RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/M/19 
18 May 2006 
 
 (06-2424) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7 APRIL 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
1. The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services held a formal meeting on 7 April 
2006, chaired by Ambassador Fernando de Mateo of Mexico.  The agenda for the meeting was 
contained in document WTO/AIR/2790. 
2. The Chair  said that under Other Business, he would make a brief statement regarding two 
documents from the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group, and that the 
Secretariat wished to say a few words about th e briefing session for delegates and the World Bank E-
Learning Course on Trade in Services. He suggested  that the Council adopt the agenda with the 
addition of the points just raised. He also suggested that the Council first take up items F: Review of 
Progress and G: Organization of Future Work together.  
3. It was so agreed . 
A. A SSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES  
4. The Chair  stated that in response to the request ma de by the Cuban delegation at the Council's  
last meeting, the documents submitted under this ite m had been compiled and circulated to Members 
in electronic form.  In response to Cuba's request  for a background paper based on this compilation, 
he drew attention to two factual information Notes prepared by the Secretariat in 2000: (1) Review of 
Statistics on Trade Flows in Services (S/C/W/27/A dd.1); and (2) Overview of Sectoral Services 
Statistics from Non-BOP Sources (Job No. 4418).  He noted that more than five years had passed 
since the circulation of these two documents.  It mi ght be useful to update them so that Members 
could benefit from more recent information and a br oader range of data.  For example, since 2000, 
there had been major efforts in order to improve the recording of trade falling under Mode 3, which 
was not captured by the conventional BOP statistics. He suggested that the Secretariat update the two 
documents and circulate them to Members before the next cluster. 
5. The representative of Cuba  thanked the Secretariat for accommodating the interest of her 
delegation under this item.  Reiterating that th e documents submitted under this item from 1995-2001 
were of great interest to her delegation, she thought it  very useful to update them in light of what had 
had happened in the past five years.  She noted that some of them related to statistics and that others 
were about national assessment.  She stressed that the assessment exercise was an important work for 
the Special Session to evaluate the market access ne gotiations.  She believed that the Secretariat's 
updating work in this regard was not to be limited to  statistics and that other criteria for assessment of 
trade in services might be considered. Noting th at the UNCTAD had produced a paper regarding 
development implications of trade in services (TD/ B/COM.1/77) last February, she suggested that the 
UNCTAD be invited to present the paper unde r this item during the next cluster.   
                                                      
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. TN/S/M/19 
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  6. The Chair
 suggested that the Secretariat update the abovementioned two documents and that 
the Council invite the UNCTAD to present the documen t suggested by Cuba in the next cluster.  
7. It was so agreed .  
8. Referring to the Chair's report to the TNC (TN/S/W/25), the representative of Cuba  asked 
whether the Chair was going to hold consultations on how to carry on with the exercise under this 
item.  
9. The Chair stated  that he would hold consultations on this item.  
B. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MODALITIES FOR THE SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR LEAST -
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS IN THE TRADE IN SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS  
10. The representative of Zambia , on behalf of the LDC Group, drew Members' attention to the 
proposal for a mechanism to operationalize Article  IV:3 of the GATS, contained in document 
TN/S/W/59.  He stated that Article IV:3 provided the mandate for granting special priority to LDCs 
by stating that "special priority shall be given to the least-developed country Members" in the liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of  supply of export interest to them.  This was in 
the recognition of the fact that LDCs needed to be  given a helping hand to integrate them into the 
international trading regime of services.  Noting th at trade in services was dynamic and constituted an 
important contribution to economies in the world, he said that LDCs' economies were no exception to 
this fact.  He noted that WTO Members had agreed to accord special priority to LDCs to help them 
benefit from market opening.  This issue had been taken up at the highest level of decision making, 
the WTO Ministerial Conferences, including in H ong Kong in December 2005.  Paragraph 25 of the 
Hong Kong Declaration singled out the Modalities for the special treatment of  LDCs as a paramount 
guide to the negotiations. In addition, paragra ph 9 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration reiterated that Members were to e xpeditiously develop appropriate mechanisms for 
according special priority to sectors and modes of su pply of interest to LDCs .  Paragraph 3 of Annex 
C required Members to pursue full and effective im plementation of the LDC Modalities with a view 
to the beneficial and meaningful integration of LD Cs into the multilateral trading system.  However, 
there was no mechanism in the GATS through which this "special priority" could be accorded to 
LDCs; any special treatment accorded to LDCs would have to be extended on an MFN basis in order 
to comply with the MFN obligation.  This would nullify the "special priority" clause, a consequence that was not contemplated in the GATS, resulti ng in an obligation for Members to operationalize 
Article IV:3 in the negotiations.  Paragraph 11(e) of Annex C emphasized the urgency of this, stating 
that Members needed to strive to develop the mech anism by 31 July 2006.  In order to steer the 
discussion into focus, the LDC group proposed the set -up of a mechanism that would allow Members 
the flexibility to accord special prio rity to LDCs so as to operatio nalize the modalities for the special 
treatment of LDCs.  The proposal sought the provision of non-reciprocal special priority only to LDCs in sectors and modes of supply of interest to them.  It sought to create an obligation, as envisaged in Article IV:3, to be undertaken by developed countries.  LDCs  called upon developing 
countries declaring themselves in a position to do so to contribute to this process as well.  The 
proposal identified certain benchmarks that coul d guide the operationalization of the mechanism 
including facilitation and promotion of exports of LDCs, positive modification, if needed, to respond 
to the development, financial and trade needs of LDCs and the need for permanence, security, 
stability and predictability in the mechanism.  For transparency, LDCs proposed that Members 
providing special priority under this mechanism notif y the Council for Trade in Services of the special 
priority that they were providing.  Such notifi cations and Members' Schedules of Commitments were 
to form the basis for a CTS annual review of the special priority that Members were providing to 
LDCs.  The intention of the review was to ensure  that positive commitments were made in favour of 
LDCs.  In the event that a Member modified th e special priority prov ided pursuant to this 
Understanding, all LDCs we re to be treated as affected Member s under Article XXI of the GATS, and  TN/S/M/19 
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  compensatory adjustments were to be made only in favour of LDCs.  Finally, the LDC group 
proposed that the Dispute Settlement Understanding a pply to any matter arising from this mechanism.  
Referring to the commitments made in Hong Kong,  he called upon Members to engage with the 
proposal in a constructive manner. 
11. The representative of Tanzania  thanked the Chair for his good work and congratulated South 
Africa on its initial offer.  She also thanked a ll the Members who had supported LDCs.  Echoing the 
statement made by Zambia, she commended the membership for raising the profile of the LDC Modalities as stated in paragraph 47 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  She noted that in  
implementing the LDC Modalities, priority was to be  given to the sectors and modes of supply of 
export interest to LDCs.  She drew attention to paragraphs 3 and 9 of A nnex C of the Hong Kong 
Declaration, in particular paragraph 9 (a) which required Members to develop methods for the full and 
effective implementation of the LDC Modalities, in cluding expeditiously "d eveloping appropriate 
mechanisms for according special priority to sector s and modes of supply of interest to LDCs...".  
Therefore, the mechanism for the operationalizati on of Article IV:3 of the GATS, i.e. providing 
special priority to LDCs, had to be developed by Me mbers in this round.  This had been confirmed by 
both the LDC Modalities and Annex C of the Hong K ong Declaration.  She called for the Chair's 
support to ensure that Members would engage  constructively in the negotiations on the 
implementation of the LDC Modalities.    
12. The representative of Lesotho
 thanked South Africa for its initial offer and supported the 
statements made by Zambia and Tanzania.  Referri ng to Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration, she 
reminded Members of the mandate of pursuing met hods for the full and effective implementation of 
the LDC Modalities.  One of the key features of the LDC Modalities was to grant LDCs special 
market access priority for sectors and modes of interest to them.  However, there was no legal 
mechanism through which this special  priority could be accorded to LD Cs to ensure effective market 
access.  Therefore,  the LDC group had submitted the proposal, urging Members to fulfil their 
commitments agreed upon in Hong Kong.   
