. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/WPDR/M/34 
26 April 2006 
 (06-1965) 
Working Party on Domestic Regulation  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 27 MARCH 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
1. The Working Party on Domestic Regulation (W PDR) held its thirty-fourth meeting on 
27 March 2006.  The meeting was chaired by Mr. Pe ter Govindasamy of Singapore.  The agenda for 
the meeting was contained in Airg ram WTO/AIR/2783, dated 17 March 2006. 
2. Under other business, the Chairman
 asked to make a short statement. 
A. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRPERSON 
3. The Chairman  informed delegations that the outgoing Chairperson of the Council Trade in 
Services, Ambassador Claudia Uribe of Colombia, ha d had broad consultations on the appointment of 
the Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies for th is year and had informed him that based on her 
consultations, Members would be willing to renew his mandate for another year.  He, therefore, asked 
Members if they were willing to re-elect him as Chairman of the Working Party. 
4. The Working Party re-elected by acclamation Mr. Peter Govindasamy of Singapore as its 
Chairman for another year.  The Chairman  thanked delegations for their confidence and promised to 
use his second mandate to help the Working party to fulfil its mandate.  Many delegations intervened 
to congratulate the Chairman on his re-election. 
B. REPORT FROM THE CHAIRPERSON ON INFORMAL MEETINGS 
5. The Chairman  recalled that the Working Party had held an informal meeting on 
9 March 2006.  At that meeting Members had he ld another round of informal discussions on the 
proposals made by Members on the development of regulatory disciplines under GATS Article VI:4.  The discussions focused mainly on  the revised proposal by Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, 
Peru and The Philippines, on "Elements For Draft Di sciplines On Domestic Regulation", contained in 
JOB(06)/34.  The Chairman
 had also introduced the Road-Map (JOB(06)/28) and the Background 
Note on the State-of-Play in the negotiations under Article VI:4 (JOB(06)/37).  Members made some 
preliminary comments on these documents.  As in p ast occasions he circulated summaries of these 
informal discussions, which were contained in document JOB(06)/65. 
C. DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATORY DISCIPLINES UNDER GATS ARTICLE VI:4 
Proposals by Members on Regulatory Disciplines under GATS Article VI:4  
6. Members held a round of discussions in informal  mode on the elements contained in their 
proposals on the development of regulatory disciplines  under Article VI:4 of the GATS.  In informal 
mode, Members also discussed some organizational issues concerning the next steps of the Working 
                                                      
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/34 
Page 2  
 
  Party.  As in previous occasions, the Chairman is circulating a summary of these discussions, which is 
contained in document JOB(06)/124, dated 26 April 2006. 
D. DATE OF NEXT MEETING 
7. Regarding the date of the next  formal meeting, the Chairman
 suggested that the Working 
Party hold this meeting on the first Monday of the next cluster of services meetings, tentatively 
scheduled for Monday, 19 June 2006.  He said this date would be confirmed in  due course.  The next 
informal meeting of the Working Party was convened for 2 May 2006. 
E. OTHER BUSINESS 
8. The Chairman  reminded delegations that the Hong  Kong Ministerial mandate required 
Members to develop disciplines on domestic regulation by the end of the round.  He, therefore, urged 
delegations to accelerate work under Article VI:4  in order to fulfil the Hong Kong Ministerial 
mandate.  In particular, he called on Members to  produce new and revised proposals with specific 
language / text as soon as possible as a first crucial step  in the drafting process.  He recalled that text 
inputs by Members were essential to arrive at a fi rst draft consolidated text of the disciplines, 
hopefully by June, as he had indicated in the "Roa d-Map".  He also cautione d delegations about the 
importance of allowing sufficient time for discussi ons and consultations on new text proposals and 
about the risks involved in submitting propo sals too late in the negotiating process. 
9. Some delegations announ ced during the meeting that they had already started to work on such 
revisions and expected to table them in April.  The Chairman  welcomed these developments and 
encouraged all delegations who had proposals on the table or were considering submitting proposals 
to do the same well in advance of the next inform al meeting of the Working Party, to allow for 
meaningful discussions at that meeting. 
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