of any preferences grante d to LDCs; and to approve any preferences with 
respect to measures other than those listed in Article XVI of the GATS. So far, no submissions have been made to the Council in this regard. The LDC Group is working on the identification of 
areas where potential services preferences might be granted, and is keeping the Council informed 
about its progress. 
7  WORK OF THE SU BSIDIARY BODIES 
7.1.  The activities of the subsidiary bodies in 2013 are reflected in their respective reports, which 
are annexed to this report, as follows:  
 Annex  I Report of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services (S/FIN/XX) 
 Annex  II Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/ XX) 
 Annex  III Report of the Working Part y on Domestic Regulation (S/WPDR/ XX) 
 Annex  IV Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules (S/WPGR/ XX) 
 
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