RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/W/301 
15 September 2009 
 (09-4320) 
Council for Trade in Services   
  
 
PRESENCE OF NATURAL PERSONS 
(MODE 4) 
 
Background Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. This Note has been prepared at the request of  the Council for Trade in Services, with a view 
to stimulating discussions in the Council on the presence of natural persons (mode 4) under the 
GATS.  It provides background information and updat es a previous Note on the same topic (document 
S/C/W/75, dated 8 December 1998).  This Note focu ses on developments and issues considered to be 
most relevant to the GATS.  It is not intended to provide a comprehensive account of issues 
surrounding cross-border flows of service professionals. 
2. The Secretariat would point out that many of the observations contained in the previous 
Background Note on mode 4 remain pertinent.  In  respect to others, such as the statistical 
measurement of mode 4 trade, thinking has evolved.   
I. INTRODUCTION 
3. Mode 4 is one of the four modes of supply through which services may be traded under the 
GATS.  Simply put, mode 4 occurs when a natural person of one WTO Member seeks to enter, or is 
present in, the territory of another Member in relatio n to the supply of a service.  In other words, the 
GATS does cover the movement of people, but only to the extent that such movement is for the 
purpose of supplying a service.  
4. Following this introduction, section II of this Note takes a close look at the scope of mode 4, 
an issue on which some divergence of views exists , while section III reviews the main categories of 
natural persons found in Members' schedules of commitments.  The question of the statistical 
measurement of mode 4 trade is tackled in section IV, whereas section V discusses the potential 
economic implications of mode 4 liberalisation.  S ection VI explores the obst acles perceived to affect 
the presence of natural persons, and section V II provides an overview of Members' mode 4 
commitments and MFN exemptions. 
5. The discussion in this Note is based on an an alysis of mode 4 commitments undertaken on a 
horizontal basis.  Sectoral specificities with regard  to the presence of natural persons are addressed in 
the other Background Notes the Secretariat is curren tly producing in a number of service sectors.  
Nevertheless, in the absence of a separate Note on h ealth services, and given the interest expressed by 
Members, issues related to the migration of health professionals are discussed in Box 2.   
                                                      
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/C/W/301 
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  II. SCOPE OF MODE 4 
A. ARTICLE I AND ARTICLE XXVIII   
6. Article I of the GATS defines mode 4 trade as "the supply of a service by a service supplier 
of one Member, through presence of natural persons  of a Member in the territory of any other 
Member".2  Article XXVIII further defines a "servi ce supplier" as "any person that supplies a 
service"3, and, in turn, a "person" means "eith er a natural or a juridical person".4  Figure 1 illustrates 
the scope of mode 4 by combining the defin itions in Article I and Article XXVIII.   
Figure 1.  Defining mode 4 – Article I and Article XXVIII 
 
natural  person of one Member, 
 
  through the presence of 
The supply of a service by a  natural persons of a Member in 
the territory of any other Member 
 
   juridical  person of one Member, 
 
7. Mode 4 always involves a natural person, thro ugh whose presence services are being traded.  
However, that natural person is not necessarily the "service supplier".  Depending on the nature of the 
transaction, the service supplier may be another natural person, or a juridical person.  In each case it is 
vital to identify the service supplier, to w hom the obligations in the GATS are owed.  
8. It is also important to determine the origin of the mode 4 service supplier, since the main 
substantive provisions of the Agreement, i.e. Mo st Favoured Nation treatment (Article II), market 
access (Article XVI) and national treatment (Art icle XVII), focus on "service suppliers of any other  
Member" [emphasis added].5  This is hardly surprising, as it is only service suppliers of other WTO 
Members, and not a Member's own suppliers or the suppliers of a non-Member, that are eligible for 
the treatment provided under the GATS.  
9. Relevant origin definitions are found in Ar ticle XXVIII.  A "natural person of another 
Member" is a natural person who resides in the territory of a WTO Member and who is either a national or, in certain circumstances, a permanent resident of that other Member.
6  For the purpose of 
services traded through mode 4, a "juridical pe rson of another Member" is a juridical person 
constituted or otherwise organized under the law of  that other Member and engaged in substantive 
business operations in the territory of a WTO Member.7 
                                                      
2 GATS Article I.2(d). 
3 Article XXVIII(g). 
4 Article XXVIII(j). 
5 Hereinafter, service suppliers/natural persons "of another Member" will also be referred to as foreign 
service suppliers/natural persons. 
6 Permanent residents are covered provided the Member concerned does not have nationals or, subject 
to additional qualifications, accords substantially the same treatment to permanent residents as to nationals.  See Article XXVIII(k)(ii). 
7 Article XXVIII(m)(i).    S/C/W/301 
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  B. THE ANNEX – TWO TYPES OF NATURAL PERSONS  
10. Further elaboration on the scope of mode 4 is  provided in the Annex on the Movement of 
Natural Persons Supplying Services under the Ag reement (hereinafter: the Annex).  The Annex 
specifies two types of natural persons that are c overed:  (1) those who are (themselves) service 
suppliers8;  and (2) those who are employed by a service supplier.9  The main definitional elements 
will be outlined below.   
1. Type (1) - Natural persons as service suppliers 
11. The first type, "natural persons who are servi ce suppliers of a Member", involves only one 
and the same person, who is present and supplies a ser vice in the territory of another Member.  This 
would cover a self-employed person who is remune rated directly for the supply of a service by 
customers in the host country.   
12. This case is illustrated in Figure 2. 
Figure 2.  Natural persons as service suppliers 
 
Supplies .. 
  Member A 
 
  Through presence of (same) natural person   
 .. the service Consumer    
 
Service supplier (natural person) Same person is present in A,   from Member B as the service supplier 
 
13. The natural person must be the national (or perm anent resident) of a Member other than that 
in which he or she is present to supply the service, i.e. the natural person must be of foreign origin 
from the host Member's perspective.  For instan ce, services supplied in the United Kingdom by an 
Indian national would fall under mode 4, unlike th e services supplied by a UK national (who is not a 
natural person of a Member in the territory of any other Member ) or a Lebanese national (who is not a 
natural person of a Member ).   
14. The service supplier might operate either from a base in the host country (as per the relevant 
mode 3 commitments) or from a foreign base.  A p hysician who supplies medical services through an 
office in the host country might be an example of  the former type, a piano artist giving a concert 
abroad one of the latter. 
2. Type (2) - Natural persons as  employees of service suppliers 
15. The second type covered according to the Annex are "natural persons of a Member who are 
employed by a service supplier of a Member".  In other words, a distinction is made between the natural person and the service supplier.  The servi ce supplier can be a natural person as well, but it 
will be that person's employee who is present and delivers the service in the host Member.  More 
commonly, however, the supplier will be a juridi cal person.  The natural person and the service 
supplier need to be from a WTO Member, but not necessarily from the same Member. 
                                                     
 
8 This type will also be referred to as "type (1)". 
9 This type will also be referred to as "type (2)". S/C/W/301 
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  16. According to Article I.2(d), the natural person must be in the territory of another Member, 
and, as discussed above, the service supplier must also  be "of any other Member".  Therefore they 
must be both of foreign origin.  As nationally-ow ned service companies are not service suppliers "of 
another Member", any foreign natural persons they  employ are therefore not covered by mode 4.10  
Thus, host-country firms would not be entitled to  claim GATS treatment from their own government 
regarding measures affecting foreign natural persons they employ or wish to employ.  Only foreign 
juridical persons, or foreign natu ral persons who are service supp liers would be entitled to this 
treatment with respect to foreign employees.   
17. Figure 3 outlines how mode 4 services are traded through natural persons employed by a 
service supplier of a Member. 
Figure 3.  Natural persons as  employees of service suppliers 
 
 Supplies the service 
 Member A 
 
  Through presence of another natural person 
   Consumer 
   
Service supplier (natural person) Em ployee (from Member B, C, or D) 
from Member B of the natural person is present in A
 
  Through presence of a natural person 
 Consumer 
  
Service supplier (juridical person) Em ployee (from Member B, C, or D) 
from Member B of the juridical person is present in A  
  Supplies the service 
 
18. By definition, the natural person is present in the territory where the service is being 
supplied, whereas the service supplier is not necessarily there.  In any case, it needs to be determined 
that the service supplier is "of another Member" a ccording to the definitions in Article XXVIII.  
3. Service suppliers vs. employees of service suppliers 
19. It may not always be straightforward to determine if a person is an individual service 
supplier (self-employed), or is employed by a service supplier.  In the case of mode 4, this distinction 
is critical when a national service company is invol ved.  As previously me ntioned, mode 4 covers 
foreigners who are themselves the service supplier and foreigners employed by a foreign service 
supplier, but not foreigners who are employees of a national service company or individual. 
20. As a result, a foreigner supplying services to a host-country company on a contractual basis 
as a self-employed person would be covered by mode  4, whereas the same person would fall outside 
the scope of the mode 4 if they were an employee of that company.  
                                                      
10 For additional views on this issue, see, fo r instance, Self and Zutshi (2003), Chaudhuri et al.  (2003), 
OECD (2004), Peng (2006). 
 S/C/W/301 
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  21.  The GATS offers no guidance on how to differentiate between an employee and a self-
employed person.  This distinction, however, is fre quently drawn under national la ws.  It is often used 
to determine a person's entitlement to employment right s, social security benefits and fiscal treatment.  
Box 1 provides an illustration of the types of crite ria that have been used in one jurisdiction.11   
Box 1.  Self-employed vs. employees - Hong Kong, China's labour legislation 
 
There is no one single conclusive test to distingu ish a contract of employment from a contract for 
service.  Some of the factors to be considered in identifying a contract of employment include: 
 
(a) Control: 
 - Who decides on the recruitment and dismissal of employees? 
 - Who pays for the employees' wages and in what ways? 
 - Who determines the production pro cess, timing and method of production? 
 - Who is responsible for the provision of work? 
 
