RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/31 
18 February 2005 
 (05-0693) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, COLOMBIA, 
INDIA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND AND URUGUAY 
 
Categories of Natural Persons for Commitments under Mode 4 of GATS  
 
  The following communication, dated 17 February  2005, from the delegations of Argentina, 
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Mexico, Pa kistan, Peru, Philippines, Thailand and Uruguay is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.  
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. One of the most critical issues relating to Mode 4 is the categories of natural persons for 
whom commitments are being sought.  It has been noted earlier that specific commitments in Mode 4 
are primarily horizontal.  The coverage of categories is also narrow and restricted mainly to personnel 
related to commercial presence. The coverage of  categories de-linked from commercial presence is 
extremely low. Substantial improvements in the coverage of categories and the market access 
conditions for each of them is, therefore, key to improved market access in Mode 4. 
2. Members have expressed interest in a broade r coverage of categories horizontally as one 
means of improving the Mode 4 commitments.  Re cognition of common categories of movement both 
linked to as well as de-linked from commercial presence in the horizontal commitments of Members could prove useful and valuable.   
3. Possible categories of interest have been indicat ed by Members in their negotiating proposals.  
This group had also broadly referred to them in it s earlier proposal, TN/S/W/14, of July 2003.  
Further, the Secretariat paper, JOB(03)/195, h as provided a description of the common categories 
used by Members along with certain common parame ters.  Based on the above and other discussions, 
this paper attempts to list out these common categori es of interest to Members in general along with 
certain common parameters and the market access cond itions that could be attached to each of them 
with the objective of practical but effective market access in Mode 4.
1  The group realizes that it may 
not be feasible to achieve full harmonization of domestic immigration regimes in respect of these 
categories, however, it may be useful in arriving  at a common understanding of these categories and 
their specific elements.  This would help in gr eater uniformity and clarity in the scheduling of 
commitments.  
                                                      
1 This proposal is not a legal text. It is submitted solely for the purpose of negotiation and does not 
prejudge the position of any Member regarding the issues raised in it.  The proponents reserve their right to 
modify or complement the contents of this proposal at a later stage. TN/S/W/31 
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 II. DEFINITIONS AND COMMON PARAMETERS 
1. Intra–Corporate Transferees (ICT) 
4. Employees of a company/partnership/firm established in the territory of a WTO Member who 
are transferred temporarily for the supply of a service through commercial presence (either through a 
representative office, branch, subsidiary or affilia te) in the territory of another WTO Member.  
The employees refer to: 
 
(i) Executives  
¾ Executives are those who primarily direct the management of the 
organization and exercise wide latitude in decision making.  
 
(ii) Managers  
¾ Managers are those who primarily di rect the organization/department/ 
subdivision and exercise supervisory and control function over other supervisory, managerial or professional staff.  
 
(iii) Specialists  
¾ Specialists are those who possess knowledge at an advanced level of 
expertise essential to the establishment/provision of the service and/or possess proprietary knowledge of the organization.  
 
(iv) Employees who are sent to the office of th e juridical entity in the territory of 
another WTO Member for training in business techniques and methods or are transferred for career development purposes. 
(v) Other sub-categories 
¾ Any type of person who does not fall into one of the sub-categories listed 
above, for example, persons who ente r to enable/facilitate providing a 
specific service to a specific client in the host country. 
 
