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S/WPDR/M/61  
 
27 June 2014  
(14-3704)  Page: 1/3  
Working Party on Domestic Regulation    
 
 REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7 MAY 2014 
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT1 
The Working Party on Domestic Regulation (WPDR) held a meeting on 7 May 2014, chaired by 
Ms. Viràg Halgand Dani of Hungary and Mr. Chri stian Wegener of Denmark. The agenda for the 
meeting was contained in document WTO/AIR/4291 dated 25 April 2014. An annotated agenda for the meeting was circulated in JOB/SERV/185 dated 30 April 2014.  
 
1  ITEM A - APPOINTMENT OF THE NE W CHAIRPERSON FOR THE WORKING PARTY 
1.1.  The Working Party appointed Mr. Christian Wegener of Denmark as the new Chairperson for 
the Working Party by acclamation. The outgoing Ch airperson, Ms. Viràg Halgand Dani of Hungary, 
congratulated the incoming Chair and thanked delegations and the Secretariat for their support 
throughout her term.   
1.2.  Members expressed their appreciation to Ms. Halgand Dani and congratulated Mr. Wegener. 
2  ITEM B - DEDICATED DISCUSSION ON DOMESTIC REGULATION DISCIPLINES IN 
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS   
2.1.  Under the chairmanship of Mr. Christ ian Wegener, the Working Party commenced its 
dedicated discussion on domestic regulation disci plines in services regional trade agreements 
(RTAs).   
2.2.  The Chairperson recalled that it had been agreed that this would be a Member-driven 
discussion and could include information on the differ ent types of domestic regulation provisions in 
RTAs, as well as commonalities or differences with those under negotiation in the WTO. Members 
were also invited to share experiences on the ne gotiation and implementation of such disciplines, 
including those on specific sectors. The dedicated discussion was conducted in informal mode and 
the Chairperson indicated that he would provide an informal summary of the exchange of views 
between Members.  
3  ITEM C - DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATORY  DISCIPLINES UNDER GATS ARTICLE VI:4 
3.1.  As on past occasions, the Chairperson also proposed that the technical discussion be 
undertaken in informal mode so as to allow for an easier and more open exchange of views. Before 
opening the floor for comments, he recalled that a second 'reflections' note had been circulated by a group of Members. These 'reflections', which followed an earlier submission, were contained in 
document RD/SERV/96 and provided the group's thoughts on what might be drawn from the 
technical discussions conducted from March to October 2013. 
3.2.  Discussions on these topics continued in informal mode and as usual the Chairperson 
indicated that he would provide an informal summa ry of the exchange of views between Members. 
3.3.  Reverting back to formal mode, the Chairperson recalled that Members had received a report 
on the status of non-banking financial services in South Africa. This report was contained in the 
document JOB/SERV/179. The report provided an overview of the regulatory framework currently 
                                               