13. The representative of Canada  reaffirmed her delegation's support for the objectives of Article 
IV of the GATS and its commitments to mee ting these objectives set out in the Hong Kong 
Declaration, noting in particular the recogniti on of the need to pursue the full and effective 
implementation of the LDC Modaliti es, and acknowledgement that LDCs  were not expected to take 
new commitments.  Canada also supported work towards identifying ways to achieve the full and 
effective implementation of the Modalities, in particul ar the goal of ensuring that special priority was 
accorded to sectors and modes of interest to LD Cs in the request-offer negotiations.  Noting the 
ambitious timeline set forth in the Hong Kong Declar ation, Canada proposed that the Chair of the 
Special Session establish an informal process for further discussion among LDCs, developing and 
developed Members.  She stated that Canada  had provided a written r esponse (Job(06)/76) to 
questions raised by LDCs in their communication (J ob(05)/114).  With respect to paragraphs 6 and 9 
of the Modalities: realizing LDC export opportunities in  Mode 4, Canada's revised offer had provided 
commercially meaningful commitments for LDCs.  Canada's current commitments and initial and 
revised offers covered professionals on contract, including independent prof essionals.  Canada had 
broadened its commitments for senior computer specialists to include the wider category of 
information communications technology professionals that would encompass more IT activities.  In addition, Canada had lowered the minimum educat ion and experience requirements for information 
technology professionals to allow professionals with a wider range of educati on and experience levels 
to supply their services in Canada.  Furthermore, Canada had also removed quantitative limitations on 
the number of information technology professionals w ho were permitted to ente r Canada.  Canada had 
also added management consultants to the list of  professions covered by its horizontal offer on 
temporary entry.  Canada had broadened its comm itments on intra-corporate transferees to include 
management trainees.  Its current commitments  included employees with specialized knowledge. 
Canada had taken commitments on business visito rs, which were beyond professionals to allow TN/S/M/19 
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  business persons to meet prospective clients, attend trade shows and conferences and to provide after-
sale/after-lease services.  Canada had a relatively strong level of commitments for Mode 1 and had not 
wage parity requirements. Canada maintained va rious types of commitments and programmes for the 
entry of foreign workers, including medium and lo w skilled workers.  These programs operated in the 
context of national labour market policies which sought  to ensure, to the extent possible, that job 
opportunities were protected for their respective citi zens, particularly lower skilled workers who were 
more vulnerable to economic and employment rest ructuring factors.  Canada's Foreign Worker 
Program (FWP) was sufficiently flexible to allow for the entry of low and medium skilled workers provided that certain criteria were met. Ho wever, binding agreements such as the FWP would 
not guarantee entry into a Member's labour market.  In the case of Canada, a job offer or pre-approved 
contract, subject to a labour market opinion, remained  a prerequisite for entry.  Canada noted that 
LDCs had also requested that Members make availa ble, in published form and electronically, various 
information pertaining to their Mode 4 commitment s, including visa and permit requirements, length 
of stay, possibilities for renewal of stay, and other rules and procedures affecting the entry, stay and review and appeal procedures.  Canada strongl y supported increased transparency in Mode 4 
commitments.  In June, 2004, Canada had tabled a "Proposal on Transparency of Horizontal Mode 4 
Commitments (TN/S/W/47),"  Further to its pr oposal on transparency, Canada had submitted a 
completed transparency template ( TN/S/W/42, dated May 25 2005,  Transparency Template – 
Canada's Revised Horizontal Mode 4 Offer) that provided direct links to the immigration laws, 
regulations, policies and administrative guidelines rele vant to each of the categories in Canada's 
horizontal Mode 4 commitments and in  its initial and revised offers.  In Canada's view, this was the 
kind of transparency that would benefit business people seeking to work temporarily in the country, 
particularly those working for small and medium-sized enterprises or from developing countries.  With respect to the use of ILO-ISLO classification,  the two departments that regulate temporary entry 
into Canada (Citizenship and Immigration Cana da and Human Resources and Skills Development 
Canada) used Canada's Nationa l Occupation Classification for reviewing and assessing minimum 
education and skills requirements.  There wa s no direct correspondence between Canada's 
classification system and the ISCO.  The ISCO was outdated, and the use of the ISCO for scheduling 
GATS Mode 4 commitments could result in classifi cation issues related to correspondence between 
the ISCO and the CPC.  For these reasons, Canada di d not support the use of the ILO-ISCO.  Canada 
supported technical assistance to assist developing countries, including LDCs, in building their capacity to participate more fully in the multila teral trading system.  Since 2001, Canada had 
committed approximately $380 million to trade-rela ted technical assistance and capacity building 
(TRTA/CB) activities.  Going forward, Canada was also willing to take part in a notification mechanism, administered by the WTO Secretariat under the auspices of the Special Session of the 
CTS, which required Members to regularly report on  activities and measures undertaken in pursuit of 
the LDC Modalities.  With respect to appropriate mechanisms for effective access for LDC exporters, 
Canada supported Members working to  develop appropriate mechanisms  with a view to achieving the 
full implementation of GATS Article IV:3, and facilita ting the effective access of LDCs services and 
service suppliers to foreign markets.  However,  Canada could not support quotas or automatic 
recognition for LDCs.  Given how services industri es were regulated, quotas or automatic recognition 
would not be feasible in the services context as they were difficult to implement and could possibly have damaging effects on regulatory ca pacity.  Canada's laws and regula tions were in place in order to 
fulfill legitimate policy goals that were entirely unr elated to international trade, such as ensuring 
adherence to safety requirements and maintaining ke y standards in service delivery.  In May 2005, 
Canada had released its "Online GA TS Contact Point," in recognition th at further steps could be taken 
to increase access of developing country and LDC service suppliers to market and regulatory 
information.  Canada's Online GATS Contact Point was an initiative aimed at providing information 
on the Canadian services market that would help  developing country service suppliers sell their 
services in Canada.  The Online GATS Contact Point provided an avenue through which developing 
country service suppliers could quickly access market  and regulatory information, such as commercial 
and technical aspects of the supply of services; in formation on planning fore ign investment and new 
businesses in Canada; information on working tempor arily in Canada; regist ration, recognition and  TN/S/M/19 
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  obtaining of professional qualifications; and the availa bility of services technology.  With regard to 
measures aimed at increasing the participation of LDCs in trade in services, Canada's contribution to trade-related technical assistance and capacity building and to the International Trade Centre 
represented an example for services related technical assistance provided by Canada.  Details of this contribution were provided in Cana da's paper (Job(06)/76).  With respect to improving the access of 
LDCs' services and services suppliers to distribution channels and information networks, especially in 
sectors and modes of interest to LDCs, it was Canada's  view that rapid, low-cost access to information 
on services regulatory regimes was a strong determinant of the ability of services firms to export abroad.  Canada's Online GATS Contact Point and th e completed transparency template were strong 
contributors in this regard.  In summary, she stat ed that Canada placed great importance in giving 
priority consideration to requests made by developing and LDC countries in the negotiations. To this 
end, Canada had included improvements in its init ial and revised offers in the areas of Mode 4, 
tourism, and professional services.  In addition, Cana da had not made any requests to LDC Members.  
It would continue to be committed to this principle and would be prepared to engage in any process or 
mechanism that would assist in furthering o pportunities for LDC Members in the services 
negotiations.   
14. The representative of Colombia
 stated that his delegation supported the objective of 
facilitating the participation of developing countries in wo rld trade, in particular trade in services.  His 
delegation was concerned about paragraph 5 of the proposed text of the mechanism in the 
communication from the LDC Group (TN/S/W/59),  whic h related to the negotiations under Article 
XXI, noting that such negotiations were currently being undertaken.  In particular, his delegation 
thought that the last sentence of paragraph 5 need ed to be reviewed and revised in light of the 
development in the current Article XXI negotiations.   
15. The representative of United States  stated that the communication from his delegation was the 
written responses to the questions raised by LDCs  in Job (05)/114.  His delegation had provided 
responses to most of these questions in previous meetings of the Special Session of the CTS, and 
those responses had been reflected in the minutes.  His delegation circulated these responses again in 
the form of this submission for ease of refere nce by LDC Members.  Noting the considerable 
emphasis on Mode 4 in these questions, his dele gation's submission pointed out that the US 
commitments in this area, notwithstanding the current difficulties, were very robust, covering 
professionals and specialists de-linked from commer cial presence, as well as business visitors and 
intro-corporate transferees.  His delegation remained  convinced that a development oriented strategy 
for LDCs was to focus on all modes of supply and to create new commercial opportunities by 
reinforcing existing patterns of regional trade in services as well as global trade, and attracting foreign 
investment.  His delegation's submission also provi ded details of some technical assistance provided 
by the United States to LDCs.  His delegation looked forward to further cooperating with LDC 
Members in order to improve their integration into  the GATS negotiations and global trade.  With 
respect to the communication from Zambia on be half of the LDC group, his delegation was 
committed to the effective and meaningful implemen tation of the LDC Modalities.  The best way to 
pursue it was through targeted technical assistan ce and market access commitm ents in response to 
LDCs' requests. While open to working with the LDC group to formulate an appropriate 
implementation mechanism, his delegation considered  that any such mechanism had to be a feasible 
approach.  For this reason, his delegation could not support the idea of binding commitments granting 
permanent preferences to LDC Members.  It w as difficult to envisage how to implement such a 
mechanism either in light of domestic structure or in  line with the existing principle of the multilateral 
framework.  The most feasible approach to fu lfil the mandate concerning the LDC Modalities would 
focus on regular reporting to the CTS on Members' progress in implementation.   Having already 
undertaken commitments in sectors identified as pr iorities by LDC Members, such as tourism and 
other sectors, his delegation was making efforts in deepening and expanding its commitments in these 
sectors and modes significant to LDCs.  Furthermore, his delegation was not seeking reciprocity in these areas while encouraging LDCs' participation in making commitments as these commitments TN/S/M/19 
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  were in their own interest.  His delegation was al so exploring way to deepen and expand targeted 
technical assistance that would assist LDC Member s in assessing their interest in the services 
negotiations in order to participate more meaningf ully in the request-offer process.  His delegation 
would continue to support technical assistance programmes that would help LDC Members take 
advantage of the existing GATS commitments in order to create new commercial opportunities and a 
regulatory environment that would attract foreign investments.   