(b) Ownership of factors of production 
 - Who provides the tools and equipment? 
 - Who provides the working place and materials? 
 
(c) Economic considerations 
 - Does he carry on business on his own account or carrying out the business for the employer? 
 - Does he involve in any prospect of profit or is he liable to any risk of loss? 
 - How are his earnings calculated and profits derived? 
 
Source :  Labour Department, Hong Kong, China,  accessible at www.la bour.gov.hk/eng/faq/ 
cap57b_whole.htm 
 
C. OTHER PROVISIONS IN THE ANNEX  
22. One further qualifying element in relation to mode 4 is linked to its temporary aspect.  The 
Annex specifies that the GATS does not apply to "measures regarding citizenship, residence or 
employment on a permanent  basis" [emphasis added].  This expl ains why mode 4 is often referred to 
as the temporary presence of natural persons.   
23. There is no specified timeframe in the Agre ement to determine what might constitute 
temporary presence.  Pursuant to the Scheduling Guidelines, each Member should specify in its 
schedule of specific commitments the permitted durati on of stay for the categories of natural persons 
included therein. 12 
                                                      
11 See also the draft of the 6th edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6) and draft 
revised Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services, as quoted in Magdeleine and Maurer (2008).  
The BPM6 recommendations for the identification of sel f-employed and employees are broadly consistent with 
those of the System of National Accounts 2008 as well as those in the Resolution concerning the International 
Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93) adopted by the 15th International Conference of Labour 
Statisticians (ICLS) in January 1993 and with other resolutions of the ICLS concerning the definitions of the economically active population. 
12 See paragraph 34 of the Scheduling Guidelines, document S/L/92, dated 28 March 2001.   S/C/W/301 
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  24. The Annex also states that "the Agreement shall not apply to measures affecting natural 
persons seeking access to the employment market of a Member".
13  It further clarifies that, regardless 
of their obligations under the GATS, Members are free to regulate the entry and stay of individuals in 
their territory, provided that the measures concerned "are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or 
impair the benefits accruing to any Member under the terms of a specific commitment".  It also 
provides that the operation of visa requirements only for natural persons of certain Members, but not 
for others, is not per se  regarded as nullifying or impairing such benefits.  
III. MODE 4 CATEGORIES IN MEMBERS' SCHEDULES 
25. The scope of mode 4 is defined by the framewo rk provisions of the GATS, rather than by 
Members' schedules of commitments.  The fact that  lower-skilled persons are generally absent from 
commitments (for further discussion, see section VII.A below), for instance, does not mean that they 
are not covered by mode 4.  By the same token, the existence of commitments on the employment of 
foreigners by national suppliers could not be con ceived to imply any modification to the scope of 
mode 4 as outlined in section II. 
26. Members' schedules delineate the access conditions granted with regard to mode 4.  In 
practice, the following categories of natural pers ons are customarily, but not mandatorily, found in 
commitments (the service supplier is from Member B, the service consumer is located in Member A).
14 
(a) Independent Professionals (IP) :  self-employed persons of B who are present in A 
to supply a service to a local client pursuant to a service contract.  IP correspond to the self-employed service suppliers described in section II.B.1 above.  The term 
'professionals' might be somewhat confus ing, however, since these persons are not 
supplying only 'professional services' as defined in the W/120 services classification list, but, at least in principle, many other services; 
(b) Contractual Service Suppliers (CSS) :  employees of a service supplier of B without 
a commercial presence in A, who are present in A to provide a service pursuant to a 
service contract concluded between their employer and a local client.
15  CSS receive 
their remuneration from their employer, and not from the client;  they are "natural persons of a Member who are employed by  a service supplier of a Member " and 
correspond to the lower part of Figure 3; 
(c) Intra-Corporate Transferees (ICT) :  employees of a service supplier of B that has a 
commercial presence in A, and who are transferred to the affiliate in A.  ICT fall 
under type (2) like CSS, but in their case the service supplier has set up a 
commercial presence in the host country, to which they are being transferred;  
                                                     
 
13 The Agreement offers no further guid ance on this exclusion.  Chaudhuri et al (2003) see this clause 
as implying that foreigners employed by host country companies are beyond the scope of mode 4.  Differently, Peng (2006) argues that the focus in this sentence shoul d be on the words "seeking access";  a person already 
employed in a Member's territory cannot be "seeking access" to that Member's employment market (because 
that person has already finished the access-seeking pr ocess and has found employment).  According to this 
author, the meaning of the words "access", in combinatio n with "seeking", cannot be equated to the notion of 
"employed". 
14 For a more detailed description of the categorie s frequently used in Members' commitments, see 
document JOB(03)/195.  Also, documents TN/S/W/31 and TN/S/W/32 propose possible common categories.  
15 Employees of a service supplier of B that had a commercial presence in A could also fall under the 
CSS category, provided their presence in A were totally unrelated to, and independent of, the operations of the 
affiliate in A.  S/C/W/301 
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  (d) Business Visitors (BV):  employees of a service supplier of B who are seeking entry 
into A for the purpose of setting up a commerc ial presence or of negotiating the sale 
of a service on behalf of an enterprise.  BV do not receive any remuneration from a 
source located within A and are not engaged in making direct sales to the general public or supplying services themselves.  They are just facilita ting future trade, 
which may take place through a variety of modes of supply.  
27. A category not generally explicitly inscribed as such in Members' schedules is that of non-
ICT temporary employees of foreign service companies in the host country.   
28. One final point to note is that the use of th ese categories, which are predominantly based on 
the nature and presence of the service supplier, thou gh widespread, is not universal.  Some Members, 
for instance, have opted for a hierarchical categor isation and have bound access for, e.g., executives, 
managers and specialists, while others used different  combinations of types of categories (see section 
VII.A). 
29. Figure 4 below combines the definition of  mode 4 as it emerges from the framework 
provisions of the GATS with the scheduli ng patterns normally used by Members.
16   
Figure 4.  Categories of natural persons under mode 4 
 
The GATS covers services 
supplied by whom? 
 
 Service supplier of another Member (i.e. foreign) 
What form can a foreign 
service supplier take? 
 
 Natural person Juridical person 
How are services supplied 
in the host country? 
 
  
 
  By the same natural person, as 
self-employed service 
supplier, directly to consumer Through an employee 
when the service 
supplier has no 
commercial presence 
in the host country Through an employee 
when the service 
supplier has a 
commercial presence 
in the host country 
What corresponding 
categories of natural 
persons are generally found 
in Members' Schedules? 
 Independent professionals Contractual service 
suppliers Intra-corporate 
transferees or 
non-ICT temporary 
employees 
 
IV. MEASURING MODE 4 TRADE17 
30. The measurement of mode 4 flows poses formidable challenges.  No clearly defined  
statistical framework is currently in place to assess the value of mode 4 trade and, consequently, no 
reliable estimates exist.  Conceptu al work has nonetheless been undert aken over recent years, in the 
context of the drafting of the first revised versi on of the UN Manual on Statistics of International 
Trade in Services.  The revised Manual accounts fo r revisions introduced in the System of National 
                                                      
16 Business visitors are not reflected in Figure 4 as the service delivery has yet to take place. 
17 For a more comprehensive description of the resear ch carried out over recen t years with respect to 
the measurement of GATS mode 4, see Magdeleine and Maurer (2008).  S/C/W/301 
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  Accounts and the Balance of Payments, as well as in Foreign Affiliates Statistics (FATS)
18.  It also 
includes a chapter that discusses th e measurement of trade flows by mode of supply, in particular 
mode 4, and provides new recommendations on the compilation of trade in services information by modes of supply.
19   
31. Ideally, information on the value of trade and the related movement of persons (flows and 
stocks) would need to be collected.  In terms of value, only the trade generated by CSS and IP20 would 
prove relevant.  In the case of ICT and other fo reign employees of foreign service suppliers, the 
service is being supplied through the affiliate (a nd captured under mode 3,  in foreign affiliates 
statistics), while the activities of BV do not, at least initially, involve financial transactions.   
32. In terms of sources of information, the servi ces transactions recorded in the Balance of 
Payments cover mode 4, although with serious limitati ons in terms of its identification.  Balance of 
Payments services transactions are recorded when they occur betw een residents and non-residents 
with an underlying contract as the basis for the tran saction.  As such, they capture essentially modes 
1, 2 and 4.21  However, determining the share of mode 4 in  Balance of Payments data is, for the time 
being at least, problematic.  Whereas certain transac tions are clearly associated with specific modes, 
for example, a transaction relating to a physician providing medical diagnosis electronically to a 
patient abroad with mode 1, others invo lve a combination of modes of supply.   
33. For example, under a single transaction (or contract) relating to the development of 
customised software, the service supplier may choos e to send a specialist to the host country (client) 
to develop part of the software, while the rest is worked on in the supplier's home country.  This bit of 
software is subsequently forwarded electronically to  the specialist, who will finalize the project with 
the help of colleagues who had remained in the home  country.  In such cases, there is a need to single 
out the mode 4 part in existing Balance of Payments cross-border services transactions.  
34. Mode 4 is deemed to be an important component of services trade in the Balance of 
Payments items construction services;  computer and other information services;  other business services (miscellaneous business, professional and t echnical services);  and personal, cultural and 
recreational services (other, i.e. excluding audiovisual and related services).
22  Table 1 shows the 
services items of the Balance of Payments where m ode 4 is judged to be an important component.  
Although mode 4 accounts most probably only for a small proportion of the figures reported, Table 1 
provides an indication of how trade in these sectors is evolving.  Notably, over the period 2000-2007 
world exports of all these services (with the excep tion of other personal, cultural and recreational 
services) have exhibited higher average growth rat es than exports of total commercial services.   
                                                      