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. S/WPDR/M/61 
 
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  governing non-banking financial services in South Africa. Six areas were covered in the report, 
namely financial services providers, capital markets, collective investment schemes, pension funds, insurance and credit-rating agencies.  
3.4.  It was further noted by the Chairperson th at at the previous meeting of the Working Party 
some Members had indicated that they would like to  study the report in greater detail and to come 
back with comments. He indicated that the South African delegation would be open to receiving questions or comments for further consideration.  
3.5.  The representative of Canada expressed apprec iation for South Africa's report as it provided 
an important contribution to transparency by helping Members better understand the nature and 
intent of financial sector reforms. It was recalled that more substantive comments had been given at the meeting of the Committee of Trade in Fina ncial Services where the report was also being 
discussed.  
3.6.  The representative of Australia thanked the South African delegation for a useful report which 
helped Members to better understand the regulatory  regime in South Africa. She noted that her 
delegation would appreciate more information on the licensing and qualification requirements for 
financial services suppliers. First, it was understood that for financial services providers and pension funds electronic licence applications were accepted, was this also the case for applications 
in other non-banking sub-sectors such as capital markets, collective investment schemes, 
insurance and credit-rating agencies? Secondly , are there established time-frames for the 
processing of applications and if so were they the same for all non-banking financial services or did time-frames vary? Thirdly, could the mandator y regulatory examinations for registered 
representatives of financial services providers be  undertaken at any time, if not, how frequently 
would examinations be held? 
3.7.  The representative of South Africa asked delegations to please submit their questions in 
writing to them.  3.8.  There were no further comments on the Secretariat Note on regulatory issues as contained in 
document S/WPDR/W/48 and Add. 1 
3.9.  The Chairperson took note of the statements made.  
4  ITEM D - FUTURE WORK 
4.1.  On future work, the Chairperson announced that barring any additional contributions the 
Working Party had come to the end of its progra mme of technical and regulatory discussions. He 
thus requested Members to give serious consideration to their priorities for future work. In 
particular, should more time be devoted to discussing regulatory issues, and if yes, what should be the focus?  
4.2.  He also informed Members that following the background note by the Secretariat on technical 
standards in services, the Secretary-General of the International Standards Organization (ISO), Mr. Rob Steele, had offered to make a presenta tion to the Working Party on international 
standards in services sectors. The ISO had prev iously presented its work to Members at the 
Working Party meeting of 22 June 2005. It could thus be useful for the Working Party to hear the latest developments in this area. 
4.3.  Members agreed to invite the Secretary-General to make a presentation at a future meeting 
of the Working Party. 
4.4.  The representative of Australia noted that her delegation did not have a specific proposal at 
this stage and would like to revert to this item in the future, with a view to moving discussions 
back to horizontal disciplines. 
4.5.  The representative of the United States em phasized that new work in terms of negotiations 
on domestic regulations would have to take into account the overall situation as it emerges in the 
services negotiations. S/WPDR/M/61 
 
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  4.6.  The representative of Switzerland recalled that GATS Article VI:4 negotiations had a mandate 
which existed before the launch of negotiations by the Doha Ministerial Conference. That mandate, 
which needed to be complied with, formed the terms of reference for this Working Party. The logic and reason for the domestic regulation mandate stemmed directly from commitments taken in the 
Uruguay Round. The domestic regulations discipli nes have the specific goal of supporting the 
practical implementation of specific commitments . Switzerland, therefore, supported all work 
undertaken under domestic regulations as it was in fulfilment of an original obligation, subscribed 
to by Members many years ago. Switzerland remained committed to moving forward on it. 
4.7.  The representative of New Zealand noted that they would welcome further engagement on 
the 'reflections' document. It was also suggested that the Chair might wish to conduct informal 
consultations with interested Members to explore ways to get the Working Party back on the 
negotiations of horizontal disciplines for the reasons expressed by Switzerland.  
4.8.  The representative of Canada preferred not to bring the Working Party back in the direction 
of text-based negotiations for domestic regulation disciplines. While clear and specific disciplines 
on domestic regulation could complement enhanced market access commitments, the 
representative believed that the Working Party should not get ahead of the Post-Bali Work Programme. 
4.9.  The representative of Chile noted that his de legation should be added as a co-sponsor to the 
Communication from Australia; Colombia; Hong Kong, China; Korea; Mexico; New Zealand and 
Switzerland: Technical Issues for Discussion under the WPDR GATS Article VI:4 Mandate (RD/SERV/96).  
4.10.  The representative of Brazil was of the view  that at this juncture of the overall negotiating 
environment, a different approach was required in  the Working Party. The services component of 
the Post-Bali Work Programme was not yet clear. In this context, a 'bottom-up' or expert-led 
approach with the selection of one or two topics Members could be counterproductive. Brazil 
preferred to wait and see how the Post-Bali Work Programme unfolded before moving beyond conceptual and technical work.  
4.11.  The representative of Bolivia was of the opinion that work on domestic regulations cannot 
be undertaken in a vacuum and must be in the ge neral context of the situation in the Doha Round. 
A certain amount of caution should be exercised to avoid the problems of the past and Bolivia would be willing to discuss this further.  
4.12.  The Chairperson expressed appreciation for the various comments. He noted that as an 
incoming Chairperson he would be reaching out to Members. He also endeavoured to provide 
Members with further information on possible da tes for the presentation by the ISO Secretary-
General.  
4.13.  The Chairperson took note of the comments made. 
5  ITEM E - OTHER BUSINESS 
5.1.  There were no additional matters under this 'other business'. The meeting was adjourned.  
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