16. The representative of Zambia
, on behalf of the LDC Group, thanked the interventions made 
by Canada and the United States, and took note of the concern expressed by Colombia.     
17. The Chair  suggested that the Council take note of the statements made, hold an informal 
meeting to further discuss the issue of LDC modalities,  and revert to this item at its next meeting. 
18. It was so agreed . 
C. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS ON S&D  TREATMENT PROVISIONS  
19. The Chair  recalled that this was one of the impor tant tasks of the Council this year. The 
delegation of Rwanda on behalf of the African Group had submitte d a paper (Job(05)/151) in July 
2005, compiling responses to questions and comments regarding S&D proposals in the GATS.  It was 
agreed at the last meeting that the Council would revert to this item at this meeting.  
20. Referring to the mandate established by the Hong Kong Declaration, the representative of 
Morocco , on behalf of the African Group, reiterated the importance of this item.  He urged Members 
to provide contributions in this regard.  He noted that the African Group was holding consultations based on document Job(05)/151 and the development sin ce July 2005.  He hoped to get back to this 
item at the Council's next meeting. 
21. The Chair
 suggested that the Council take note of the statement made and revert to this item 
at its next meeting. 
22. It was so agreed . 
D. PROPOSALS RELATING TO THE NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XIX  OF THE GATS 
23. The Chair  noted that there was no new submission under this item. He understood that many 
Members were focusing their efforts on plurilateral request-offer negotiations foreseen in paragraph 7 
of the Hong Kong Declaration in order to meet the timeline set out in Annex C.  
E. WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES – REPORTS BY CHAIRPERSONS  
24. The Chair  invited the chair of the Working Part y on Domestic Regulation, Mr. Peter 
Govindasamy of Singapore, to make report on any progress in the work of hi s body.  Noting that the 
other three subsidiary bodies, namely the CTFS,  the CSC and the WPGR would meet during the 
following week, he said that he would incorporate their inputs in his report to the TNC. 
25. The Chairperson of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation  reported that the Working 
Party had held one formal meeting, on 27 March 2006, as well as one informal meeting, on 9 March 
2006. At both meetings Members had held discussions on the proposals with regard to regulatory 
disciplines under Article VI:4 of the GATS and had addressed organizational issues relating to the 
fulfilment of the Hong Kong ministerial mandate.  Di scussions had been held in informal mode and 
had been reflected in summaries prepared and ci rculated under his responsibility as Chairman of the 
Working Party.  One revised proposal and one new proposal had been submitted to the Working Party  TN/S/M/19 
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  since the last cluster on the development of regulatory disciplines under Article VI:4 of the GATS.  
Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru and the Philippines had submitted a revision of their proposal entitled "Elements for Draft Disciplines on  Domestic Regulation", circulated as document 
JOB(06)/34 of 24 February 2006; a group of deve loping countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, 
Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemal a, Honduras, Jamaica, 
Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay,  St. Kitts  and Nevis, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and 
Trinidad and Tobago) had submitted a new propo sal on "Trade-Related Concerns of Small, 
Vulnerable Economies in the Working Party on Domestic Regulation", circulated as document 
JOB(06)/66 of 27 March 2006.  The Working Part y had held substantive discussions on these two 
proposals as well as on a revised proposal by Mexico and Switzerland on Technical standards, contained in document S/WPDR/W32/Rev.1.  He ur ged delegations to accelerate work under Article 
VI:4 in order to fulfil the Hong Kong Ministerial mandate.  In particular, he called on Members to 
produce new and revised proposals with specific langua ge / text as soon as possible as a first crucial 
step in the drafting process.  He recalled that text inputs by Members were essential to arrive at a first 
draft consolidated text of the disciplines, hopefully by June, as he had indicated in the "Road-Map".  
He stressed that sufficient time w as needed for discussions and consultations on new text proposals.  
He noted that some delegations had already started to work on such revisions and expected to table 
them in April.  He welcomed these developments.  Announcing that the next informal meeting would 
be held on 2 May 2006, he encouraged those delega tions intending to submit proposals to table them 
well in advance of the meeting so as to allow for a meaningful discussion.   
26. The representative of Brazil
 stated that his delegation shared the evaluation of the Chair of the 
WPDR with regard to the importance of the bod y's work and the progress achieved recently.  He 
noted that the level of the awareness and involveme nt of delegations was increasing, which confirmed 
Brazil's expectation.  He also noted that the doc ument submitted by Barbados on behalf of a group of 
developing Members was of relevance and had subs tantive suggestions.  The plurilateral process had 
highlighted the crucial importance of domestic regulation as a complement to market access, confirming the appropriateness of the decision take n by Ministers in Hong Kong to incorporate the 
negotiations under Article VI:4 into the single unde rtaking under the DDA.  He reiterated Members' 
commitments to concluding the negotiations on domestic  regulation in line with the mandate set out in 
paragraph 5 of Annex C of the H ong Kong Declaration.  He pointed out that the following weeks 
were crucial and that Members had to intensify thei r consultations both at home and in Geneva so as 
to provide the WPDR with necessary ingredients to fulfil its mandate.  He stressed that the process 
and substance were inseparable.  It was necessary to  maintain and ensure an open, transparent and 
inclusive process.  Brazil believed that Members coul d strengthen their right to regulate by clarifying 
and adding provisions to the current disciplines on licensing, qualification and technical standard. 
These disciplines had to be commensurate with de veloping countries' regulatory capacity.  Taking 
into account the time constraints for the fulfilment of  the mandate, Members needed to strive to have 
the first consolidated draft text by early June.  
F. R
EVIEW OF PROGRESS , INCLUDING PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE GUIDELINES FOR 
NEGOTIATIONS  
G. ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK  
27. The Chair  suggested that the Council address item F and item G together. He noted that 
Members had entered into plurilateral request-offe r negotiations in accordance with paragraph 7 of 
Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration. He felt it encouraging that Members had engaged in these 
negotiations in a very positive spirit during the p ast two months. Twenty-two collective requests had 
been submitted at the end of February or early Ma rch, covering a broad range  of sectors and modes of 
supply.  These requests overall reflected a high leve l of ambition.  Based on these collective requests, 
plurilateral meetings had taken place between groups  of requesting and requested Members over the 
last two weeks.  He noted that Members had c onducted substantive and focu sed discussions at these TN/S/M/19 
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  meetings, which had been aided by a strong presence of  capital-based sectoral experts.  This exercise 
had contributed to the exchange of information am ong Members, and would facilitate the submission 
of revised offers by Members by 31 July, ther eby expediting the overall process of the services 
negotiations.  Noting that transparency was an im portant element in the services negotiations,  he 
encouraged Members having taken part in plurilatera l negotiations to share with others their views on 
how the process was unfolding within the plurilateral groups.  On the issue of organization of future 
work,  he noted that from the end of this cluster until the beginning of the next cluster on 19 June, no 
request-offer meetings were currently planned.  In view of the requirement set out in the Hong Kong 
Declaration for Members to produce a second set of revised offers by the end of July, he thought 
Members might have to determine whether ther e was a need for another round of request-offer 
meetings probably around mid-May, whether plurilate ral, bilateral, or a combination thereof.  
28. The representative of South Africa
 announced that his delegation had officially tabled its 
initial offer to the WTO.  Before going into th e details of the offer, he thanked Members' 
understanding for his delegation's delay in tabling th is offer.  He said that it had taken South Africa 
more time than expected to make this offer.  The reasons for this were partly due to the complexities 
and difficulties facing most developing countries in preparing offers in the services negotiations and 
could be explained in the case of South Africa as followed. Firstly, although services currently 
accounted for more than two thirds of South Afri ca's GDP, there was a serious lack of data on the 
exact size, scope and role of this sector.  Without such data it was difficult to ascertain accurately the 
impact of this sector on the other sectors in the economy, a situation that was exacerbated when 
considering potential services liberalization.  It would be imprudent for any country to implement 
significant trade liberalization without a fair degr ee of appreciation of the consequences of such 
actions.  Recently the South African Reserve Bank,  the National Treasury and Statistics South Africa 
had embarked on measures to improve the coll ection of such data.  Such initiatives posed 
considerable human resource and technological challenges for a country like South Africa.    