18 FATS statistics contain information on the local deliv eries of services through foreign affiliates that 
is required to estimate the size of mode 3. 
19 For more information on the statistical conceptualization of mode 4, see: 
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/TFSITS/msits.htm. 
20 In international statistical standards, CSS and IP are respectively referred to as 'CSS as employees of 
a juridical person' and as 'CSS as self-employed'. 
21 Compensation of employees and workers' remittances are income  measures in the Balance of 
Payments.  The former measures the wages, salari es, and other compensation received by non-resident 
employees for the work performed for their resident employers, while the latter covers transfers back home by 
migrant workers employed in a foreign economy.  Both these indicators are not measures of mode 4 trade, but of 
income flows originating from the movement of people or migration.  Indeed, except in rare cases, these items will not cover most of the transactions relating to CSS and IP.  (See also section V.B.1 below) 
22 These sectoral definitions correspond to the Balance of Payments classification.  S/C/W/301 
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  Table 1.  World exports of services sectors wh ere mode 4 is deemed to be an important 
component, 2007 
(US$ billion and annual percentage change) 
 
 Value Share Annual percentage change 
 2007 2000 2007 2000-07 2005 2006 2007 
Construction 70 1.9 2.1 14 20 17 23 
Computer and information services 160 3.3 4.8 19 12 21 23 
Other miscellaneous business, 
 professional and technical services 550 15.3 16.2 13 13 14 20 
Other personal, cultural and 
 recreational services 10 0.3 0.3 11 18 18 25 
Total commercial services* 3370 100.0 100.0 12 12 14 20 
 
Services sectors correspond to the Ba lance of Payments classification. 
* As defined in the Balance of Payments, essentially covering modes 1, 2 and 4. 
Source :  WTO Secretariat (2009) 
35. Available estimates suggest that, as a share of trade in services in all four modes, mode 4 
trade accounts for less than 5 per cent.23  However, for specific service sectors in a number of 
economies, the size of mode 4 trade may be significantly higher.  Today, a very rough WTO 
Secretariat estimate based on the small number of studies carried out by national compilers places the value of mode 4 trade at around US$150-200 billion. 
36. Some Members have tried to estimate the wei ght of different modes of supply for a number 
of services sectors.  For example, the breakdown of  Australia's services trade by mode for the fiscal 
year 2002-03, based on Balance of Payments and FATS data, indicates that modes 1 and 4, counted 
together, amounted to 17.8 per cent.  This break down could be further refined by distinguishing 
transactions deemed to be provided predominantl y through mode 1 (such as in transportation, 
communication, financial and insurance services) fro m those where mode 4 is considered to be a 
significant element of the trade concerned (see above).   Their respective shares in total services trade 
would be 11.9 and 5.6 per cent, as illustrated in Char t 1.  The latter percentage would need to be 
further broken down to identify specifically the mode 4 elements. 
                                                     
 
23 Magdeleine and Maurer (2008).  S/C/W/301 
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  Chart 1.  Australia, exports of services broken down by mode of supply, 2002-03 
(Percentage)  
Mode 3+4
0.1%Mode 2+4
0.1%Mode 1+4
5.6%
Other
5.9%Mode 1
11.9%
Mode 3
62.7%Mode 2
19.4%
 
Source :  Magdeleine and Maurer (2008) 
 
37. Although not compiled according to internationa l statistical standards, the Australian 
International Legal Services Advisory Council h as recently published results from a survey of 
Australian exports of legal services over the 2006-2007 financial year.24  The survey valued services 
exported through the 'fly in-fly out' method as accountin g for 17.5 per cent of total Australia's legal 
services export income.  This category includes wo rk undertaken by lawyers normally resident in 
Australia, either on a 'fly in-fly out' basis or from thei r 'desk' in Australia if it is not necessary to fly in 
to actually undertake the work.  Though not corresponding precisely to mode 4 as defined in the 
GATS, this information provides a useful gauge of the relative importance of mode 4 trade. 
38. Surveys asking respondents to allocate transactions to the most important mode of supply, in 
terms of associated time and resources, have been used also by the Reserve Bank of India, to collect 
data on exports of computer services from India.  Ac cording to available figures, mode 4 exports are 
estimated to represent 13 per cent of India's total exports of computer services in 2002-2003.25 
39. Current statistics on the number of persons movi ng in connection with mode 4 trade, which 
are drawn mainly from enterprise surveys, border  or passengers' surveys, and visa records, are 
imprecise and scarce, and do not generally distinguish between different categories of natural persons.  
The OECD, for instance, collects information on in flows of intra-corporate transferees (with no 
distinction between services- a nd goods-producing employers) and other temporary foreign workers, 
but the data are far from an exact match for mode 4.26  Available information for intra-corporate 
transferees is reproduced in Table 2.  Given the pauc ity of existing information, it is difficult to draw 
any conclusions or identify any clear patterns. 
                                                      
24 In Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2009). 
25 Reserve Bank of India (2005). 
26 For a discussion of the main limitations of these data, see Annex B of OECD (2004).  S/C/W/301 
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  Table 2.  Entries of intra-corporate tr ansferees in selected OECD countries, 2000-2006 
(Thousands) 
 
Intra-corporate transferees  
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 
Australia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Austria 0.2 ... ... 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 
Belgium ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Canada 1.6 1.8 3.0 3.8 4.2 4.5 5.7 
Denmark ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
France ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Germany 1.3 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.8 
Italy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Japan 3.9 3.5 2.9 3.4 3.6 4.2 5.6 
Korea 10.0 9.2 8.7 7.8 8.5 8.4 8.1 
Netherlands ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
New Zealand ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Norway ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Sweden ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
Switzerland ... ... ... 14.4 7.5 1.8 4.0 
United Kingdom ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
United States 55.0 59.4 57.7 57.2 62.7 65.5 72.6 
 
 Source : OECD (2007) and OECD (2009). 
 
40. Tourism statistics break down international vis itors according to the purpose of their trip, 
including business and professional purposes.  Interna tional visitors are defined as persons present in 
an economy other than the one in which they resi de for a period of less then one year and not 
employed by an enterprise of the economy visited.  These statistics would thus potentially be relevant 
to gauge flows of, for instance, BV, IP and C SS.  Table 3 provides information for the top-20 
destinations in terms of arriva ls of international visitors. S/C/W/301 
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  Table 3.  Top-20 (2007) destinations for arrivals of international visitors  
travelling for business and professional purposes, 2005-2007 
(Thousands) 
 
2005 2006 2007 
Italy 9,190 10,833 11,992 
United Kingdom 8,773 9,717 9,496 
France a 9,074 9,073 8,636 
China b 4,598 5,548 6,961 
United States c 5,637 5,569 6,785 
Spain 5,940 4,915 5,275 
Portugal 3,308 3,555 4,124 
Poland 4,240 4,240 4,085 
Hong Kong, China 3,572 3,862 3,516 
Russian Federation 3,226 3,233 3,270 
Singapore 2,549 2,886 3,168 
Malaysia d 2,283 2,304 2,987 
Macao, China 2,994 2,860 2,969 
Saudi Arabia 1,951 1,603 2,659 
Canada e 2,622 2,651 2,590 
Belgium 2,366 2,492 2,440 
Turkey 1,972 2,316 2,228 
Indonesia 2,063 2,011 2,161 
Thailand f 1,545 1,976 1,817 
Finland 1,480 1,607 1,696 
 
 a Business and pleasure.  
 b Excluding arrivals from Hong Kong , China;  Chinese Taipei;  Macao, China;  and overseas Chinese.  
 c Overseas only, excluding arrivals from Mexico.  
 d Peninsular Malaysia only. 
 e Including convention. 
 f Excluding nationals residing abroad. 
 Source :  World Tourism Organization (2009) 
 
V. POTENTIAL ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF MODE 4 LIBERALISATION27 
41. It is difficult to fit mode 4 trade in a robust  analytical framework.  One the one hand, given 
its similarities with 'traditional' cross-border trade,  conventional trade theory might prove appropriate.  
In this sense, the benefits expected from liberalisi ng mode 4 would be similar to those of liberalising 
goods trade and would include strengthening competiti on, thus eliminating inefficiencies, reaping 
economies of scale, and importing better ways of doing business.28  On the other hand, mode 4 shares 
some of the characteristics of 'ordinary' migration as people relocate, albeit temporarily, from one country to another, thereby potentially changing a country's factor (i.e. labour) endowment.  Neither 
approach appears totally fitting to assess th e implications of mode 4 liberalisation. 
                                                     
 
27 The discussion in this section relies on the concepts of "temporary workers" and "temporary 
migrants", rather than confining itself to the narrower notion of "natural persons involved in mode 4 trade". 
28 See also Winters (2003).  S/C/W/301 
 Page 13 
 
