WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/19 
24 March 2005 
 (05-1248) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
  
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES 
 
Report by the Chairman to th e Trade Negotiations Committee  
   The Council for Trade in Services in Special Session met on 21, 22 a nd 25 February 2005.  
Owing to the heavy workload of th e Council, the meeting was suspended and will be resumed in the 
coming weeks.    
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. With respect to the Assessme nt for Trade in Services, a presentation on the World Trade 
Report (2004) was made by the Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division which 
covered the two main points related to services tr ade in the Report, namely liberalization through 
Mode 4 and infrastructure in trade and devel opment.  This touched off a discussion about 
telecommunications liberalization as well as known difficu lties about the dearth of statistical data for 
undertaking comprehensive assessments.  Atten tion was drawn to a planned non-WTO assessment 
project in COMESA countries, eleven of which are also WTO Members.  I intend to hold 
consultations on how to organize work under the Assess ment in line with the mandates in Article XIX 
and the Negotiating Guidelines at this stage in the negotiations. 
2. Under the item Proposals Relating to the Nego tiations under Article XIX, a total of 16 
proposals were tabled in the following sectors:  legal, computer, postal/courier including express 
delivery, telecommunications, construction, environmenta l, financial, air transport, maritime transport 
and logistics services as well as Mode 4 and small- and medium-sized enterprises.  A number of these 
proposals reiterate sectors of negotiating interest to groups of Members.  Others result from 
classification and scheduling work undertaken by some  Members in groups that they have constituted 
informally, usually on a sectoral basis, known as "friends groups".  These ne gotiating proposals have 
benefited from a convergence of views in the respect ive "friends groups" and ar e being reported to the 
wider membership for their consideration.  Dele gations expressed satisfaction that the work of 
"friends groups" had reached this  level of maturity, further discussion of which should help set the 
groundwork for undertaking specific commitments in  these sectors in the coming months.  Discussion 
of Mode 4 issues occurred in a half-day mostly informal meeting.  I provided a summary of the 
discussion in formal mode under my own responsibility.  This is the second such  time that the Council 
has held an informal discussion focused on new negotiating proposals on Mode 4.   
3. Under the item Consideration of Proposals on S& D Treatment Provisions, with respect to the 
Category II proposals which were originally referre d to the Special Session by the Chairman of the 
General Council in May 2003 and to which the Ge neral Council Decision of 1 August 2004 refers, I 
informed Members that I have consulted with the proponents of these proposals, and that they intend 
to put forth a proposal for discussion in the near futu re.  I will meet with Members in various formats 
in order to organize further work and will report to  the Council on this matter at its next meeting.  TN/S/19 
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4. With respect to the Council's Review of Pr ogress in Negotiations, In cluding Pursuant to 
Paragraph 15 of the Guidelines for Negotiations, I can report that new offers were tabled by Barbados, 
Grenada and Guyana.  The total number of initial offers presented is 50  offers representing 74 
Members.1  Some 42 offers remain outstanding not incl uding least-developed country Members.  Firm 
commitments to table initial offers in the near fu ture were also made by Indonesia and Uganda.   
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES 
5. As Members of the TNC will recall, I made some rather frank remarks at its meeting on 
14 February, which were subsequently circulated in JOB(05)/16.  At the meeting of the Special 
Session, a number of delegations acknowledged that they had heard the "wake-up call" I had intended 
to signal on that occasion.  Furthermore, on Februa ry 21, I made a factual presentation in informal 
mode on the state-of-play of initial offers.  This  presentation sought to illu strate, using relevant 
indicators, that the high quality of offers called for in  the July Package is far from being realised.  It is 
worth noting that, on 25 February, a large number of heads of delegations  personally attended the 
Special Session to communicate to trading partners th eir concerns about progress in the negotiations.   
6. I detect a clear change in tone in Member s' interventions characterised by a deepening 
concern that the services negotiations may be heading toward a crisis, but also by a firm commitment 
to deploy their full efforts to infuse the negotiatio ns with substance and momentum to avert this 
scenario.  Failure to respond quickly and substantially  to the current situation would have a negative 
impact on expectations for the level of ambition for the services negotiations and hence on objectives 
for the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and beyond.  The submission of revised offers in May will 
be the sole opportunity to supply inputs for the mark et access portion of a first approximation in July.  
In this context, a broad group of Members called fo r high quality revised offers, characterised by 
comprehensiveness in terms of sectors and modes, to  be tabled in May.  This will likely require 
participants to ask tough questions about how to respond to the requests put forth by their trading 
partners. 
7. It is of paramount importance that Ministers be made aware of the acute seriousness of the 
situation faced in the services negotiations and the re medies needed.  As I have mentioned on various 
occasions, the request-offer approach in the negotiati ons is a human- and time-intensive activity and, 
as such, requires considerable resources allocation.  In  this regard, a large number of Members stated 
that senior officials and Ministers must provide th e political instruction within their governments to 
allocate these resources.  They must also provide su pport on substance in the months ahead.  In light 
of the urgency of the situation, a few Members s uggested that I become personally engaged in this 
regard. 
8. While political guidance is the most pressing issu e, Members have not lost sight of other 
elements of the Council's work that must remain at the centre of attention on the way to defining a 
"first approximation" before the summer.  In this regard, some Members suggested that I engage in 
consultations with Members and Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies on how to intensify work on 
rules negotiations.  I am also fully aware of additi onal elements that may be used in compiling a first 
approximation, including areas of interest and targets for achieving high quality offers, the 
participation of LDC Members and targeted technical assistance to allow all Members to participate in 
the negotiations.   
                                                 
1  The European Communities' offer is counted as representing 25 Member States.  TN/S/19 
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III. FUTURE WORK 
9. The Council will resume its meeting under the item "Proposals Relating to the Negotiations 
under Article XIX" in order to consider further the numerous proposals that will have benefited from 
study in capital.  The resumption of the meeting w ill likely occur in April.  The next cluster of 
services meetings, including a meeting of the Special Session, will be held from 20 June to 1 July 2005. 
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