WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/W/252 
28 January 2005 
 
 (05-0355) 
Council for Trade in Services Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, 
PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU 
Review of Article II (MFN) Exemptions
 
Additional Questions from the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 25 January  2005, from the delegation of the Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Ma tsu is being circulated to the Members of the 
Council for Trade in Services.   
_______________ 
 
1. As part of the Council for Trade in Services' process of reviewing MFN exemptions in 
accordance with the Annex on Article II Exempt ions of the GATS, we address the following 
questions to certain Members to determine whether th e conditions that original ly created the need for 
their exemptions still prevail. Our questions in this  document are additional to those addressed to our 
main trading partners in document S/C/W/250 circulated 23 November 2004.  
I. FINANCIAL SERVICES 
2. We would appreciate receiving updated info rmation and clarification from Members 
concerning their sectoral MFN exemptions, as listed below: 
Member MFN Exemption (page number in JOB(04)/114) 
Austria Licensing of branches or subsidiaries of foreign financial service suppliers 
(page 78) 
Canada Insurance Intermediati on Agency Services (page 79) 
Colombia Insurance and insura nce-related services (page 79) 
Banking and other financial services, excluding insurance (page 79) 
EC Direct non-life insurance (page 81) 
Indonesia Banking services (page 82) 
Israel Financial Services – Banking (page 82) 
Peru Financial services (page 84) 
Philippines Commercial banking (page 84) 
Singapore Reinsurance and retrocession (page 86)  
Banking and other financial services 
South Africa Financial Services (page 88) 
Swaziland  Financial Services (page 88) 
Turkey Banking (page 89) 
USA Financial Services (page 89) 
Venezuela Banking (CPC 8115–81116- 8112-8113-81339-81333) (page 91) 
Insurance (CPC 812**) (page 91) 
 S/C/W/252 
Page 2  
 Our specific questions are as follows: 
Q1. Please confirm whether the exemption will terminate on reaching a period of 10 years.  If 
not, please indicate when the exemption will terminate. 
 
Q2. Please indicate whether the exemption has b een used for any actual measures since its 
introduction.  If so, please also explain how these measures are applied and implemented. 
 
Q3. Austria (page 78):  Would Austria please provide an updated list of countries for which the 
requirement for an "economic interest test" is waived. 
 
Q4. Canada (Financial services, including lending  of all types and trading for own account 
of certain securities by loan and investment companies, page 79):  It appears that the 
conditions creating the need for this exemption (i .e. historical preference) no longer prevail.  
If this is the case, a revised offer from Canada would be appreciated and we would also be 
interested in knowing the timetable le ading to removal of the exemption. 
 
Q5. Indonesia (page 82, 1
st entry) :  Indonesia has registered an exemption concerning banking 
services.  Measures relate to a joint-venture bank of national and foreign origin, under 
which the entry of a foreign bank into Indonesia is allowed on a reciprocal basis.  Please 
could Indonesia explain the criteria for determ ining the origin of foreign services, and 
please advise also if any action has been taken, or is being contemplated, to eliminate the conditions which created the need for the exemption.  
 
Q6. Peru (page 84, 2
nd entry) : While the condition that created the need for the exemption is 
"national or public interest", would Peru please confirm whether the exemption has been 
applied de facto ?  If so, please also explain how the measures could achieve the intended 
purpose of the exemption. 
 