 
  A.   EMPIRICAL STUDIES  
42. Mode 4 was still a relatively  unknown concept amongst econom ists at the time of the 
previous Secretariat Note, and no empirical work had been undertaken on the issue.  Since then, 
however, several studies have attempted to quantif y the potential economic impact of liberalising 
mode 4.  Still, it needs to be noted at the outset th at all these studies are seek ing to estimate the effects 
of freeing up the temporary movement of workers, ra ther than of liberalising mode 4 as defined by  
the GATS. 
43. Using a computable general equilibrium model,  Winters (2003) estimates that if developed 
countries were to raise their quotas on the inward movement of temporary workers from developing 
countries to 3 per cent of their labour force, an  overall yearly gain of US$150 billion would be 
realised.  This gain would be shared by develo ped and developing countries alike, with the largest 
benefits, for both origin and d estination countries, coming from the movement of lower-skilled 
workers.  This is explained by the greater di fference in productivity (d ue to different capital 
endowments) between lower-skilled workers in deve loping and developed countries than in the case 
of high-skilled workers.29 
44. Winters notes, however, that such a vigorous liberalisation would "pose significant 
adjustment strains" in  industrialised countries.30  He argues that, over the long run, resulting strains 
could be mitigated using educa tion to improve the human capital endowment of individuals in 
developed countries.  For the short term, Winters identifies four possible ap proaches:  leaving the 
most sensitive sectors out of the liberalisation process;  making liberalisation proceed over long 
transitional periods;  using specific trade-relate d compensation schemes;  and relying on deeper 
general social protection systems.  
45. In another study, Rodrik (2002) calculates the impact of a temporary visa scheme, with a 
quota set at 3 per cent of the developed countries'  labour force.  Under this scheme, developing 
countries' workers would be allowed employment in  developed countries for 3 to 5 years, to be 
replaced by other workers upon return to their home countries.  The gains from this system are 
calculated at US$200 billion annually.  However, Rodr ik also points to the negative distributional 
effects of the scheme for local wo rkers in industrialised countri es, especially lower-skilled ones. 
46. Using a gravity model augmented by a measure of temporary movement of workers, Jansen 
and Piermartini (2004 and 2005) show that, over time , an increase in the temporary movement of 
people generates also significant indirect effe cts on merchandise and services trade through other 
modes of supply.  These effects ensue from skill a nd technology transfers, development of specific 
knowledge, creation of networks and oversea s contacts, and reputation effects.   
47. These empirical estimates are still very approximate.  As mentioned, they suffer from 
significant methodological difficulties linked to the definition of mode 4, which lacks an easily identifiable correspondence in immigration regimes,  and the absence of reliable statistical data.  
Generally, the studies undertaken consider types of movement that are different from and wider than 
mode 4.  Also, there is often uncertainty about th e existing level of protection in respect of mode 4 
trade and, hence, about the baseline from which to  measure any change.  The perceived discrepancy 
between Members' commitments and the regimes in force at the national level could result in an 
overestimation of the impact of further mode 4 lib eralisation.  Measures that seek to moderate any 
                                                     
 
29 Other studies that have relied on computable general equilibrium models to quantify the economic 
effects of greater temporary moveme nt of persons include Walmsely et al (2005) for the Pacific region, Ahmed 
and Walmsley (2009) for India and Ben Romdhane (2008) for Tunisia. 
30 Winters (2003), page 86. S/C/W/301 
Page 14  
 
  adverse effects of mode 4 trade further complicate the analysis.  Economic needs tests, for instance, 
imply that mode 4 entry only happens when it is ex pected to have no negative impact on the domestic 
labour market. 
48. The direct welfare-promoting effects of mode 4 liberalisation focus on the expected gains 
from a narrowing of wage differentia ls between developing and develope d countries.  However, in the 
regulated labour markets of many developed count ries, domestic legislation limits or prevents 
downward adjustments of wages.  Moreover, several host countries require that temporary workers be 
accorded equal wages and social protection as nationals at comparable levels of skills and expertise.  
As a result, the hypothesis of wage harmonisation is ra ther implausible, even if most of the models 
assume no more than a halving of wage differentials  (because of differences in education levels, 
culture, social protection systems, etc).  To the extent that downward pressures on wages are curbed, 
the expected gains from mode 4 liberalisation may be  lower.  However, the costs of adjustment will 
concurrently be lower as well.   
49. Even if such problems are taken into account , however, the overall gains to be expected 
from mode 4 liberalisation are likely to remain significant.  Moreover, opening up mode 4 trade is 
likely to benefit developing countries in particular, given their perceived comparative advantage in the 
area of the movement of persons unrelated to a commercial presence abroad.  This is not to say, however, that developed countries would not also be  positively affected by greater mode 4 openings.  
Indeed, significant potential for mode 4 movement s does not exist solely between developing and 
developed countries, but also amongst these groups of countries.
31 
B. EFFECTS OF MODE  4 LIBERALISATION ON ORIGIN AND DESTINATION COUNTRIES  
50. Leaving aside quantification attempts, this sec tion will briefly discuss some of the potential 
implications of liberalising mode 4 fo r both origin and destination countries.32  Generalizations could 
prove misleading, however, as liberalisation may ha ve a distinct impact depending on the countries 
and sectors concerned, the category and skill levels  of the persons involved, as well as the governing 
regulatory framework.   
1. Effects in origin countries 
51. The potential beneficial effects associated with the expansion of mode 4 trade are manifold.  
From the origin country's perspective they include in particular: 
• Reduced pressure on saturated labour markets.  Departing workers may be expected to help 
reduce unemployment and lift wages.  The actual im pact will, however, depend crucially on the 
length of stay abroad, on whether the persons i nvolved were already employed at home and on 
whether they are easily replaceable, and effectiv ely replaced.  The effects will differ depending 
on the categories of mode 4 natural persons involved.   The most relevant effects are likely to be 
in the case of (non-ICT) workers who move to  take up employment with foreign service 
companies in the host country. 
• Income transfers.  The transfers concerned ar e recorded in the Balance of Payments as 
remittances.  Remittances are lik ely to be relevant essentially for ICT who are employed and 
remunerated by the foreign affiliate and non -ICT employees of foreign companies.  The 
economic impact ultimately depends on the use to  which remittances are put, i.e. consumption, 
saving or investment.  Transfers are expected to  be boosted by the temporary nature of mode 4 
                                                      
31 See also OECD (2002a). 
32 This section relies in large measure on OECD (2002a).  S/C/W/301 
 Page 15 
 
 
  movement, given the inverse re lationship thought to exist be tween the amounts remitted, per 
equal time periods, and the duration of time spent abroad.33  However, this relationship is likely 
to be mitigated by the highly-qualified nature of th e persons generally involved in mode 4 trade.  
Available research suggests that highly-skilled work ers tend to remit less, as  a percentage of the 
income received, than lower-skilled migrants.34 
• Indirect trade-inducing effects.  As discussed in section V.A, increased mode 4 trade is likely to 
be a vector for promoting foreign direct invest ment into the source country, through the ensuing 
overseas networks and contacts.  Additionally, cross-border services trade could be stimulated 
by mode 4 movements.  The presence of temporary Indian workers in the United States, for instance, has helped raise the awareness of the pool of skills available within India, thus, 
increasing US companies' inclination to deal w ith Indian workers and facilitating the eventual 
outsourcing of work to India.
35   
• Human capital transfers.  Upon return, the origin  country's stock of human capital is likely to 
have increased.  The enhanced skills of the returning worker, in  terms of languages, experience, 
know-how, and business contacts, can potentially entail positive externalities.36  However, 
suitable infrastructure and career opportunities must be available at home in order to make the 
most of the enhanced human capital embedded in returning workers.  Mode 4 liberalisation may 
also potentially mitigate the danger of 'brain w aste', which occurs when workers are unable to 
use their skills and training in a foreign labour ma rket.  'Brain waste', which is mostly associated 
with irregular migration, results in a misuse of talent, a dissipation of the (often public) resources invested in education and may seriously  affect the chances of the origin country's 
human capital being augmented upon return of the worker.  By increasing access opportunities 
in the sectors concerned, deeper mode 4 commi tments improve the chances that the person's 
qualifications and skills will be employed appropria tely in the host country, while at the same 
time also providing an incentive to  gain the relevant qualifications.
37 
52. For origin countries, however, greater mode 4 trad e may imply a threat of 'brain drain', i.e., 
the loss of skills and expertise as a result of hi ghly-skilled workers going abroad, with the ensuing 
negative repercussions on a country's economic de velopment.  Indeed, workers who move across 
borders tend to be young, highly motivated and better educated and qualified than their counterparts at 
home.38  Moreover, 'brain drain' may imply a transfer  of public investment in education and training 
from the origin country to the destination country.39   
53. On the other hand, the temporary nature of mode 4 movements can help to moderate the 
purported disadvantages associated with 'brain drain'.  The risk of 'brain drain' also needs to be 
considered against the backdrop of whether the pers ons involved would have been able to use their 
skills productively in their own country.  The lack of  adequate opportunities at ho me is, after all, often 
one of the driving factors behind the decision to migrate.   
                                                      
33 See, for instance, Dustmann and Mestres (2009). 
34 Faini (2007). 
35 Chanda (2003). 
36 For example, in India and Chinese Taipei, the return of highly-skilled migrants has had positive 
effects on the development of the native software and high-technology sectors.  (OECD (2008).) 
37 According to Batista et al. (2007), almost 40 per cent of the university graduates of Cape Verde 
would not have enrolled in tertiary education had they not had the opportunity to migrate. 
38 See, for instance, Al buro and Abella (2002) 
39 To cover the costs involved, the Philippines has set up a system whereby nurses are allowed to work 
in the private sector or abroad  if they repay their student loans.  (The Economist (2008).) S/C/W/301 
Page 16  
 
  54. Box 2 discusses the issue of 'brain drain' in the health sector.  It considers the international 
movement of health professionals in general, rath er than just mode 4 movements in the sector.  
Mode 4 is, in fact, likely to account only for an insignificant share of the flows of health personnel.
40 
Box 2.  The international migration of health professionals 
 