29. Secondly, developing a services offer required intensive consultations between the trade 
ministry, responsible for the overall co-ordination an d leadership of the services negotiations, and the 
relevant government departments re sponsible for various sectors.  To address this, the South African 
Government had established a Permanent Trade Fo rum (PTF), an institutional mechanism consisting 
of senior officials from all government departments th at met regularly to deliberate on all aspects of 
South Africa's trade negotiations.  The PTF also met at the Ministerial level to make recommendations to the Cabinet.  This mech anism had helped to process the offer.   
30. Thirdly, the South African Government was required by legislation to consult with domestic 
stakeholders on all trade policy issues thr ough the National Economic Development and Labour 
Council (NEDLAC) which consisted of representatives of business, labour and civil society.  It was 
also necessary to hold dedicated consultations wi th specific professional bodies and associations.  
These were also time-consuming processes in terms of developing a national consensus on a services 
offer.  Although difficult, the consultative pro cess had benefits as there was now an emerging 
understanding and appreciation of the GATS negotiati ons by all of the abovementioned parties.   
31. The new democratic South Africa that had come  into being in 1994 inherited a huge backlog 
of social and economic challenges from its aparthei d past, including high levels of protection of its 
trade and capital account regimes, inefficient para statals and inadequate service delivery to the 
majority of its population.  The South African G overnment had to develop a raft of policies and 
measures to embark upon a process of accelerating its integration into the global economy, including 
the services sector. The government had embarked  upon a policy of managed liberalization, 
accompanied by partial privatization of the parastatal s.  In parallel to this process, the government had 
decided to strengthen its competition legislation a nd institutions to ensure that there was increased 
competition in the economy and the infrastructur e sectors.  In addition, a process of building  TN/S/M/19 
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  independent regulatory institutions had started to ensure both increased efficiency and delivery of 
basic services to all South Africans, especia lly the poor and under-serviced communities.  In 
managing these processes, the govern ment had had to address the v ast difference in wealth and 
inequality within its population, and thus the black economic empowerment (BEE) programme of 
government had stimulated voluntary sector-based targets to improve the representation of the 
previously disadvantaged black population in th e ownership and management structures of the 
restructured parastatals and private corporations.   
32. During the past 3 years, the South African government had implemented legislative and 
regulatory reforms in telecommunications, energy, ba nking, insurance, environment, road and rail 
transport, tourism, and business services. The parliament was currently processing a new Electronic 
Communications Bill that would significantly enhance the role of communications services in the 
economy.  New legislation was currently being de veloped for the aviation and maritime sectors. 
Similarly, the financial sector had undergone signifi cant liberalization since 1994 with significant but 
gradual opening of the capital account.  South Africa had been spared the disruptive crises experienced by Korea and Mexico, mainly due to the existence of "a strong market based domestic 
financial system" and "a system of effective prude ntial supervision and regul ation".  The point of 
departure in all of these reforms was the promot ion of access to safe, reliable, affordable and 
sustainable services to all South Africans, esp ecially the marginalized and the poor.   
33. South Africa had been an active participant in the Doha Round, and had played a role in the 
services negotiations in Hong Kong, which led to agreement on Annex C of the Hong Kong 
Declaration.  South Africa would continue to volun tarily participate in th e plurilateral negotiations 
currently underway, as a means of supplementi ng the bilateral request-offer process.  The 
strengthening of the plurilateral process was not to in any way dilute the developmental and positive 
listing approach of the GATS modalities.  South Africa hoped that developing countries' spirit of progress by would be reflected in greater measur e in developed countries. Whilst the plurilatral 
process might be helpful in terms of informati on-sharing between requesters and requestees, South 
Africa would caution against this process becoming a negotiating goal in itself.  Recognising that the 
plurilateral meetings were not representative of th e total membership, South Africa were concerned 
with plurilateral requests that had resulted in classi fication and rules-based issues being substantively 
deliberated in the plurilaterals themselves.  Th e various subsidiary bodies of the Services Council 
continued to be the primary forums for the transp arent resolution of these issues. South Africa would 
also caution against the perception being created by  the plurilateral process that the demandeurs had 
"delivered" on their offers, and that the onus w as now on the requestees to make new or additional 
commitments.  Developed countries needed to make substantive improvements in  their offers, and not 
just technical changes as was curre ntly the case for many of their re vised offers. This ambition needed 
to extend to reductions in their MFN exemptions, as well as to the modes of supply of export interest 
to developing countries.  In short, the ambitious stance displayed by their plurilateral requests was to 
be matched, if not exceeded, in their offers.   
34. The representative of South Africa stated that the final outcome of the services negotiations 
was to be seen in the context of the overall balan ce of the results of the Doha Development Round.  
Developed countries needed to show greater resolve in opening their markets to developing countries 
in the agriculture and NAMA negotiations.  With  respect to South Africa's initial offer, as a 
developing country, faced with daunting political, ec onomic and social challenges at the time, South 
Africa had undertaken significant services commitments in the Uruguay Round, and in the subsequent 
negotiations on telecommunications and financial services. South Africa had undertaken the largest 
commitments among developing countries.  Out of a total of 156 lines of commitments, South Africa 
had made commitments in 91.  By comparison, amongst developed countries, the EC, Japan and the 
US had made commitments in 115, 112 and 110 respectively, and amongst developing countries 
commitments made by three significant developing c ountries amounted to 43, 42, and 37 respectively.  TN/S/M/19 
Page 10  
 
  It was therefore clear that South Africa's service s regime had been quite liberal since the Uruguay 
Round.   
35. Reflecting the commitment to improving the comp etitiveness of the services sector, in its 
initial offer, South Africa had increased commitmen ts in environmental, financial, legal, 
telecommunications and transport services.  These proposed new commitments added 34 lines to the 
existing schedule and took South Africa to 125 out of the maximum of 156, a commitment level of 
over 80%.   South Africa had only 2 MFN exemptions , both of which were purely functional in terms 
of promoting regional integration in the sub-c ontinent.  South Africa hoped that those Members 
having made bilateral and plurilateral requests to So uth Africa would receive this offer in the same 
positive spirit that South Africa had displayed in engaging them on their requests.  South Africa 
remained committed to the services negotiations, and w ould continue to participate in the bilateral and 
plurilateral processes.  South Africa had already co mmenced work in Pretoria to develop a revised 
offer and would seek to finalise it by the end of July .  South Africa welcomed any requests to meet to 
discuss its initial offer in greater detail.  As pr ogress was made in the market access negotiations, the 
need to put in place balanced rules was not to be fo rgotten.  In this regard, South Africa called for the 
parallel prioritization of the negotiation on domest ic regulation, as Ministers had agreed to in 
paragraph 5 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration.   
36. Despite the economic and social legacies of Apar theid, in just over a decade, the government 
and the people of South Africa had made significan t strides in both integrating the South African 
economy into the world economy and addressing inher ited social and economic inequities.  A recent 
IMF study entitled "The First Ten Years After Apartheid: An Overview of the South African 
Economy" stated: "In successfully navigating th e transition from Apartheid to democracy, the 
government of South Africa has made impressive gains in stabilizing the economy and laying the 
foundations for higher economic growth and a br oad–based improvement in living standards. The 
public finances have been strengthened significantly, in terest rates have been lowered, and inflation 
has been brought under control.  The economy has al so undergone a major structural transformation.  
Industrial efficiency has been raised by great er exposure to competition from overseas and the 
economy has become more diversified and less vulnera ble to commodity price swings. In the process, 
the rate of economic growth has more than doubled on average since the end ofApatheid in 1994."   
37. The representative of South Africa noted that the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, in his 
last budget speech, had announced that last year S outh Africa had enjoyed a 5 percent growth rate 
with an expected 5 percent growth in the year s ahead.  According to the Minister, the economic 
outlook for South Africa was exceedingly favourable - more promising than it had been in forty years.  
However, the challenges of high unemployment a nd poverty remained.   The next phase of the 
economic development of South Africa had been ca lled a "Season of Hope" by President Mbeki.  
South Africa was on track to achieve 6 percent grow th by 2009 and the Government had put in place a 
raft of programmes with the target of reducing the level of unemployment and poverty by half by 
2014.   