2. Business visitors  
5. Representatives of a service supplier who enter the territory of another WTO Member 
temporarily for the sale of services or entering into agreements for such sale for that services supplier 
and/or employees of a juridical person for the purpose of setting up a commercial presence of that 
juridical person in the territory of another Member.  This could include either the two sub-categories 
of (i) Service sellers and (ii) Pe rsons responsible for setting up a co mmercial presence or could merge 
both these sub-categories into one. 
6. Certain common parameters are as follows: 
(a) Representatives of such service suppliers or employees of such juridical persons will 
not be engaged in making direct sales to the general public or in supplying services themselves.  TN/S/W/31 
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 (b) Refers only to employees of a juridical  person not already having commercial 
presence in the territory of the other WTO Member. 
(c) Such representatives or employees will not receive any remuneration from a source 
located within the territory of the other WTO Member. 
3. Contractual service suppliers – Employees of juridical person 
7. Employees of a foreign based company/partnershi p/firm who enter the territory of another 
WTO Member temporarily in order to perform a service pursuant to a contract(s) between their employer and a service consumer(s) in the territory of the other Member. 
8. Certain common parameters are as follows: 
(a) Restricted to employees of foreign based enterprises with no commercial presence in 
the territory of the other WTO Member. 
(b) Juridical person has obtained a service contract for the provision of a service in the 
territory of the other WTO Member. 
(c) Employees of such foreign based enterpri se receive their remuneration from their 
employer. 
(d) Employees have appropriate educational a nd professional qualifica tions relevant to 
the service to be provided. 
4. Independent Professionals 
9. Natural persons who enter the territory of a nother WTO Member temporarily in order to 
perform a service pursuant to a contract(s) between them and any service consumer located in the territory of the other Member. 
10. Certain common parameters are as follows: 
(a) The natural person supplies the service as a self-employed person. 
(b) The natural person has obtained a service c ontract in the territory of the Member 
where the service is to be provided .  
(c) The remuneration for the contract is to be  paid solely to the natural person.  
(d) Natural person possesses appropriate educationa l and other qualifications relevant to 
the service to be provided. 
5. Other categories 
11. Any other category that a WTO Member may like to include not covered by any of these four 
categories.  This could be a catch all category to draw special attention to particular needs like 
"Installers" etc.  Further, Members could also in clude types of service suppliers specific to a sub-
sector(s) which could be included in the sector specific commitments.   TN/S/W/31 
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 III. CONDITIONS OF MARKET ACCESS WITH RESPECT TO THE ABOVE 
CATEGORIES 
12. The purpose of having a common understanding on categories is to facilitate directly 
improvements in the levels of commitments on Mode 4 in this round.  Merely having an 
understanding on categories without linking it to mark et access may not be meaningful.  Hence, it 
would be useful to consider th e conditions of market access with respect to these categories that 
Members could use for the purpose of scheduling commitments.  While recognizing each Members' 
right to decide on such conditions, given the importa nce attached to market access in this mode and 
the existing asymmetry in Mode 4 commitments comp ared to other modes of supply, some common 
elements of market access are delineated belo w based on existing commitments, initial offers, 
proposals made by Members and experience in bila teral negotiations.  Indi vidual elements listed 
below would need to be discussed in detail.  
1. Inter – Corporate transferees  
(a) Employees will be restricted to personnel with  requisite qualifications to fill positions 
responsible either for management of opera tions, or provision of services at a level of 
complexity and specialty that require, at a minimum, a diploma or a university 
degree, or demonstrated experience. 
(b) Period of prior employment with home country juridical person will be clearly 
specified and will not exceed a particular time period. 
(c) Duration of stay for one year with provision for renewal. 
(d) Economic Needs Tests will not be applie d except under exceptional circumstances 
which should be specifically stated.  If they are required to be applied under 
exceptional circumstances, they  should be applied on a non-discriminatory basis.  In 
such a case, details concerning the following should be specifically mentioned: 
(i) The service sectors and occupations to which the ENT shall be applied, 
(ii) The definition, criteria and conditions to be used in applying the ENT, 
(iii) The duration of application of the ENT. 
2. Business Visitors 
 Duration of stay for six months with provision for renewal. 
 
3. Contractual services suppliers 
(a) Employees of foreign based enterprises will be  restricted to personnel with requisite 
qualifications to fill positions responsible either for management of operations, or 
provision of services at a level of complexity and specialty that require, at a minimum, a diploma or a university degree, or demonstrated experience. 
(b) Wage parity will not be a pre-condition of entry. 
(c) List of sectors/occupations to which this category will apply will be clearly specified 
through a positive listing of all such sectors or possibly indicating those sectors where 
it would not apply.  TN/S/W/31 
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 (d) Economic Needs Tests will not be applie d except under exceptional circumstances 
which should be specifically stated.  If they are required to be applied under exceptional circumstances, they  should be applied on a non-discriminatory basis.  In 
such a case, details concerning the following should be specifically mentioned: 
(i) The service sectors and occupations to which the ENT shall be applied, 
(ii) The definition, criteria and conditions to be used in applying the ENT, 
(iii) The duration of application of the ENT. 
(e) Duration of stay for one year or for duration of contract (if longer) with provision for 
renewal. 
(f) Employees can perform services related only to the service activity which is the 
subject of the contract.  
4. Independent Professionals 
(a) Natural persons will be restricted for provision of services at a level of complexity 
and specialty that require, at a minimum,  a diploma or a university degree, or 
demonstrated experience. 
(b) Wage parity will not be a pre- condition of entry.  
(c) List of sectors/occupations to which this category will apply will be clearly specified 
through a positive listing of all such sectors or possibly indicating those sectors where it would not apply. 
(d) Economic Needs Tests will not be applie d except under exceptional circumstances 
which should be specifically stated.  If they are required to be applied under 
exceptional circumstances, they  should be applied on a non-discriminatory basis.  In 
such a case, details concerning the following should be specifically mentioned: 
(i) The service sectors and occupations to which the ENT shall be applied, 
(ii) The definition, criteria and conditions to be used in applying the ENT, 
(iii) The duration of application of the ENT. 
(e) Natural person can perform services relate d only to the service activity which is the 
subject of the contract. 
(f) Duration of stay for one year or for duration of contract (if longer) with provision for 
renewal. 
IV. CONCLUSIONS 
We believe that substantive discussions on th is issue in the CTS – Special Session could 
greatly contribute to Members providing effective ma rket access on Mode 4 in their revised offers, an 
area identified as being of crucial significance by many Members.  We look forward to active engagement of all Members on this proposal.  We al so believe that this may be a useful tool for TN/S/W/31 
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 conducting work under "Implementa tion of Paragraph 15 of the Guidelines and Procedures for the 
Negotiations on Trade in Services (S/L/93)".  
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