The 'brain drain' phenomenon has attracted particular  attention in the health sector, both because of its 
extent and potential consequences.  In 2000, 75  and 70 per cent of the physicians produced by 
Mozambique and Angola, respectively, were working abroad.41  Focusing exclusively on OECD 
countries as destinations42, and comparing the number of doctors in the origin country with the 
number of expatriate doctors, African and Caribb ean countries stand out as being disproportionately 
affected by the out-migration of physicians, some  with expatriation rates above 50 per cent.  The 
consequences of the associ ated 'brain drain' are particularly serious when the origin country exhibits 
low density ratios for doctors, as in the case of  several French-speaking African countries. 
Expatriation rates for nurses are generally lower than  for doctors, with some exceptions, notably in 
the Caribbean region, and Haiti and Ja maica in particular.  This is not the full picture, however, since 
many nurses tend to move to non-OECD countries (e .g. from the Philippines to the Gulf region).   
 The World Health Organization (WHO) has iden tified 57 countries, including 36 Sub-Saharan 
African countries, as having a critic al shortage of health personnel.
43  In such settings, even the 
temporary loss of skilled professionals can deal a seri ous blow to already fragile health systems.  By 
way of response, the World Health Assembly of  2004 mandated the WHO Director General to 
develop a non-binding code of practice on the in ternational recruitment of health personnel.44  A first 
draft, prepared in August 2008, was subjected to  a process of consultations and subsequently 
revised.45  The code encourages the setting of voluntary standards for recruitment, aimed at providing 
an equitable balance of the inter ests of health personnel, origin and destination countries, with a 
special emphasis on countries experiencing a health-workforce crisis. 
 
The contribution of international migration to the shortage of health pers onnel should, however, be 
put into perspective.  OECD estimates suggest, fo r instance, that all African-born doctors and nurses 
working in OECD countries represent no more than 12 per cent of the total estimated shortage for the 
region, and that the share for South-East Asia is 9 per cent.  The OECD concludes that "the needs in 
human resources in developing countries [...] la rgely outstrip the numbers of immigrant health 
workers in the OECD, implying that international migration is neither the main cause nor would its 
reduction be the solution to the worldwide health human resources crisis, even though it exacerbates 
the acuteness of the problem in some countries".46 
 
In a similar vein, the UK's Overseas Development Institute (ODI) argues that restrictions on the 
international recruitment of health personnel from c ountries that lack such human resources appear to 
be inappropriate if migration is not the root cause of skills shortages in origin countries.47  B y  
reducing formal channels of entry,  restrictions on the inflow of health workers might simply increase 
the  number of  informal  migrants and the associated ri sk  of 'brain waste'.  Tighter  controls  in some 
                                                      
40 Foreign health workers tend for the most part to be employed by national, often publicly-owned, 
health facilities.  As such, they would not be covered by mode 4. 
41 Clemens and Pettersson (2007). 
42 For a fuller discussion of the migration of hea lth workers to OECD countries, see OECD (2007). 
43 WHO (2006) 
44 For a description of the elaboration of the code, see WHO (2009). 
45 See WHO (2008).  
46 OECD (2007), p. 179. 
47 See Cali, M. (2008).  S/C/W/301 
 Page 17 
 
 
   destinations could divert migrants to other, l ess restrictive countries.  The question also arises 
whether the workers involved would have been ab le to use their skills productively at home, and 
whether, by raising the expected returns on education,  the opportunity to migrate acts as a stimulus to 
the skills base.  In order to achieve a suitable leve l of adequate skills, therefore, the ODI suggests that 
origin countries institute strategies to promote de velopment, and destinati on countries support these 
strategies while also elaborating migration-specific policies.  Such policies could include funding the 
expansion of the tertiary training capacity of s ource countries;  providing technical assistance to 
improve the regulatory and oversight capacity of th ese countries' training systems;  and instituting 
mechanisms to facilitate return migration. 
 
2. Effects in destination countries 
55. For destination countries, one of the positive e ffects of mode 4 liberalisation lies in the 
potential to alleviate labour and/or human-capita l shortages in individual service sectors.  For 
example, the domestic workforce may lack the requ ired skills and qualifications;  certain positions 
may be deliberately left vacant by suitably qualifie d people, who prefer to engage in other, more 
attractive activities (e.g. in terms of the nature of the sector, employer, geographical location);  or an 
ageing population may induce increased demand for specific services.   
56. A survey of employers across 33 countries undertaken by Manpower in the first quarter of 
2009 reveals that 30 per cent of surveyed companie s were having difficulties filling positions due to 
the lack of suitable skills in their markets.  The top 10 jobs that were found most difficult to fill were, in order:  skilled trades
48, sales representatives, technicians, e ngineers, managers and executives, 
accounting and finance staff, labourers, production op erators, secretaries and other office support staff 
and drivers.   
57. However, mode 4 is likely to provide at best  only a short-term easing of domestic supply 
bottlenecks.  Even though human-c apital shortages could theoretically  be permanently resolved by a 
constant inflow of temporary workers, this is li kely to be more costly than relying on permanent 
workers, in terms of replacement costs, loss of experience and repeated training of new arrivals.  
When needs are on-going, in addition, temporary admi ssions may carry the risk of delaying efforts at 
structural adjustments of national education and training programmes.  
58. At the same time, though, by partially subs tituting for permanent se ttlement, mode 4 helps 
avert some of the associated social and political costs.  Indeed, temporary movement tends to be less politically sensitive in the host country and also less co stly in terms of use of public infrastructure and 
services, such as health and education. 
59. For destination countries, mode 4 liberalisati on can also offer the benefits of increased 
competition, better quality and broader choice.  Cons umers can gain from a wider choice of better and 
more varied services at lower prices.  Firms can  access skills and knowledge embodied in foreign 
workers at lower than domestic 'production' costs,  thus enabling them to produce existing services at 
lower cost and possibly also entirely new services.  In addition, given that  competition comes from 
within the host-country, rather than from the outsi de, as is the case with 'traditional' cross-border 
trade, the related adjustment costs may be lower, as  foreign workers consume part of their income in 
the host-country.   
                                                     
 
48 In the Manpower survey, "skilled trades" refers to  a broad range of jobs that require specialised 
skills, traditionally learnt over a period of time as an apprentice.  Examples of skilled trades jobs include 
electricians, bricklayers, carpenters and plumbers. S/C/W/301 
Page 18  
 
  60. However, mode 4 liberalisation may negatively affect, at least in the short-term, national 
workers who are in direct competition with foreigne rs to provide the same services.  Mode 4 entry 
may thus exert an upward pressure on unemploymen t and a downward pressure on wages.  In this 
sense, the impact of opening up mode 4 is no differe nt from that of liberalising goods trade;  any 
negative consequences on domestic employment, t hough, are bound to materialise more quickly and 
directly, as imports are immediately embodied in fo reigners taking up domestic jobs or obtaining 
domestic services contracts.  In the longer-term, none theless, the host-country's production structure is 
expected to adjust, and the costs of this adjustment will likely be transient, sm aller than in the case of 
'traditional' cross-border trade and counterba lanced by the benefits indicated before.  
61. To ease adjustment pressures and popular r esistance to increased inflows of foreign 
workers, quite a number of countries operate wage -parity requirements.  Such requirements might 
also be justified on the grounds that foreign worker s face the living costs of the host-country, and that 
temporary workers could be more vulnerable to exploitation if not fully subjected to local laws.  On the other hand, wage gaps could reflect dispar ities in productivity between national and foreign 
workers.  And while instances of exploitation certainly  exist, the degree of mistreatment seems to be 
related more to the nature of the job performed than the temporary and foreign character of the 
workers, particularly given that mode 4 tends to involve the movement of highly educated and 
qualified persons.   
62. Finally, mode 4 movements might be seen as a fi rst step toward permanent migration.  This 
is unlikely to be of particular concern when the switch happens legally, through a change of visa 
category.  Indeed, developed countries in partic ular are increasingly using temporary migration 
schemes as a way of pre-selecting permanent residents.
49  Migrants overstaying illegally, instead, 
might be perceived as a potential risk of greater  mode 4 access.  While overstaying is a problem 
associated with any form of temporary entry50, available data shows little evidence of large-scale 
shifts of workers from temporary to permanent stat us.  Furthermore, by providing an alternative and 
orderly entry avenue, mode 4 liber alisation might contribute to reducing the pressure of irregular 
migration.  Compared with other temporary mi gration schemes, in addition, access conditions bound 
in GATS mode 4 commitments offer a stable and pr edictable regime that is likely to be more 
conducive to regular and return migration. 
VI. OBSTACLES TO MODE 4 TRADE51 
63. The main obstacles discussed in this section refl ect those relating to mode 4 mentioned in an 
attachment ("Sectoral and modal objectives as identif ied by Members") to the Report by the Chairman 
of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services to the Trade Negotiations Committee 
(document TN/S/23).52   
64. Visa and work permit-related requirements and procedures are among the main measures 
affecting mode 4 trade.  Eligibility criteria tend to be strict, with a bias towards categories of persons 
who are highly-skilled and -educated, at elevated f unctional levels.  Their movement tends to be 
associated with a commercial establis hment in the host country and contingent upon a prior period of 
employment with the home-country company.  Permits are granted for durations of stay that are not 
                                                      
