. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/WPGR/20 
8 November 2010 
 (10-6000) 
  
 
 
  
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES  
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2010) 
 
 
1. Since its last Annual Report to the Council fo r Trade in Services in 2009 (S/WPGR/19), the 
Working Party on GATS Rules held six formal  meetings: on 6 Octobe r 2009, 10 November 2009, 
1 February 2010, 27 April 2010, 1 July 2010 and 28 September 2010.
1     
2. During the latter part of 2009, as well as in 2010, the Working Party saw more focussed 
discussions on all three GATS Rules subjects.  In the area of subsidies, considerable effort has gone 
into reviving the Work Programme on Information Ex change.  The submissions currently on the table 
cover a significantly larger number of Members than  the information previously provided between 
1997 and 2005.  On government procurement, the Wo rking Party has examined in greater detail the 
proposal for an Annex, and agreed to hold dedi cated discussions on the economic and developmental 
importance of government procurement in services.  While on emergency safe guard measures, several 
rounds of technical discussions have been conducte d on the definition of "domestic industry", and 
further work is envisaged on services statistics and data.  Details on the work undertaken on each of 
the GATS Rules subjects are provided below.  
I. NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SAFEGUARD MEASURES (ARTICLE X) 
3. During the last two meetings of the Working Party in 2009, Members continued to examine 
the relevance of the concept of "domestic industry"  as treated under the anti-dumping, subsidies and 
safeguard agreements, to trade in services. In this connection, the Chairperson circulated an informal 
Note summarising past discussions on the definiti on of "domestic industr y" (JOB(09)/95).  A 
Secretariat Note on "domestic industry" in the an ti-dumping, subsidies and sa feguard agreements was 
also circulated in JOB(09)/146 and Corr.1.  Discussions amongst Members focused on how the criteria of territory, control and ownership, and re gistration, as contained in the proposed draft Annex 
on Article X Emergency Safeguard Measures could be  used to define "domestic industry".  The 
technical discussions helped to clarify certain concep ts and concerns with rega rd to the application of 
such criteria. 
4. In 2010, the delegations of Brunei Darussalam , Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, 
the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam proposed contin uing with technical work.  Based on an earlier 
proposal, a presentation on the adequacy and availabil ity of services data and statistics with respect to 
emergency safeguards was proposed.  At the me eting of 28 September 2010, the Working Party 
agreed to postpone this presentation until after the discussion in the Council for Trade in Services of 
an updated Secretariat Backgrou nd Note on international services statistics (S/C/W/27/Add.2).  
                                                     
 
1 The meeting reports are contained in documents S/WPGR/M/65 to 70. S/WPGR/20 
Page 2  
 
  II. NEGOTIATIONS ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT (ARTICLE XIII) 
5. During the reporting period covered by this Re port, the Working Party discussed in greater 
detail the proposed Annex on Government Procurem ent in Services (S/WPGR/W/54).  To facilitate 
Members' consideration of the proposal, the Ch airperson circulated an informal Note which 
synthesised past exchanges on government procuremen t and highlighted several issues for discussion 
(JOB(09)/114).  The delegation of the European Un ion provided a presentation of the procedural rules 
contained in its proposal, as well as the suggested  format for scheduling government procurement 
commitments.  Two rounds of informal discussions examined various aspects of the proposed Annex, 
including its relationship with the plurilate ral Agreement on Government Procurement.  
6. In recent months, the Working Party has b een considering a programme of dedicated 
discussions on the economic and developmental import ance of government procurement in services.   
At the meeting of 28 September 2010, a new pr oposal was circulated by the European Union 
proposing various topics, as well as the timing and organization of discussions on this subject over 
coming months.  The topics include the economic  importance of government procurement in 
developed and developing economies, the sharing of  national experiences by Members on reforms in 
procurement practices, and conclusions for furthe r work.  The Working Party agreed to commence 
work on the first topic at the next cluster in N ovember with a presentation by an academic expert. 
III. NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBSIDIES (ARTICLE XV) 
7. In the area of subsidies, much time has been de voted to reviving the exchange of information 
as mandated by Article XV of the GATS.  In this connection, during 2009, the Chairperson circulated an informal Note recalling a previously proposed definition of subsidies for the purpose of the 
information exchange (JOB(09)/96).  Various id eas for a work programme on information exchange 
and a possible working definition of subsidies were suggested by the Chairper son.  Following several 
rounds of consultations, the Work Programme on Info rmation Exchange on Subsidies as contained in 
JOB/SERV/1 was endorsed by the Working Party at the meeting of 1 February 2010.  Following the launch of the Work Programme, 15 Members (coun ting the EU as one) have, so far, submitted 
information on their subsidy programmes.  The various submissions are contained in 
JOB/SERV/1/Add. 1 to Add. 9.
2  At the meeting of 28 September 2010, the Working Party agreed to 
conduct a dedicated discussion of the submissions at the next cluster in November, in accordance with 
the approach proposed by the Chairperson,  as contained in document JOB/SERV/24.  
8. During 2010, the Working Party also continued its  consideration of other issues with respect 
to the negotiations mandated under Ar ticle XV.  At the meeting of 1 February 2010, the delegation of 
Switzerland presented a proposal for disciplines on export subsidies.  Preliminary discussions were 
undertaken with respect to the concept of such s ubsidies in services and the possible distortions 
created.  At the same meeting, the delegation of th e United States submitted additional questions with 
regard to the identification of possible trad e-distortive effects of subsidies in services 
(S/WPGR/W/59).  
 
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2 Submissions were receive d from the delegations of Australia; Canada; the European Union;  Chile; 
Colombia; Hong Kong, China; India; Japan; Korea; Me xico; New Zealand; Peru; Tu rkey; Chinese Taipei; and 
the United States.