. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/32 
24 July 2007 
 
 (07-3143) 
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  
 
 
1. Since the resumption of the negotiations early th is year, the Council for Trade in Services in 
Special Session has held four formal m eetings as well as two informal meetings. 
I. REVIEW OF PROGRESS 
2. Members have reaffirmed their commitment to  a meaningful and ambitious outcome of the 
services negotiations, and a successful conclusion of the round.  Members continue to work hard, 
holding bilateral and plurilateral meetings in Geneva, and undertaking dom estic consultations in 
capitals to prepare for revised offers.  While Members all agree that services is an important 
component in the overall negotiated package of the DDA, they have expressed different views on the 
levels of ambitions the services negotiations s hould achieve at the end of the round.   
3. During the services cluster of April 2007, Members held the third round of request-offer 
plurilateral  negotiations.  Like the previous two rounds that had taken place in 2006, the meetings 
were well attended by both requesti ng and requested Members.  Discussions were substantive, leading 
to a useful exchange of views.  The plurilateral meetings not only helped clarify expectations and 
identify constraints, but also facilitated domestic consultations among ministries. 
4. In May this year, I began holding a series 'enchilada' consultations among ambassadors from 
delegations participating in the plurilateral request/offer negotiations.  My purpose was to promote a 
high-level discussion of market access issues relating to service sectors and modes of supply in which 
collective requests pursuant to Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  During the first 
four enchilada meetings, we discussed in detail the 21 sectoral and modal plurilateral requests, 
allowing Members to indicate which sectors or modes of supply represented their main priorities.  A further enchilada meeting was held on 19 July, du ring which ambassadors gave me their overall 
assessment to date of progress.  As anticipated, ambassadors indicated that certain sectors or modes 
showed a promising convergence in negotiating pos itions, while others showed that much further 
work was needed.  Several ambassadors have stress ed the  linkages of the services negotiations with 
other areas of the DDA.  Some took the view that, in  the absence of revised offers, there would be a 
need to somehow capture the progress achieved so far in the request/offer negotiations when 
Members agree on modalities for agriculture and NAMA.   
5. Members continue to address the issues of LDC modalities and S&D treatment in services
 at 
both formal and informal meetings of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services.  In addition, some Members have held bilateral cons ultations on these issues.  Nevertheless, Members 
have yet to narrow the gap be tween them in this regard. TN/S/32 
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  6. Members have continued their negotiations on rule making, in particular on domestic 
regulation.  In April, the Chair of the Working Part y on Domestic Regulation circulated the draft text 
of possible regulatory disciplines on domestic regul ation pursuant to GATS Article VI:4.  Members 
have engaged in substantive discussions  of this text in a very constructive spirit.  They share the view 
that this text constitutes a good basis for further negotiations.  After the su mmer break, the Chair of 
the Working Party on Domestic Regulation will  continue to conduct consultations, currently 
scheduled for 11-12 September 
II. FUTURE WORK 
7. The next services cluster will take place from 17- 28 September, including  another round of 
plurilateral meetings.  The next formal meeting of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in 
Services will be held on Friday 28 September.   
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