38. In addressing the challenges of reconstruction and development at home, South Africa was 
committed to working with all other WTO Member s to advance the cause of global growth and 
development.  In doing so, South Africa pledged to c ontinue to work with Members to ensure that the 
services negotiations were successful and that a high level of ambition in all other areas of the Round 
was achieved.  In particular, Members needed to be faithful to the promise they had made in Doha to 
ensure that this round would address the export interests and development challenges faced by 
developing countries, allowing them to develo p their comparative adva ntages in Agriculture, 
Manufacturing and Services and pr oviding them with sufficient policy space to develop their 
economies.  South Africa remained committed to work ing with Members in all areas of the services 
negotiations and to strengthening the WTO as a fa ir, balanced and rules-based multilateral trading 
system.  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 11 
 
 
  39. The Chair  first invited the coordinators to report on the plurilateral meetings.  He then opened 
the floor for any comments.  All of the speakers that took the floor thanked South Africa for submitting its the initial offer.  
40. The representative of Chile
 stated that his delegation was the coordinator of the collective 
request on computer and related se rvices, which was sponsored by 17 Members and had been sent to 
15 Members.  Co-sponsors and recipients had held  the first plurilateral meeting on 28 March to 
discuss the collective request with participation of ca pital-based experts.  Participants had had a very 
constructive discussion.  They had exchanged questi ons and answers on the technical aspects of the 
collective request, in particular the coverage of th is sector, the relationship of commitments in this 
sector with commitments in other sectors, the effect  of the commitments in this sector on different 
modes of supply.  Responding to the specific conten t of the collective request, recipients had referred 
to their present situation as well as the prospect for improvements in this sector.  The co-sponsors 
thought that it was essential to carry out the follow-up  action with the involvement of all participants.  
41. The representative of Japan  stated that his delegation was the coordinator of two collective 
requests: maritime transport and construction servi ces. The collective request on maritime transport 
was co-sponsored by 13 Members an d had been sent to 26 recipient Members.  It was based on four 
pillars of the Maritime Model Schedule, incl uding: commitments on market access and national 
treatment in International Transport excluding ca botage; commitments on market access and national 
treatment in Maritime Auxiliary Services; add itional commitments on access to and use of port 
services; additional commitments on access to and use of multimodal transport services; and the 
elimination of MFN exemptions.  Thirty-four Members had attended the plurilateral meeting on 
maritime transport held on 30 March with the par ticipation of capital experts.  In the discussion, 
recognizing the importance of maritime transport in world trade, most Members had noted that their 
maritime markets were relatively open.  While some  Members had indicated the possibility of further 
improvements in their commitments, others had men tioned their sensitivities in some areas and were 
concerned about a swift removal of certain restri ctions, such as the limitation on foreign equity 
participation.  Nevertheless, mo st Members had expressed their willi ngness to continue to consider 
the request and to have further consultations.  Wi th regard to the collective request on construction 
and related engineering services, he stated that it was co-sponsored by 13 Members and had been sent 
to 19 recipient Members.  The request focused  on liberalization commitments under Mode 3, 
addressing such restrictions as foreign equity limitation, restriction on the types of commercial presence, discriminatory procedures, and restrictions on the types of projects for foreign services 
suppliers. Twenty-seven Members had attended the plurilateral meeting held on 4 April with the 
participation of capital experts.  Participants ha d had a useful exchange of views on the technical 
nature of the request.  Most of them had said that they would further consider  the request to seek the 
possibility of making improvements in their future offe rs.  In view of the constructive engagement of 
all participants, the co-sponsors were considering th e best way to respond to the points raised at the 
meeting in a cooperative spirit.  Noting that the two meetings were extremely positive and that the  
two sectors were of strategic importance, his delega tion hoped that further progress could be made at 
the next plurilateral meetings for both co-sponsors and recipients.  
42. The representative of Australia
 stated that his delegation was coordinator of the collective 
request on legal services, which was co-sponsored  by 8 Members: Australia, Canada, Chile, the 
European Communities, Japan, New Zealand, Norway  and the United States, and had been sent to 16 
recipients. The plurilateral meeting between co-sponsor s and recipients had been held on 4 April.  All 
co-sponsors and recipients had participated in a c onstructive and useful discu ssion.  The presence of 
capital-based experts meant that Members could enga ge in meaningful discussion on certain technical 
issues on legal services.  The collective request wa s detailed and specific, c overing two main parts: 
the scope of the request and the limitations to be removed.  The request was seeking access of foreign 
lawyers in law firms to provide legal services coveri ng the laws of multiple jurisdictions with the right 
of meaningful commercial association between foreign and local law firms and the right to employ TN/S/M/19 
Page 12  
 
  local lawyers.  Co-sponsors recognized that the ap pearance before courts was the domain of those 
lawyers who were fully licensed or admitted to practi ce domestic law.  Therefore, the request did not 
seek the right for foreign lawyers to represent clie nts before courts.  The discussion was open and in 
good faith.  Participants had exchanged questions  and answers on various technical issues, like 
significant impediment factors specific to legal servi ces.  They had also clarified the focus and sense 
of the request, the current situation regarding th e domestic regulatory regime on legal services, areas 
of particular sensitivity and areas of possible movement  towards liberalization,  as well as aspects of 
particular interest to legal services providers.  The plurilateral approach thus allowed for real 
meaningful exchange of views and provided a good common understanding of issues of importance to 
the sector in the context of further liberalization.  Hoping that the momentum could be carried forward 
in future discussion on the liberalization of legal serv ices, he stated that a letter to the recipients was 
being drafted to cover significant issues raised at  the meeting and to provide answers and further 
clarifications on these issues.  The letter would also  detail possible avenues of the follow-up action.  
The co-sponsors were currently considering whether a future plurilateral m eeting was needed.  He 
said that any Member interested in getting a copy of  the collective request or participating in legal 
services plurilateral negotiations might contact his delegation.  
43. The representative of India
 stated that his delegation was the coordinator for the collective 
request on cross-border supply, which was co-spons ored by 9 Members and had been sent to 21 
recipients.  The request provided the objectives fo r new and improved commitments for cross-border 
supply and included a list of sectors and sub-sectors of commercial importance where commitments were being requested.  All co-sponsor s were also deemed as recipients  of the request.  This request 
fully recognized the flexibility provided to individual developing countries while scheduling new and 
improved commitments.  Co-sponsors and recipients had held the first plurilateral meeting on 28 
March and had had a constructive discussion excha nging questions and answer s on various technical 
issues related to the collective request.  All partic ipants had provided responses to the specific content 
of the collective request including the possibility of  improvements in the revised offers, the current 
domestic regimes in place and other relevant issues.  India was also the coordinator for the collective 
request on Mode 4, which was co-sponsored by 16 Members and had been sent to 9 recipients.  The 
request focused on commitments for categori es de-linked from commercial presence, namely, 
contractual service suppliers and independent professionals.  It provided a description of these 
categories and relevant parameters, and laid dow n possible market access and national treatment 
commitments for such categories.  It also contained an indicative list of sectors and sub-sectors in 
which the group of co-sponso rs had interest in these two categories.   The request clearly indicated that 
it was restricted to temporary movement of services providers in these categories and was not covering issues related to permanent migration and entry into the labour market.  Co-sponsors and 
recipients had had the first plurilateral meeting on 3 April to discuss the collective request.  The 
importance of Mode 4 to the services negotiations had been reiterated by a number of participants.  
After an exchange of questions and answers on various technical issues related to the collective 
request,  participants had provided responses to the specific content of the collective request, 
including the possibility of improvements in the revi sed offers, the current domestic regimes in place 
and other relevant issues.  For both cross-border supply and Mode 4, noting that participants had 
benefited from the plurilateral meetings, the co -sponsors were contemplating possible follow-up 
actions to ensure that future meetings would have  added-value.  They would prepare an informal, 
factual summary of the two meetings. The possib ility of responses to the technical questions and 
issues raised were also being contemplated. 
44. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 stated that his delegation was the coordinating 
Member for the collective request on logistics serv ices co-sponsored by the delegations of Australia, 
Chile, Hong Kong China, Japan, New Zealand, Sw itzerland and Chinese Taipei.  The collective 
request had been sent to 34 recipient Members.  Co-sponsors and recipients had held the first 
plurilateral meeting on 31 March to discuss the collec tive request with the participation of a number 
of capital-based transport experts.  To avoid dup lication of work, the meeting had focused on those  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 13 
 
 
  elements of the request that had not been covered in other plurilateral meetings.  Co-sponsors and 
recipients had exchanged questions and answers on various technical issues relating to the collective 
request, and a number of participants had provide d their initial responses to specific content of the 
collective request.  Noting that the first plurila teral meeting was positive, the co-sponsors were 
considering possible follow-up with other participants  through different ways and forms, including the 
possibility of further meetings that would add valu e to the discussion.  The co-sponsors would prepare 
an informal factual summary of the discussion.  Hong Kong, China was also the co-ordinating 
Member for the collective request on MFN exemptions  co-sponsored by the delegations of Australia, 
China, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Mexico , Pakistan, Switzerland and Chinese Taipei.  
