. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/57 
6 December 2005 
 (05-5798) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
MODE 4 RELATED ISSUES 
 
Communication from Pakistan  
  
 The following communication, dated 5 December  2005, from the delegation of Pakistan, is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
1. One of the principal gains from the services nego tiations in the current round for developing 
countries lies in Mode 4 liberalization. Our stake holders have made it cl ear that they expect 
substantial commitments in Mode 4 and we have reflected this view in our requests to trading 
partners.  Moreover, commercially meaningful commi tments in Mode 4 are central to realizing the 
developmental benefits in the current round of services negotiations.  The Doha Work Program, as 
well as the 2004 July Package, recognize the importance attached to this issue.  
2. We reiterate that Mode 4 can be seen as a facilitative mechanism to match world labour 
demand with labour supply.  For Mode 4 commitment s to effectively allow developing countries to 
realize their export potential, free movement of temp orary workers is required across the globe, rather 
than being confined to any particular geographical  region.  Mode 4 service- providers may move to 
host countries with ease for a short period of time and make an assured return to home countries.  
3. Some Members, during bilaterals and in othe r fora, have referred to difficulties in making 
Mode 4 commitments.  We feel that the concerns raised can be remedied.  The following paragraphs 
list the issues raised by some Members and possi ble solutions that may address these concerns, in 
order to advance the discussions of liberalization under  Mode 4. This paper is  a continuation of earlier 
developing country papers
1 presented in this body and an attemp t to address the concerns raised by 
Members vis-à-vis their reluctance in libera lizing in Mode 4, for further discussion. 
(i) Non Trade / Security related concerns:  
4. A few Members have voiced non-trade security -related concerns as a hindrance to making 
commitments in Mode 4.  Nothing in the GA TS prevents Members from protecting their essential 
security interests.  A Member has the right to depart from GATS specific commitments and other 
obligations as security exceptions if there are valid  concerns without going through the waiver or 
Article XXI procedures. 
                                                      
1 TN/S/W/14, dated  3 July 2003 and TN/S/W/31, dated 18 February 2005.  
 TN/S/W/57 
Page 2  
 
(ii) Return home of temporary service-providers:  
5. Another major concern is that such temporary wo rkers, once in the host country, can stay on 
permanently. A possible solution is that such tem porary Mode 4 workers move on the basis of GATS 
visa.  Home countries can keep a data-base of a ll GATS visa workers who would report of their 
departure and arrival back home.  Another measure could be that the visa holders may report to the 
home-country embassy in the host country on arrival and at regular intervals during their stay and on 
departure by phone or mail.  Another less intrusiv e possibility could be that the employer of the 
worker in the host country report to the concerned au thorities of the arrival and departure of the Mode 
4 worker.  If the home country does not have an embassy in the host country and if even more stringent assurance is required, the possibility of re validation of the GATS visa at intervals during the 
period of stay may be debated.  Any such meas ure will ensure that the temporary workers are 
monitored and definitely return home on expiry of  their GATS visa. Such measures are in accordance 
with paragraph 4 of the Annex on Movement of Natural Persons Supplying Services under the GATS.  
(iii)  Definition of temporary:  
6. Some Members are finding it difficult to distin guish 'Mode 4 temporary stay' from 'permanent 
migration', even though the GATS' Annex on Movement  of Natural Persons states that it shall not 
apply to measures regarding citizenship, residence or  employment on permanent basis.  Consequently, 
the definition of ‘temporary stay’ is another contenti ous issue.  Firstly, some Members have scheduled 
time periods for categories of Mode 4 workers in their respective schedules which makes Mode 4 movement distinct from permanent migration.  Secondly, if the concept of the GATS visa (detailed in ii) is agreed upon in practice by Members, there will be no need to have a specific definition for 
'temporary' as it will ensure that workers moving on  the basis of such visas only enter temporarily 
anyway.  
7. To conclude, we reiterate that  Mode 4 movement does not mean migrating on a permanent 
basis or seeking permanent entry to the labour ma rket of a host country.  The GATS specifically 
excludes permanent migration as clearly stated in paragraph 2 of the Annex on Movement of Natural 
Persons Supplying Services under the GATS.  A Paper
2 published by the Migration Policy Institute 
also indicates that effective use of Mode 4 has the capacity to control immigration. Members are 
therefore called upon to make meaningful commitments in Mode 4 in their horizontal schedules of commitments to provide transparency and pr edictability to Mode 4 service-providers and 
liberalization gains to developing countries. 
 
__________ 
 
 
                                                     
 
2 Oonagh Sands, "Temporary Movement of Labor Fuels GATS Debate", Center for Strategic and 
International Studies  Migration Policy Institute (MPI).  Washington DC, 1 June 2004.