II. TRANSPORT SERVICES 
(a) Maritime Transport Services 
3. We would be grateful to those Members with MFN exemptions for their responses to our 
questions, as listed below: 
Member MFN Exemption (page number in JOB(04)/114) 
Brazil Maritime transport-Ocean shipping (cargo) (page 95) 
Chile Maritime transport- coastal waters (cabotage) (page 97) 
China International Transport (page 98) 
Freight and Passengers (page 98) 
EC Rental/leasing services without operators, relating to ships (CPC 83103) 
(page101) Rental of vessels with crew (CPC 7213, 7223) (page 101) 
Finland Maritime transport - cabotage (page 101) 
India SHIPPING 
a) Cargo sharing between bilateral partners (page 101) 
b) Cargo Reservations (page 101) 
New Zealand Maritime (passenger and freight) (page 103) 
Philippines Maritime Transport Services - Cabotage transport (page 105) 
Singapore Maritime Transport Services (page 107) 
Sweden Maritime transportation (page 107) 
Thailand International maritime transport of cargoes (page 108)  S/C/W/252 
 Page 3 
 
 
 Turkey Transportation Services (page 111) 
Venezuela Maritime freight transport services (CPC 7212) (page 112) 
 
Q7. Please confirm whether the exemption will terminate on reaching a period of 10 years.  If 
not, please indicate when the exemption will terminate. 
  
Q8. Please indicate whether the exemption has b een used for any actual measures since its 
introduction.  If so, please also explain how these measures are applied and implemented. 
 Q9. Chile (Maritime transport Coastal Waters, page 97) : Please indicate what measures are 
referred to by: "…only for freight exceeding 900 metric tonnes." and please explain the 
rationale behind this exemption.  Furthermor e, how does the above relate to the condition 
creating the need for the exemption as listed in  column 5, i.e. "need to ensure market 
access"?  
 
Q10. New Zealand  (page 103) : Please  explain the relationship between the exemption and the 
promotion of local maritime recruitment and ma intenance of maritime training standards.  
Does New Zealand have any plans to ex tend the measure to other countries? 
 Q11. Singapore (Maritime Transport Services, page 107) : It is noted that Singapore will 
periodically review this exemption in the li ght of international developments.  Could 
Singapore please update us on the latest position re garding the exemptions and provide us at 
the same time with the tim etable for their removal? 
 Q12. Thailand  (transport services, page 108) : Thailand has registered an exemption under 
international maritime transport of cargoes fo r a duration of 10 years.  Could Thailand 
please update us on the measures taken to eliminate the exemption and advise whether it 
intends to eliminate the exemption, as scheduled.  
 (b) Air Transport Services 
4. We seek information and clarification from Members concerning their sectoral MFN 
exemptions, as listed below: 
Member MFN Exemption(page number in JOB(04)/114 
Austria CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 115) 
Canada Aircraft repair and maintenance services (page 115) 
EC CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 116) 
Finland CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 116) 
Korea Computerized Reservation System (page 117) 
Norway CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 118) 
Singapore Computer reservation systems (page 119) 
Sweden CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 121) 
Switzerland CRS and sales and marketing of air transport services (page 121) 
Thailand Aircraft repair and maintenance services (page 122) 
USA Transport Services-Air Transport Services (page 123) 
 
Q13. Please confirm whether the exemption will terminate on reaching a period of 10 years.  If 
not, please indicate when the exemption will terminate. 
 
Q14. Please indicate whether the exemption has b een used for any actual measures since its S/C/W/252 
Page 4  
 introduction.  If so, please also explain how those measures are applied and implemented. 
 
Q15. Canada (aircraft repair and maintenance services provided by services suppliers 
located outside of Canada, page 115):  Would Canada please advise whether the measure is 
established in accordance with any domestic legisl ation?  Could Canada please also state 
whether, and if so, how many times, this exemption has been invoked? 
 
Q16. Korea (computerized reservation system,  page 117):  It is noted that access to foreign 
CRS through the SITA network is allowed only for domestic travel agencies that want to 
access CRS designated by carriers of the United St ates. We are interested in the rationale 
behind maintaining such an exemption under th e existing multilateral framework for trade in 
services. 
 
Q17. Singapore (computer reservation systems, page 119):  Please update us with the latest list 
of countries with which Singapore has entered into  bilateral air services agreements.  Does 
Singapore have any plans to enter into similar agreements with other countries?  We would 
also like to know the selection criteria for count ries that are given most favourable treatment 
under this exemption. 
  
__________