49 Switzerland, for instance, has a po licy of renewing seasonal work permits that allows the worker, 
after four consecutive seasons, to apply for a permanent resident permit (OECD (2002a)). 
50 In principle the cross-border movements of people associated mode 2 trade should raise similar, if 
not bigger, concerns. 
51 No judgement is implied on the status  of  these obstacles under the GATS. 
52 Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration cross-refers to this attachment, with a footnote 
indicating that it has no legal standing.   S/C/W/301 
 Page 19 
 
 
  always tailored to the needs of mode 4 service supp liers, and are often non-renewable.  There are also 
quantitative restrictions frequently placed on visas and work permits, expressed as numerical quotas 
and/or economic needs tests (ENTs).  The latter may take the form of labour market tests, 
management needs tests, manpower manning requirem ents, or other types of tests and conditions.  
ENTs conducted in the absence of clearly defined crit eria and procedures are comparable in effect to 
the absence of any policy binding. 
65. Procedures relating to visas and work permit s can act as an additional impediment to 
mode 4 trade.53  Application procedures often tend of be  cumbersome, costly, and administratively 
complex;  processing times are likely to be lengthy;  rejection rates can be high and the costs of reapplying important.  Two separate procedures, one for an entry visa and one for a work permit, are 
often necessary.  Permits are generally not transfer able from one employer to the next, and extension 
and renewal processes are not necessarily streamlined.  Procedures, particularly work-permit related 
ones, rarely distinguish between temporary and pe rmanent movement of labour, and are therefore 
particularly ill-suited for the temporary, and ofte n time-sensitive, types of movement that mode 4 
involves.  Opaque and arbitrary procedures are al so mentioned amongst the problems associated with 
entry and work permit procedures. 
66. Discriminatory measures affecting mode 4 trade consist mainly of nationality and residency 
requirements, non-eligibility under subsidy schemes, discriminatory tax treatment, and obligations on 
foreigners to provide training to domestic worker s.  Other issues of concern include restrictions 
affecting the mobility of family members;  the non-po rtability of social security benefits;  and wage-
parity requirements.   
67. However, even non-discriminatory regulatory  requirements and procedures may seriously 
affect mode 4 trade.  For instan ce, the assessment of an applicant' s credentials may take into account 
only formal qualifications, rather than considering also skills and experience,  and the process may be 
inclined towards local knowledge and norms .  Approval procedures may be complex and 
discretionary, particularly where no specified criteri a exist for judging equivalence, of unpredictable 
duration, non-transparent and costly.  Multiple laye rs of approval may be required, for instance at 
different government levels or with  different professional bodies.   
68. Qualifications and skills obtained abroad, furthe rmore, are rarely reco gnised in the host 
country.  The impact of non-recognition is likely to vary depending on the category of persons 
involved (IP probably being more affected than ICT), type of supplier (smaller enterprises encountering more difficulties than large corporati ons), sector (regulated services being significantly 
more concerned than unregulated ones), country  (depending on the relative differences of the 
regulatory regimes involved). 
69. Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) are one mechanism to assess qualifications.
54  
They are mostly concluded for licensed professions  with established international standards and 
practices, but are not necessarily a viable option for occupations where skills and experience are 
judged mainly through a concrete de monstration of work or after a pe riod of service.  MRAs mostly 
involve neighbouring (developed) countries, partners  of broader integration initiatives, or countries 
with former colonial or linguistic ties.  MRAs ra rely award 'pure' recognition, and most require a 
significant amount of regulatory cooperation and ofte n some regulatory adaptation.  Since negotiating 
Mutual Recognition Agreements is generally comple x, time- and resource-intensive, MRAs tend to 
                                                      
53 Ng and Whalley (2005), for inst ance, have estimated the worldwide costs of processing visa/work 
permit applications to represent around 0.3 per cent of world GDP.   
54 For an extensive discussion of MRAs , see, for instance , OECD (2002b). S/C/W/301 
Page 20  
 
  happen only for commercially attractive areas, w ith a view to exploiting promising market 
opportunities abroad or filling domestic skill shortages.
55   
70. In the absence of MRAs, the assessment of co mpetence may be carried out through case-by-
case evaluations of prior qualifications, a potentia lly time-consuming and opaque process, or the 
passing of examinations in the host-country, which can  be costly and entail considerable delays.  To 
remedy gaps in education, training or experience, and before being eligible to take a professional 
examination, foreigners may also be required to take  courses that replicate, at least to some extent, 
prior education, or to undergo training that duplicates  part of the training previously undertaken, or to 
acquire fresh experience, irrespective of past practice.   
71. The financial cost of the regulatory require ments faced by the Indian professionals who 
entered the United States in a particular year between 1995 and 2000 has been estimated by Mattoo 
and Mishra (2009) at US$750 million.  This estimate  is based on the fees pa id for visa, professional 
examination and licence, plus the average income fo rgone due to differential requirements (e.g. taking 
additional courses).   
72. However, the authors caution that it may be difficult to determine whether these costs are 
'excessive', as at least some of the regulatory requi rements may be justified by the need to ensure 
compliance with locally desired standards of comp etence and remedy any resulting gaps in education, 
experience or training.   
VII. COMMITMENTS AND MFN EXEMPTIONS CONCERNING MODE 4 
A. MODE 4 COMMITMENTS56 
73. Mode 4 commitments have been undertaken on a horizontal basis by the vast majority of 
WTO Members.57  Horizontal commitments apply only to the sectors inscribed in the schedule.  
While reflective of the generally homogenous nature of immigration regimes in many countries, the 
absence of sectoral differentiation may imply, in  practice, that the 'lowest common denominator' 
determines access conditions across all committed service sectors.  In light of this peculiarity of 
mode 4 scheduling, the following analysis has b een conducted solely on the basis of horizontal 
commitments, abstracting from any sector-specific variations.58   
74. Overall, the degree of mode 4 access bound in current GATS schedules is rather shallow.59  
In most instances, Members have scheduled an initial "unbound" and then qualified it by a positive 
undertaking to grant specified levels of access, most ly linked to selected categories of persons based 
on functional and/or hierarchical criteria, with a marked bias towards persons linked to a commercial 
presence and highly skilled persons (executives, manage rs and highly-educated specialists).  Table 4 
provides information for the main mode 4 categories found in Members' horizontal commitments. 
                                                      
55 It should be borne in mind that MRAs have the potential to be trade distorting rather than trade 
creating.  They may generate trade patterns based on geogr aphical proximity, former colonial or linguistic ties, 
rather than patterns of comparativ e advantage.  See Mattoo (2000). 
56 Unless otherwise mentioned, EC Member States have been counted individually. 
57 121 Members out of a total of 153.  There are exceptions, in particular among those countries that 
have assumed relatively few commitments.  For example, only 9 out of 32 LDC Members have inscribed 
mode 4 commitments in the horizontal section. 
58 A comprehensive analysis of sectoral mode 4 commitments would have proven too time- and 
resource-intensive within the context of this exercise, and is to some extent rendered futile by the near-
simultaneous submission of Background Notes on severa l service sectors, which address specificities with 
regard to mode 4 commitments.  Moreover, the additional information would most likely not have changed the 
general picture. 
59 No Member has undertaken fully liberal mode 4 co mmitments at the horizontal level.  Even at the 
sectoral level, "none" entries have been inscribed only by a handful of Members.  S/C/W/301 
 Page 21 
 
 
  Table 4.  Mode 4 categories 
(horizontal commitments) 
July 2009 
 
 Entries by 
individual 
categories Entries by 
aggregate 
categories Share of total 
entries 
(%) Members by 
aggregate 
categories 
Executives 69 
Managers 68 
Specialists 67 ICT 
Others 2 206 41.8 70 
Executives 32 
Managers 37 
Specialists 41 110 22.3 43 
Sale negotiation 64 BV Commercial presence 52 116 23.5 64 
CSS 31 31 6.3 31 
IP 7 7 1.4 7 
Other* 13 13 2.6 13 
Not specified** 10 10 2.0 10 
Total*** 493 493 100.0  
 
* Includes other separately identified categories (e.g. "installers", "foreigners to implement foreign 
investment", etc). ** Covers indistinct references to "f oreigners", "aliens", "employees", etc. 
*** Total number of entries found in the schedules of those 121 WTO Members with horizontal mode 4 
commitments. Source :  WTO Secretariat 
 
75. Due to the absence of agreed definitions for th e different mode 4 categories, and because of 
the vague inscriptions in some schedules, the resu lts presented in Table 4, and discussed in more 
detail below, are necessarily subject to interpreta tion problems.  Difficulties frequently encountered 
concern, for instance, the classification of executives, managers and specialists60, the identification of 
intra-corporate movements61, and the categorization of IP.62   
76. Chart 2 below illustrates the relative in cidence of the various categories.  
                                                      
60 For example, the Secretariat has counted "administrators" under "executives";  "senior personnel" 
and "senior managerial personnel" under both "managers"  and "executives";  "experts" and "technicians" under 
"specialists". 
61 "Executives/managers/specialists associated with a commercial pr esence", for instance, have been 
counted as "executives/manager s/specialists", as no intra-corporate re quirement is specified.  Foreigners "to 
implement foreign investment", instead, have been counted under the category "other". 
62 Natural persons have been counted as IP as long as they are not required to be employed locally.  S/C/W/301 
Page 22  
 
  Chart 2.  Horizontal mode 4 commitments, by category 
July 2009 
(Percentage) 
 
EMS
22%ICT
42%Other
3%IP
1%CSS
6%BV
24%Not specified
2%
 
ICT = Intra-corporate transferees 
EMS = Executives, managers, specialists (not necessarily as ICT) 
BV = Business Visitors 
CSS = Contractual Service Suppliers IP = Independent Professionals 
Source :  WTO Secretariat 
 
1. Intra-corporate transferees 
77. Seventy Members, out of the 121 with horiz ontal mode 4 commitments, have explicitly 
included the category of ICT in their schedules.  IC T are usually confined to executives, managers or 
specialists, and all three sub-categories are norma lly covered, accounting for a total of around 200 
entries.  Only in two instances have other typ es of ICT been included in Members' schedules. 
78. A significant number of African and Caribbean Members has not inscribed ICT in their 
schedules.  However, the absence of an explicit en try does not imply that no commitments have been 
undertaken for ICT.  For instance, those Members th at have opted for a functional classification, and 
included executives, managers and/or specialists (EMS ) in their schedules, have usually defined them 
in a broad manner that does not exclude the intra-co rporate movement of such persons.  Indeed, the 
majority of Members without commitments for IC T have however inscribed in their schedules EMS 
that would include both transferre d and non-transferred employees.   
79. Out of those 70 Members having committed exp licitly on ICT, only nine have subjected 
them to quotas.63  Similarly, only few ICT commitments are coupled with economic needs tests64, and, 
if so, these concern mostly ICT who are specialists. 65   
                                                      
63 A quota scheduled by Nepal is to be further liberalis ed 5 years after the date of  the entry into force of 
its commitments.  
64 The ENTs applicable to mode 4 horizontal commitments generally establish as the sole criterion for 
admission the non-availability of suitably qualified persons in the local market.  Only in very few instances are 
additional indications provided, which are mainly investment-related (e.g. value thresholds). 
65 The number of horizontal entries subject to an element of discretion is even higher, however, as 
unspecified government approval, work and residency pe rmit requirements may need to be added as well.    S/C/W/301 
 Page 23 
 
 
  80. In terms of duration of stay, ICT are generally  granted permission to stay for between 2 and 
5 years.  Nearly all commitments on ICT include a pre-employment requirement, which is generally 
of one year (in one instance it is shorter and in two cases longer).66 
2. Executives, managers and specialists 
81. Forty-three Members have used a functional classification and undertaken commitments on 
executives, managers and/or specialists.  These Me mbers are nearly all developing countries, and 
include most of the LDCs with horizontal mode  4 commitments.  As discussed, EMS are generally 
defined in schedules as covering employees in the relevant function(s) who are working in the 
Member concerned, without further details as to the nationality and localisation of their employer.  As 
a result, EMS often include ICT executives, manage rs and/or specialists that have not been 
specifically identified as such.67  Of the three functions, specialists tend to be included slightly more 
frequently and executives a little less.  Generally, requi red levels of education and experience tend to 
be very high. 
82. Concerning the possible overlap between ICT and EMS, it is interesting to note that only 
five Members have inscribed entries under both categories.  Of these, two are recently acceded 
Members. 
83. Over 80 per cent of all commitments on EMS are restricted by either a quota or an ENT.  
EMS are more frequently subject to quotas than ICT, in about one-third of all instances.  As a general pattern, these quotas restrict foreign EMS to less than 10-15 per cent of the total local workforce (or to 
a specific number per company) and 20-25 per cent of total salaries paid.  Quotas have been inscribed 
relatively more often by Central and Latin American  countries.  One-half of the commitments on this 
category are subject to economic needs tests.  In th ree instances, ENTs have been used in combination 
with quotas.   
84. The maximum duration of stay is not specified for over 70 per cent of all EMS.  Those 12 
Members that have indicated a period of stay have  generally admitted EMS for periods between 1 and 
4 years. 
3. Business visitors  
85. Business visitors have been included in th e horizontal commitments of 64 Members.  
Notably, all newly acceded Members except one have  done so.  Schedules contain slightly more BV 
as sales negotiators than as commercial presence repr esentatives.  In total, 64 entries were recorded 
for the former and 52 for the latter.   
86. Members without such commitments are mostly  Latin American and African countries.  
Only one developed country has not included business vi sitors in its horizontal mode 4 commitments.   
87. BV are not concerned by quotas, possibly b ecause they are not employed in the host 
country.  However, two Members ha ve subjected them to ENTs.  The average permitted duration of 
stay for BV is 90 days per year, with variations as to the possibility of renewal.   
                                                     
 
66 Panama requires a pre-employment period of only 6 months;  Chile of two years and Saudi Arabia of 
three years. 
67 In certain instances, CSS could al so be seen as falling under the category of "specialists".  If the 
services company employing these foreign specialists is  not explicitly required to be based in the Member 
concerned, rather than abroad, CSS would fit the customary definition of "specialists".  S/C/W/301 
Page 24  
 
  4. Contractual service suppliers 
88. Only 31 Members have inscribed CSS in thei r schedule.  These are almost exclusively EC 
Member States or newly acceded Members, in pa rticular those that acceded most recently.   
89. CSS are not generally affected by quotas, as th ese tend to be applied to foreigners who are 
employed locally, and ENTs are also quite rare.  However, CSS are often restricted in the number of 
sectors for which they are allowed access, even if  the relevant commitment is inscribed in the 
horizontal section of the schedule.
68  The focus is mostly on 'business services', and within these 
chiefly on 'professional services', for which mode  4 regulatory requirements are likely to be 
particularly heavy.  
90. The permitted length of stay concerning CSS employees is quite variable.  The most 
frequently scheduled duration is 3 months, sometime s renewable.  A pre-employment requirement is 
also often also imposed.  
5. Independent professionals  
91. The IP category is the one least recorded in schedules.  Only seven Members have included 
it in their horizontal mode 4 commitments.  Barring two, these are newly acceded Members, and 
mostly the same Members that have also  inscribed CSS in their commitments.  
92. No specific quotas and only one ENT apply to IP, but access is often restricted to a few 
service sectors, again mostly falling under 'professional services'.69  The duration of stay allowed for 
IP is very variable, extending from 3 months to 3-5 years.   
6. 'Other' and 'not specified' 
93. The residual category 'other'  is designed to include categories of persons that are separately 
and specifically identified in schedules, but do not fall easily under any of the main categories (i.e. 
ICT, EMS, BV, CSS and IP).  For instance, entr ies such as "installers", "doctors" and "legal 
representatives" are counted under 'other'.  There are 13 such entries, and the only recurrent one 
relates to "foreigners to implement foreign invest ment".  These persons might be seen as falling under 
either BV or ICT, but the absence of further inform ation prevents a precise categorisation.  In seven 
out of eight cases, "foreigners to implement foreign investment" (either as executives, managers 
and/or specialists) have been inscribed by Sub- Saharan African countries as their sole mode 4 
category, with no indication as to the length of stay allowed.   
94. The 'not specified'  category covers indistinct refe rences to "foreigners", "aliens", 
"employees", etc. that are encounter ed in the schedules of ten Members, mostly as their sole mode 4 
entry.  These entries are nearly always associated wi th either a quota or an economic needs test, and 
the permitted duration of stay is for the most part not indicated. 
                                                      
68 A cursory look at sectoral commitm ents reveals a high degree of vari ation also in the application of 
the horizontal commitments for CSS. 
69 As for CSS, IP-related commitments also appear to display significant variations in the levels of 
access granted in individual sectors.  S/C/W/301 
 Page 25 
 
 
  7. General observations 
The commitments undertaken by developed and devel oping countries do not exhibit large differences:  
both groups appear to have been equally cautious in opening up mode 4 trade.  However, there is 
some diversity in the degree of precision used.  The schedules of Caribbean and African countries in 
particular tend to include relatively vague entries.   Depending on the specific wording, such entries 
could result either in the coverage of more types of mode 4 movements than possibly intended or lay 
the ground for significant administrative discretion.   
95. Overall, the commitments of newly acceded WTO Members tend to be more significant 
than those of the Uruguay Round participants at compar able levels of development.  However, in the 
case of mode 4, the difference is relatively modest.  The main exception concerns the higher incidence 
of CSS and IP, and the slightly more infrequent  use of quotas and ENTs.  Even the concessions 
granted in Preferential Trade Agreements have only provided for rather limited advances over GATS 
mode 4 commitments.70   
96. As shown by the choice of categories liberalised, most Members prefer confining their 
access commitments to highly-qualifie d individuals.  Depending on the exact wording, only CSS, BV 
who seek access to negotiate the sale of a service and the 'other' category could potentially cover 
lower-skilled/educated persons.  Furthermore, th e focus of existing commitments is on employed 
persons, as reflected in Members' frequent use of pre-employment requirements, which usually range 
from 3 months to 1 year.  
97. While commitments should include the duration of stay, as stated in the Scheduling 
Guidelines, 48 schedules contain no such indication.  Furthermore, several other schedules indicate 
the period of stay only for some of the mode 4 categories they include.   
98. Other conditions attached to horizontal m ode 4 commitments, in order of frequency, 
include:  compliance with domestic minimum-wage legi slation, often coupled with similar limitations 
regarding conditions of work, work ing hours and social security;  limitations with regard to real 
estate, likely to impinge in particular on activities requiring stays of significant duration;  'technology 
transfer clauses', i.e. requirements to train local st aff, which apply mainly to  managers and specialists 
and have been included only by developing country Members, mainly in Latin America and Africa;  
entries reserving the right to suspend commitments in the event of labour-management disputes;  and 
restrictions with regard to geographical or sectoral mobility.71 
B. MFN  EXEMPTIONS  
99. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive overview of the MFN exemptions affecting 
mode 4.  This is mainly for two reasons.  First,  MFN exemptions are not generally expressed in modal 
terms.  Many of them, not least in the area of professional services, may affect both the presence of natural persons and commercial presence.  Second,  a variety of exemptions relate to regional 
agreements that are described in such general term s, sometimes merely by name, that it is next to 
impossible to infer their coverage.  Despite su ch uncertainties in many cases, there are 40 MFN 
exemptions with comprehensive sectoral coverage d ealing with mode 4.  Their content is summarized 
in Table A1. 
                                                     
 
70 For a detailed discussion, see Carzaniga (2008). 
71 References to the need to comply with national labour and immigration laws, without any further 
indication of scope and content, have been ignored. S/C/W/301 
Page 26  
 
  100. Of these exemptions, 36 are of a preferential na ture.  In the remaining cases, the treatment 
covered is either purely reciprocal or, in two cases, it is at the same time preferential and reciprocal.  
The preferences granted are rarely mirrored by similar exemptions on the part of the beneficiary countries.  Among other factors, this could reflect as ymmetries in treatment or governments' failure to 
seek an exemption in time.   
101. The countries covered are not always clearly identified.  For example, two exemptions 
simply refer to "traditional sources" of supply a nd one exemption to countries identified in national 
legislation.  In two cases, mention is made of geographical zones whose borders are not clearly 
defined, and in eight instances the reference is to re gional organizations rather than to their members, 
possibly implying the wish to have also any future members covered.  Similarly, several exemptions 
relate to all countries with whom the Member c oncerned maintains, or may conclude in future, 
agreements of a certain type.   
102. In many cases, the underlying measures are not, or not precisely, defined.  Most of the 
exemptions that have been specified in more detail relate to the granting of work or residency permits, 
the waiving of economic needs tests or nationality requirements, or improved access to certain – not 
usually defined – activities.  One exemption waives limits on the duration of stay, the proportion of 
foreign employees and their payroll share.  Three ex emptions apply to what seem to be peripheral 
aspects from the perspective of mode 4 trade, namely the amount of consulate duties collected (one case) and social security agreements.   
103. One important point to note is that the MF N obligation relates only to the treatment of 
services and service suppliers.  Thus, natural persons  who are not "service suppliers" do not need to 
be accorded MFN treatment.  A preference given to employees of a particular nationality, for 
instance, would only be inconsistent with the MF N obligation to the extent  that the preference 
discriminated also with respect to the service s uppliers who employed them and the services these 
supplied. 
104. The vast majority of exemptions, 32 in total, are destined for an inde finite (or not specified) 
period.  Of these, however, two provide for peri odic reviews by the national authorities.  Five 
additional exemptions are linked to the duration of the agreemen t covered, two apply until the 
completion of an integration process, and one  is explicitly limited to ten years.    
105. Given the paucity of information contained in  many MFN exemptions, it would often have 
been necessary to consult the underlyi ng agreements or legislation to obtain a clearer picture of the 
measures covered, preferences conferred and intended be neficiaries.  However, this is generally true 
for all types of MFN exemptions. 
 
_______________ 
 
  S/C/W/301 
 Page 27 
 
 
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_______________ 
  
  S/C/W/301 
Page 30 ANNEX 
 
 Table A1.  Overview of MFN exemptions with comp rehensive sectoral coverage dealing with mode 472 
 
WTO Members Beneficiaries Treatment covered Duration 
Austria Switzerland Waiving of visa require ment and other meas ures  Indefinite 
Brunei Traditional sources Preferences for entry and stay Indefinite with periodic 
national review 
Cape Verde Countries of Portugue se language - Angola, Brazil, 
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and 
Principe and Timor Waiver of nationality requirements for the exercise of certain activities 
and professions Duration of the agreement 
concerned 
Cape Verde Members of the Economic Community of West 
African States Extension of full national treatme nt  Subject to the duration of 
the agreement concerned 
Cyprus EC Member States Permi ssion for limited numbers of EC na tionals to be employed or to 
exercise professions in specific occupations in accordance with criteria to 
be established unilaterally or in  future agreements with EC Until the time of full EC 
membership 
Cyprus Australia, UK, Egypt,  Greece, Austria, Canada, 
Province of Quebec, and any country with whom an 
agreement may be concluded in the future Provision of bilateral agreements on social security Indefinite 
EC and/or Member 
States  Switzerland Measures with the objective of providing for the movement of all 
categories of natural pe rsons supplying services Indefinite  
EC and certain 
Member States San Marino, Monaco, Andorra, Vatican Stat e city Right of establishment for na tural (and legal) persons, waiving the 
requirement of work permits  Indefinite 
EC Member States States in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe 
including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia, and in 
the Mediterranean basin  Guarantee of work permits in limited number for te mporary contract work I ndefinite or, for certain 
countries, until an 
economic integration 
agreement is concluded or 
completed  
Egypt Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Qatar, Sudan, United Arab 
Emirates, Yemen and possi bly other countries  Full national treatment As long as the agreements 
remain in force 
Estonia All countries with w hom labour market integration 
may be mutually desirable  Preferential treatment when granting permits for entry, stay, and work to 
natural persons (other than the essen tial persons appearing in the schedule 
of commitments) on the basis of reciprocity established by agreements 
between Estonia and these countries Indefinite 
France Francophone African count ries, Algeria, Switzerland 
and Romania  Facilitation of access procedures for the exercise of certain services 
activities  10 years 
Indonesia Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Papua New 
Guinea, Australia  Measures concerning movement of personnel (semi–skilled workers).  
Limited access to low level occupations Indefinite 
                                                      
72 EC refers to EC-12.  
   S/C/W/301
 Page 31WTO Members Beneficiaries Treatment covered Duration 
Italy  States in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe 
and in the Mediterranean Basin Guarantee of work permits fo r seasonal workers Indefinite 
Jamaica Caricom Members:  An tigua and Barbuda, Barbados, 
Belize, Dominica, Grenada,  Guyana, Montserrat, St 
Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the 
Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago  Waiving of work permits  Indefinite 
Jordan Nationals of Arab Countries Di fferential treatment with regard to service fees and annual work permit 
fees in all sectors Indefinite 
Jordan Turkey, Philippines, Pakistan, Egypt Extension of na tional treatment regarding social security  Indefinite 
Liechtenstein Switzerland Mutual granting of tem porary stay and permanent residency Indefinite 
Liechtenstein EC and EFTA countries Preferential treat ment of persons from traditional recruiting areas with 
regard to permits for entry, stay and work (applies to persons other than 
the essential persons appearing in the schedule of commitments). Indefinite  
Liechtenstein All countries  Reciprocity concerning th e "right of presence of na tural persons" Indefinite 
Malaysia  All countries Differential treatment for measures affecting the movement of semi-
skilled and unskilled workers on a regional, religious and cultural basis  Indefinite 
Malta European Union Countries  Preferential treatment  in the granting of licence s and permits to provide 
services  Indefinite  
New Zealand  Kiribati Most favourable entry conditions possible for up to 20 nationals each year Indefinite 
New Zealand Tuvalu Most favourable entry conditions possible for up to 80 nationals each year Indefinite 
Panama Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and 
Honduras  Preferential treatment for suppliers of se rvices of different kinds Indefinite  
Panama United States  Preferential treatment fo r suppliers of services under the Panama Canal 
Treaties  Indefinite 
Peru All countries Waiving the limitations of:  three years as maximum duration, 20% of the 
total number of employees and 30% of the payroll Indefinite 
Philippines  "All countries" /countri es with whom a treaty on entry 
rights for traders and investors has been concluded Waiving labour market test and simplifying entr y procedures Expiry or termination date 
of the bilateral treaties 
Portugal Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, 
Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe Waiving of the nationali ty requirement for the exercise of certain  
activities and professions  Indefinite  
Sierra Leone Mano River Union and ECOWAS countries  Full national tr eatment As long as agreements 
remain in force or are 
extended  
Singapore "Traditional sources" Measures regarding unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled persons except 
specialists and professionals. (Pur pose:  prevent overpopulation and 
maintain social order) Indefinite (periodic 
national review) 
Solomon  Islands Members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group: 
Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea  Waivers for measures affecting the entry and temporary stay of natural 
persons  Indefinite  
Sweden Switzerland Measures with the object ive of providing for the movement of all 
categories of natural persons supplying services  Indefinite 
Switzerland Liechtenstein Mutual granting of tem porary stay and permanent residency Indefinite  
  S/C/W/301 
Page 32 WTO Members Beneficiaries Treatment covered Duration 
Switzerland EC and EFTA countries Pr eferential treatment of persons fro m traditional recruiting areas with 
regard to permits for entry, stay a nd work (applies to persons other than 
the essential persons appearing in the schedule of commitments Indefinite  
Tunisia  "All countries" (probabl y with whom Tunisia has or 
will have agreements) Bilateral social security agreements: extension of social security and 
health benefits to citizens of other countries  Not specified  
Turkey  Libya  Restrictions on the transfer of premiums for long-term insurance schemes 
and on employment of foreign-worker s by foreign companies is waived 
(not applied de facto).  Indefinite  
Turkey All countries  Consulate duties:  if the amount of the consul ate duties collected from 
Turkish nationals by any country is higher than the amount written in the 
tariff list, the consulate duties collected from the nationals of that country 
will be increased reciprocally. Indefinite  
United Kingdom Members of the British Commonwealth Waiving of the requirement of a work permit for citizens having a 
grandparent born in the UK Indefinite 
United States All countries with whom the United States has a 
friendship, commerce and navigation treaty, a bilateral 
investment treaty; or certain countries described in 
Section 204 of the Immigration Act of 1990 Movement of persons for trade and inve stment:  issuance of "treaty trader 
or treaty investor non immigrant visa s" to nationals of the countries 
concerned engaged in substantial trad e in services or in developing an 
investment.  Indefinite 
 
  
 
__________