Different parts of the collective request had been  sent to 29 recipient Members.   While other 
plurilateral requests focused on specific commercial inte rest in terms of market access,  the collective 
request on MFN exemptions, out of a systemic inter est, pursued the removal, reduction or clarification 
of MFN exemptions, underlying that the MFN princi ple was a cornerstone of the multilateral trading 
system and a fundamental principle of the WTO Ag reements, and that MFN exemptions were a major 
derogation from this principle.  This collective re quest was also made with reference to specific MFN 
exemptions maintained by individual Members.  Co-sponsors and recipients had held the first 
plurilateral meeting on 5 April to discuss the colle ctive request.  To avoid duplication of work, the 
meeting had focused on those MFN exemptions not  addressed in other plurlateral meetings.  
Following brief introduction and clarification, some participants had provided their initial responses to 
the collective request including their domestic cons iderations regarding individual MFN exemptions.  
Co-sponsors and recipients had then engaged in a useful interactive discussion on some issues arising 
from the exemptions.  Thinking the first meeti ng encouraging, the co-sponsors was considering 
possible follow-up with other participants through different ways and forms.  For both logistics 
services and MFN exemptions, he said that any Memb ers interested in getting more information or 
participating in the collective requests or the plur ilateral meetings might contact his delegation.  
45. The representative of the United States  stated that his delegation was the coordinator of the 
collective request on postal and courier services in cluding express delivery, which was co-sponsored 
by the European Communities, Jap an, New Zealand and the United States, and had been sent to 20 
recipient Members.  The request had set forth a cl ear and simple objective of meaningful progress for 
market access and national treatment for delivery ser vices in general.  The request recognized that the 
government intervention which in some cases include d monopolies might not be necessary in order to 
ensure universal postal services. The implicit unde rstanding in the request was that the level and 
coverage would vary by country depending upon the nature of regulatory regime.  However, the 
emphasis of the request was to be on pursuing stro nger commitments for those activities carried out 
under competitive conditions, such as private courie r and express delivery services.  The discussion in 
the plurilateral session, held on 31 March, tended to focus on questions regarding how to define 
competitive activities within the scope of existing systems as well as the merits and challenges of 
possible additional commitments. The discussion also included responses by individual Members 
addressing their particular situation and areas wher e they might be considering new and improved 
commitments.  The co-sponsors found the first pl urilateral meeting positive and constructive.  In 
particular, the plurilateral format had offered some benefits in the question-answer exercise.  The co-
sponsors were considering various approaches for pursuing further discussion in the future.  He said 
that any Member interested in getting a copy of th e collective request or participating in the future 
plurilateral meetings might  contact his delegation. 
46. The representative of Chinese Taipei  stated that her delegation was the coordinator of the 
collective request on audiovisual services, which was co-sponsored by Hong Kong China, Japan, 
Mexico, Singapore, the United States and Chinese Ta ipei, and had been sent to 28 recipients.  The 
request contained flexibilities in a number of  areas for Members to make new or improved 
commitments in audiovisual services, focusing on production and distribution in motion pictures, 
video tapes and sound recording.  Co-sponsors and reci pients had held the firs t plurilateral meeting on  
29 March with the participation of  both Geneva and capital-based officials.  Further discussion might TN/S/M/19 
Page 14  
 
  be needed.  For the purpose of transparency, th e co-sponsors would prepare an informal factual 
summary.  She said that any Member wishing to have  further information or a copy of the collective 
request or interested in participating in future pl urilateral meetings might c ontact her delegation.    
47. The representative of Singapore
 stated that his delegation was the co-ordinating Member for 
the collective request on telecommunications co-spo nsored by the delegations of Australia, Canada, 
the European Communities, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and 
the United States. The collective request had been sent to 24 recipient Members.  Co-sponsors and 
recipients had held a constructive first plurila teral meeting on 29 March to discuss the collective 
request.  Many capital-based telecom experts had part icipated in the meeting. Questions and answers 
had been exchanged on various technical issues rela ting to the collective request.  Many participants 
including both co-sponsors and recipients also shared  their initial responses to specific content of the 
collective request, including the current situatio n of the domestic regime, progress of relevant 
liberalization measures, and the prospect of im provement in commitments.  The co-sponsors found 
the first meeting positive and useful, especially with the participation of telecom experts, and further 
discussion might be necessary.   Therefore, the co-sponsors were contemplating possible follow-up 
with other participants including written respon ses to the technical questions raised, and the 
possibility of convening another mee ting in May.  The co-sponsors would prepare an informal, factual 
and non-attributable summary of the meeting as well as an informal summary of offers.  Any 
Members interested in getting more information or  participating in the collective request or the 
plurilateral meeting might contact the delegation of Singapore.    
48. The representative of Argentina  stated that his delegati on had coordinated a group of 
developing Members to present the collective request on services related to agriculture.  This request 
represented the effort of this group of Members to implement Article IV of the GATS and to promote 
the increasing participation of developing Members in  international trade in services.  The request 
indicated that distribution services had an important role  to play in the food production chain.  It also  
indicated the modes of supply where the requesting Members wished to see commitments to benefit 
from comparative advantage in services based on thei r experience in effective food production.  Co-
sponsors and recipients had held a meeting on 6 April discussing various aspects of the request.  In particular, they had addressed specific questions on  the scope of services related to agriculture, the 
relevance of various activities, modes of supply, as well as the question of the exclusion of production 
from distribution services.  The requesting Members had made preliminary replies and would complement the request with a list of activities for which commitments were being sought.  Some 
participants had provided preliminary answers on the present coverage of their schedules or offers and 
the possibility of introducing improvements in sectors and modes of supply requested.  All participants had benefited from the first discussion.  The co-sponsors were analysing the best way to 
continue the negotiation on the plurilateral request, in cluding the best way to benefit from the request.  
Liberalization of agricultural trade resulting from th is round of negotiations would give an additional 
incentive so that Members could improve the e fficiency of their food production through 
liberalization of services related to agriculture.   
49. The representative of New Zealand
 stated that his delegation was coordinating two sectors: air 
transport and private education services.  The coll ective request on air transport was co-sponsored by 
Australia, Chile, the European Communities, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, representing 
their interest in exporting and using the services.  Th e collective request had been sent to 20 recipient 
Members covering the services listed in paragraph 3 of the Annex on Air Transport, ground handling 
services and airport operation services.  The co-sponsor s and recipients had had the first plurilateral 
meeting on 30 March, discussing the collective requ est and other relevant issues on air transport 
services.  Some 25 Members had participated in th e meeting with the presence of Geneva and capital-
based experts.  Participants had had a construc tive discussion at the meeting with the exchange 
questions and answers on technical issues, in partic ular how to schedule the requested services and the 
scope of the services requested.  Many participants  had also shared their responses to the specific  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 15 
 
 
  content of the collective request, including views on the extent to which air transport commitments 
could be made in view of the Annex on Air Trans port, the prospect of improvement in commitments 
in response to different aspects of the request , and other domestic and international policy 
development relevant to the request.  The co-sponsor s found the first plurilateral meeting positive and 
useful.  Participants had frankly indicated their pos itions.  Both air transport issues and cross-cutting 
issues affecting air transport had been addressed. The co-sponsors would produce a non-attributable 
thematic summary available to all participants, and would discuss what follow-up might best advance 
the work in this sector.  The collective request on private education was co-sponsored by Australia, 
Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United States, and had been sent to some 21 recipients Members.  The co-sponsors were also deem ed to be recipients.  Co-sponsors and recipients 
had had the first plurilateral mee ting on 29 March with the particip ation of 25 Members, including 
sectoral experts.  The discussion was very frank a nd constructive.  Co-sponsors and recipients had 
exchanged questions and answers on various technical  issues, including the scope of the request, and 
the merits of focus on higher or other education re flecting the co-sponsors' actual market interest, 
which was welcomed by several recipients. Other is sues discussed included the role of government in 
the provision and funding of education services, how to schedule commitments on education services 
provided on a commercial basis, and the role of do mestic regulation in quality assurance, including 
the relation to Mode 1 and recognition of qualificati ons.  Many participants had also shared their 
responses to specific contents of the collective re quest, covering a wide range of information,  
including their current situation regarding domestic regimes, progress of trade in education services in 
participants economies, the prospect of improveme nt in commitments in re sponse to the request.  
Having found the first plurilateral m eeting positive and useful, encouraged  by participants' interest in 
trade in education services, the co-sponsors felt that further discussion was warranted and would 
prepare a non-attributable thematic summary. They were also contemplating further specific follow-
up in response to particular questions raised.  For both air transport and education services, Members interested in receiving a copy of the collective requ ests or participating in th e plurilateral negotiations 
might contact the delegation of New Zealand. 
50. The representative of the European Communities
 stated that his delegation was coordinating 
four sectors: distribution services, energy services, environmental services and Mode 3.  The 8 co-sponsors and 19 recipients of the collective re quest on distribution services had held the first 
plurilateral meeting on 31 March, with the presen ce of capital-based experts.  Following a brief 
overview of the collective request by the moderator,  participants had had a useful and constructive 
exchange with questions and clarifications on th e various elements of the request.  The request 
covered all the four sub-sectors: commission agents' services, wholesale trade services, retailing services and franchising, and provided flexibility at va rious levels.  Participants in the meeting had 
described their existing commitments or offers, a nd had given an update on do mestic development in 
their respective economies and legislation for dist ribution.  Some delega tions had provided more 
precise indications on further improvements that coul d be included their upcoming offers.  Underlying 
the importance of the sector in terms of development,  participants had agreed that the meeting was to 
be followed up.   
51. On environmental services, the representative of  the European Communities stated that the 
first plurilateral meeting had been held on 3 Apr il to discuss the collective request, with the presence 
of the 11 co-sponsors and 22 recipients.  Environm ental services as well as environmental goods were 
singled out for liberalization in paragraph 31 of the Doha Declaration.  The collective request covered 
commitments across all environmental services sub- sectors but did not address water for human use.  
A brief overview of the collective request by the coordinator had been followed by exchanges of 
questions and answers on various elements of the re quest.  Participants had described their existing 
commitments or offers. Some delegations had indi cated further improvements that could be included 
in their upcoming offers.  A few delegations ha d underlined that additional commitments would 
require legislative changes.  The meeting had shown that many recipients would benefit from 
additional information to facilita te reflections and domestic consultations on possible new or TN/S/M/19 
Page 16  
 
  improved commitments on environmental services.  Th e co-sponsors intended to provide recipients 
with more detailed answers to certain questions  highlighted during the meeting building on their 
experience with the scheduling of commitments in this sector.   
52. Regarding energy services, the representative of  the European Communities said that the first 
plurilateral meeting had taken pl ace on 5 April with the participation of 11 requesting Members and 
18 of the 23 recipient Members.  Many experts ha d attended the meeting.  The presentation of the 
collective request made by the coordinator had highli ghted the actual relevance of liberalization of 
trade in energy services, which had been followed by  a useful exchange of questions and answers on 
various elements of the request.  Participants had described their legislative or regulatory regimes, 
existing commitments or offers in energy services as compared to the request.  All of them had 
expressed interest in energy services, in particular as these services had greatly contributed to their 
economic development.  Many participants had indicated their willingness to consider further 
improvements of their offers. A few other participants had mentioned current legislative obstacles to 
further commitments.  The co-sponsors were satisfied  with the level of attendance and the degree of 
the specificity of many interventions, which had shown the interest of Members in energy services 
despite the absence of a separate divi sion on energy services in W/120.   
53. On Mode 3, the representative of the European  Communities noted that the first plurilateral 
meeting had taken place on 5 April between the 6 co-sponsors and 13 requested Members.  Following 
a brief presentation of the collective request, a numbe r of questions had been raised for clarification 
purposes, mainly concerning the scope of the request .  Participants had presented their responses.  
While having noted that the horizontal section of th eir schedules and subsequent offers had met many 
aspects of the request, several participants were still willing to explore the possibility of further 
improvements.  Many participants had provided outlines of their current foreign investment regimes. 
Some had noted their difficulties in meeting the requ est.  The co-sponsors was satisfied with the level 
of attendance and the opportunity provided by this meeting for an open and interesting discussion on 
Mode 3 horizontal commitments.   
54. The representative of Canada
 stated that her delegation was the coordinator of two sectors: 
financial services and architectural, engineering and integrated engineering services.  The collective request on financial services was co-sponsored by 10 Members (Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, 
Ecuador, the European Communities, Hong Kong Ch ina, Japan, Korea, Norway, and the United 
States), and had been sent to 21 Members.  Discussi ons at the first plurilateral meetings had focused 
on main delivery in various financial services ac tivities, including: Mode 3 commitments to provide 
rights to establish new and acquire existing compani es; Modes 1 and 2 commitments in defined list of 
sub-sectors; the removal of key national treatment limitations, and the need for transparency in the 
development and application of la ws and regulations relevant to the financial services sector.  
Participants had also discussed the elimination of MFN exemptions as part of the negotiation.  This 
meeting had provided for construc tive engagement between all par ticipants, and the attendance of 
many capital-based experts had allowed for techni cal discussions on related issues addressed by the 
request.  Participants had provided an update on thei r current level of liberalization, their offers 
related to the collective request.  The co-sponsors were assessing the next step and were following up 
with the recipients in the near future.   
55. With respect to architectural, engineering and integrated engineering services, the 
representative of Canada said that the collective re quest was co-sponsored by 14 Members (Australia, 
Canada, Chile, Colombia, the European Communities,  India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, 
Norway, Peru, Switzerland, and the United States), a nd had been sent to 24 Members.  Participants 
had had a very constructive first meeting.  Di scussions had focused on how best to meet policy 
objectives such as consumer protection and liability while liberalizing architectural, engineering and 
integrated engineering services, particularly for Mo des 1 and 2.  There were also general discussions 
with respect to the issues of the scope of request, mutual recognition, temporary licensing of architects  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 17 
 
 
  and engineers, domestic regulation and taxation.  The co-sponsors were looking forward to following 
up with the recipients with respect to some t echnical questions raised during the meeting.  
Participation of capital-based expert s would be particularly critical to furthering progress in this area.  
Any Member interested in getting more information or participating in either financial services or 
architectural, engineering and integrated engin eering services collective request might contact the 
delegation of Canada.   
56. The representative of the United States  thanked the coordinators for their work on the 
collective requests.  His delegation was pleased with  the progress achieved over the past two weeks of 
the services cluster, particularly the results of the plurilateral process.  This process endorsed by 
Ministers at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference was highly successful in focusing the negotiations 
on the key sectors.  Delegations were well prepar ed for the meetings and had sent sectoral experts 
from their capitals.  The collective requests had been  effective in defining the discussion, specifically 
what was on the table in various sectors.  The plur ilateral process had a very positive spillover effect 
on the bilateral process where the presence of sectoral experts from capitals was also very useful.  His 
delegation understood that the fu ndamental negotiating method remained the bilateral process and 
looked forward to meeting with other Members to di scuss both their offers and requests.  Noting that 
the deadline for the second revised o ffers was the end of July and that the next scheduled meeting 
would not take place until the second half of June,  hi s delegation endorsed the idea of having a set of 
meetings in the second of May, which would enab le Members to have further plurilaterals and 
bilaterals.  Noting that a lot of work remained to  be done in order to have a successful outcome, his 
delegation was seeking significant progress in reducing or eliminating various barriers, particularly in 
the following areas: limitations on commercial presen ce, restrictions on the forms of establishment, 
prohibition on cross-border supply of services, nationality requirements, discriminatory regulatory policies, and restrictions on competition.  His delegation looked forwar d to working with the 
Chairman and other delegations in the coming mont hs as Members were preparing for their revised 
offers.  
57. The representative of Japan
 stressed three points. First, it was very encouraging that 
plurilateral meetings were fort hcoming and constructive. Second,  this positive atmosphere in 
exchanges was to be reflected in the revised offers to be made in July.  His delegation had indicated 
its priorities.  Third, his delega tion supported the idea of having a nother round of plurilateral meetings 
in May before the next services cluster.  
58. The representative of India  noted that delegations had had two weeks of intensive 
negotiations in about 20 plurilatera l groups following the mandate est ablished in Hong Kong.  Having 
engaged intensively in the plurilateral process, India found these meetings positive.  Members had 
shared information about their domestic regimes an d regulatory structures in a constructive and frank 
manner.  Both recipients and requesting Members ha d responded to the content of the requests.  In 
some cases, red lines had been pointed out while in other instances, Members had indicated some 
flexibility in improving their commitments while acknowledging the issue of balance across all areas 
of negotiations.  India agreed that the momentum achieved in these discussions was to be built upon 
and that further discussions were needed but with a dded value.  Future meetings needed to focus on 
creative ways of ensuring added value.  The ba lance across the sectors/modes covered in these 
plurilateral groups was to be analyzed in order to  ensure the right balance of interests across the 
membership.  India was the coordinator of two grou ps relating to Mode 4 and Cross-Border Supply.  
Both these requests were horizontal in nature.  India attached importance to these two groups to 
ensure the right balance.  Particularly in Mode 4, this was an assessment shared by a large number of 
developing countries.  The existing asymmetry in  categories de-linked from commercial presence was 
well established.  It was very important for recipi ents to make positive movement in this area to 
provide an incentive to developing countries to r espond more positively to requests made on them.  
Further, the development dimension of these negot iations had to be fully respected by providing 
appropriate flexibility to individu al developing countries to sche dule commitments.  Differences in TN/S/M/19 
Page 18  
 
  their levels of development both overall and in i ndividual sectors needed to be fully taken into 
account.  It was also important to develop di sciplines on domestic regulations as mandated by 
Ministers in Hong Kong.  Domestic regulation was a critical element of the balance, not just on its 
own standing, but also because it complemented market access.  All elements contained in the Article VI:4 mandate needed to be covered.  From India's point of view, disciplines on qualification 
requirements and procedures were a prerequisite fo r ensuring effective market access particularly in 
Mode 4. India hoped that negotiations would result in meaningful improvements in Members' revised 
offers in July 2006.    
59. The representative of Malaysia
 stated that the new dimension, added to the services 
negotiations in the form of plurilateral request -offer negotiations, had a good start. His delegation 
appreciated the efforts of requesting countries in  conducting and approaching the negotiations in a 
cordial atmosphere.  This might mitigate concerns on the process itself.  Malaysia had participated in 
18 plurialteral meetings with the participation of capital experts, in two of such meetings as a 
requesting Member.  While proving to be useful , these meetings were also quite exacting on 
Malaysia's resources.  He noted that requesting Me mbers had reiterated in many of the requests, as 
well as at the meetings, the recognition of and adhere nce to the principle of progressive liberalisation 
and flexibilities for developing countries as enshrine d under Art XIX:2 of the GATS.  Assurance had 
been given and reaffirmed, both in writing and verb ally, that developing countries were not expected 
to meet any of the requests in its en tirety, rather to build upon current  commitments, as appropriate.  It 
had been reaffirmed that government procuremen t did not fall under any of these requests.  He 
thought that these reassurances had helped to make the process more comfortable for many 
developing country recipients.  The meetings ha d allowed for a better understanding of the requests 
and many other issues, with useful information exchanges on specific concerns regarding sectoral 
liberalisation, including indications on what Member s were prepared to do and what were the red 
lines.  Nevertheless, the process had been resource and time intensive. Many requested Members had 
made efforts to bring capital experts to these meetings .  However, such efforts would be difficult to 
repeat if additional plurilateral me etings were held.  While Malaysia  would continue to participate 
constructively in a process agreed to by the membersh ip collectively, it hoped that any follow-up to 
the process would take into account the following points:  the requests needed to be adjusted to reflect 
concerns raised at meetings, including leaving out  those requests beyond Articles XVI and XVII;  the 
plurilateral negotiations were to be organised with a view to facilitating the participation of all 
Members, taking into account the limited capaci ty of developing countries;  the process would 
continue to be informal, which was an approach and not an end itself;  it was up to each individual 
member to make commitments in line with the provisions of the GATS. 
60. The representative of Singapore  noted that Members had done good work with respect to the 
Hong Kong mandate on the plurilateral process.  The majority of the groups had circulated their 
requests by 28 February, the timeline envisaged  by the Hong Kong Declaration. The remaining 
requests had been submitted soon after.  The friends  had also successfully coordinated the procedures 
and logistics for the various meetings.  Singapore had been involved in 17 requests, 8 of them as a requestor, 9 as a requestee.  It was also the coordinator of the collective request on telecommunications services.  Noting that particip ants had had good exchanges of views on various 
requests, his delegation found the plurilateral meet ings positive and construc tive.  In particular, 
participants were generally fort hcoming with information on their services regimes, indicating what 
they could or could not do in the DDA.  Some delegations had even highlighted their relevant 
redlines.  This round of meetings had helped Member s to have a rough idea of th e types of offers that 
Members were envisaging for their July revised offers.  This was a good start and much more 
remained to be done. Hoping that the momentum creat ed by the plurilateral mee tings could be kept,  
his delegation supported the idea of having another r ound of meetings in May before the next services 
cluster.  He highlighted that various processes were only the means, not the end.  In moving forward, 
Members were not to lose sight of the final objective, i.e. the submission of offers reflecting progressively higher lever of liberalization of trade in services.  A good outcome in services could  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 19 
 
 
  also help Members facilitate a good outcome in other areas of negotiations.  In conclusion, noting that 
there was a traction on the issues of domestic regula tion, he stressed that his delegation would do its 
best to facilitate a balanced outcome in the rules area of the services negotiations.  
61. The representative of Chinese Taipei  noted that Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration 
provided a clear roadmap for Members to improve  their commitments in services.  He found it 
encouraging that Members had almost fulfilled the fi rst task set out in Annex C, i.e. submitting the 
plurilateral requests.  Over the past few months, his delegation had identified the sectors in which it 
had most interest, and had been working very hard  with Members on the plurilateral approach.  He 
thanked all the coordinators for th eir valuable contributions to the process.  He believed that it had 
been a very rewarding experience for all those involve d.  The level and depth of participation in this 
process showed that both requesting and requ ested Members had contributed to moving the 
negotiations forward.  Such plurilateral meetings were more efficient and less time-consuming as 
Members could gain a mutual understanding of each other’s positions. The process had helped Members clarify technical issues, and another roun d of meetings seemed needed before the June 
clusters to address outstanding issues.  While the plurilateral approach would supplement the 
negotiating process in a positive manner, the bilatera l negotiations remained necessary in order to get 
real, tangible results in services.  On the meetings before the June cluster, his delegation shared the 
view expressed by other Members that they were to be small-scaled and informal, allowing experts to 
focus on those outstanding technical issues.  Howeve r, given the very short time between May and the 
end of June, and the resources and time require d for domestic consultations, Members had to  
carefully think about what would be the most effici ent way to organize the June cluster.  Finally, he 
thanked the Secretariat for its excellent logistical s upport and efficiency over the past two weeks.   
62. The representative of the European Communities
 thanked the co-ordinators for reporting on 
the collective requests and the work undertaken in the plurilateral sessions.  These sessions had 
proved to be useful on many accounts.  His delega tion welcomed the fact that many capital-based 
experts had been involved in these sessions, which had helped in having distinctive discussions, 
raising pertinent questions, and providing useful in dications.  In most cases, there was a general 
understanding that exchanges had been useful.  His delegation noted a number of redlines as well as 
many areas certain Members could have a margin of manoeuvre.  He reminded Members that this was only a start of the process, which needed to be fo llowed up efficiently and expeditiously with a view 
to being translated into substance in the revised offers that Members were due to submit at the end of 
July.  Ultimately, what mattered was the quality of  the revised offers, i.e., the new and improved 
commitments that they would contain.  This would be the real test case for determining whether or not 
the services negotiations were su ccessful and whether or not the plurilateral method was a useful 
vehicle.  In order to keep the momentum leading to the July offers, it was important to have the 
opportunity to resume  discussions on certain collective requests during the second half of May.  The scheduled cluster at the end of June would ta ke place at the time when for most Members the 
domestic process for the preparation of the revised of fers would be already well advanced with little 
possibility to influence it.  The second round of pl urilateral meetings in May needed to be more 
focused and be complemented with parallel bila teral meetings.  Co-sponsors were preparing the 
follow-up materials that would allow to bring up adde d value to the discussions compared to the first 
session.  In parallel to the process conducted at the tec hnical level, Members were not to lose sight of 
political dimension of the services negotiations.  Th e services negotiations were one of three market 
access pillars of the DDA , a crucial element in the single undertaking for the overall balance of the 
round.  For this reason, if and when Ministers were in town at the end of the month in connection with 
discussions on agriculture and NAMA, advantage wa s to be taken from their presence to devote time 
and attention to the services negotiations as well.  In particular, it was important to take stock of the 
present situation at the ministerial level to discu ss the prospect of a general services package that 
could emerge at the end of July this year.   TN/S/M/19 
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  63. The representative of Norway
 noted that the work undertaken  during the two past weeks was 
quite impressive.  His delegation was especially enco uraged by the broad participation of experts and 
the active engagement of both recipients and co-spons ors of the plurilateral requests.  He thanked all 
the coordinators for their outstanding work.  Norw ay had participated actively in 17 plurilateral 
meetings, 10 of which as a co-sponsor, and 7 as a recipi ent.  He noted that this round of plurilateral 
negotiations was an advancement of the request-offe r process.  The plurilateral meetings had provided 
useful clarification on many technical issues.  Me mbers had had frank and useful discussions in more 
sectors and modes with regard to where there were prospects for future offers and where there were 
redlines.  However, the most important remained that extensive negotiations  needed to result in 
concrete new and improve d commitments.  He noted that most  of the plurilateral meetings had 
identified a clear need for follow-up actions.  It was up to each group to decide on the best way for 
such follow-up.  The broad sectoral and modal coverage was one of the merits of the process.  In order to capitalize and build on the positive momentum  generated in the plur ilaterals, