WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
S/CSC/M/58 
27 May 2011 
 (11-2652) 
Committee on Specific Commitments   
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 MAY 2011 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. The Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC) held a meeting on 11 May 2011, chaired 
first by Ms. Natalie Burke from Barbados and then by Mr. Robert Prochazka from Austria.  The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/3747, was adopted.  
A. 
APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE  
2. The Chairperson (Ms. Burke) recalled that the former Chairperson of the Council for Trade in 
Services had recently concluded her consultations on the slate of names for the Chairpersons of the 
various subsidiary bodies.  Accordingly, she prop osed that the Committee el ect Mr. Robert Prochazka 
as its new Chairman by acclamation. 
3. It was so decided. 
B. CLASSIFICATION ISSUES  
4. The Chairman (Mr. Prochazka) recalled that at  the last meeting, the Committee had held 
informal discussions on computer and related servic es (CRS) based on the Secretariat's informal Note 
(JOB/SERV/39).  The discussion had been substantiv e, comprehensive and stimulating.  Given the 
complexity of classification issues relevant to  CRS, the Committee had agreed to continue the 
discussion at this meeting.  The discussion at th e last meeting had addressed issues concerning the 
impact of technology, hybrid or integr ated services, the overlap between CRS and 
telecommunications, and the status of software.  The summary of the discussion was contained in 
document JOB/SERV/44.  He opened the floor fo r further considerations on these issues.   
5. The discussion was in informal mode.  The Co mmittee switched back to formal mode after 
the discussion.  The Chairman recalled that the Committe e had agreed on a follow-up small group 
process.  After a sector had been considered by th e Committee, he would hold further consultations on 
any outstanding issues with interested Members, and any Member having expressed its interest in 
joining further discussions would be included in th e consultation.  The Secretariat could provide 
further assistance if needed, and the result of such  small-group discussion would be reported back to 
the Committee for transp arency purposes.   He indicated that he would hold such consultations on 
CRS after this meeting.  He invited delega tions with interest to approach him.  
6. Concerning which sector should be examined after the consideration of CRS, he noted that in 
the consultations undertaken by his predecessor, de legations tended to support the idea of examining 
related sectors consecutively.  This approach c ould facilitate cross-reference among sectors, and 
would be practical for capital-based official s to prepare for the discussion. Therefore, 
                                                      
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/CSC/M/58 
Page 2  
 
  telecommunication services had been put on the agenda  of this meeting given their close relationship 
with CRS.  To facilitate the discussion, the Secretar iat had prepared an informal Note (JOB/SERV/73) 
providing an overview of classification issues relevant to this sector.  He invited the Secretariat to 
introduce the Note. 
7. The representative of Secretariat noted that keeping pace with technological and commercial 
changes in the telecommunications and IT sector had been a challenge for classification systems over 
the past decade.  The Note posed some questions ar ising in this regard.  It briefly summarized the 
WTO scheme, including not only W/120 and the Pr ovisional CPC, but also some features of the 
Annex on Telecommunications and the Chairman’s No te on the scheduling of basic telecoms.  The 
Note invited Members to consider whether W/ 120 needed to be updated as it included defunct 
services while not mentioning internet access services,  and whether the continued resort to the 
Provisional CPC for definition might lend itself to ambiguities.  Another thrust of the questions concerned the extent to which the Chairman’s Note had helped to adapt W/120 to changing 
circumstances and whether it remained sufficient as a tool for classification and scheduling.  In an 
appendix, the Note also included information on cla ssification and definitions that had evolved in the 
updated versions of UN CPC and the ISIC.  The tabl es illustrated that these efforts had largely moved 
towards categorizing services by type of technology (such as wire-based or wireless), rather than the 
activities performed (voice, data transmission, and so  on), as done in W/120.  The Note was intended 
merely to stimulate discussion rather than offer solutions.  He encouraged Members to put forward 
their own questions, thoughts and proposals wh ich would be key to a meaningful discussion. 
8. The Chairman opened the floor. 
9. The Committee switched back to formal mode  after the discussion.  Considering that 
delegations might need more time to reflect on the i ssues raised and consult with experts in capital, he 
suggested that the Committee continue to discuss telecommunication services at its next meeting.  
After that, he might hold small group consultations . 
10. He recalled that during the c onsultations undertaken by his predecessor, a proposal floated 
was to examine classification issues relevant to audiov isual services at the next meeting.  If there was 
no objection to this proposal, he would ask the Secret ariat to prepare an informal Note to assist the 
discussion.  Finally, he suggested that the Committee  take note of the statements made and revert to 
this agenda item at the next meeting . 
11. It was so agreed. 
C. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OLD AND NEW COMMITMENTS  
12. The Chairperson recalled that  the discussion under this agenda item since late 2010 had 
focused on procedural issues relating to the verificat ion exercise.   Such discussion had been based on 
an informal Note by the Secretariat - "Roadm ap for the Verification Exercise" (JOB/SERV/21, 
JOB/SERV/21/Rev.1 and JOB/SERV/21/Rev.2).  Two scen arios of verification had been presented to 
Members for consideration:  scenario (A) where a process took place after the formal adoption of the 
negotiating results with a view to verifying the technical accuracy of schedules; and scenario  (B) 
where a process took place prior to the formal a doption of the negotiating results, which allowed 
Members not only to verify the technical accuracy of schedules, but also to identify any possible 
backtrackings.  A large number of delegations had expressed their preference for the verification process of Scenario B.  Nevertheless, a few delega tions believed that the exercise should follow past 
practice as reflected in Scenario A.  Some othe r delegations had yet to decide between the two 
scenarios.  He recalled that verification was also re lated to the question of whether particular language 
was needed in the final protocol to prevent backtr ackings in schedules.  The initial purpose of holding 
discussions on verification had been to invite Me mbers to consider whether a strong verification  S/CSC/M/58 
 Page 3 
 
 
  process could sufficiently address such concerns over backtracking.  At the last meeting, several 
delegations had reiterated that protocol language to prevent b acktrackings was still needed regardless 
of any scenario of verification.  Members might cont inue to explore issues related to verification if 
they so wished.  At an appropriate time, it might not be very difficult to take a decision, as Members 
had gained a better understanding of the exercise.  Regarding protocol language , he recalled that the 
Committee had discussed the issue for quite some ti me and that Members remained divided.   
13. There was no intervention made under this item.   The Chairman then suggested that the 
Committee revert to it at a following meeting. 
14. It was so agreed. 
D. SCHEDULING ISSUES  
15. The Chairman noted that there had been no di scussion under this agenda item for some time. 
He encouraged delegations  to make contributions. 
16. The representative of Canada indicated that it would be useful to continue discussions on 
economic needs tests (ENTs) and other issues under this item. 
17. The Chairman suggested that th e Committee take note of the statement made and revert to 
this item at its next meeting. 
18. It was so agreed. 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
19. There was no intervention under this agenda item. 
 
__________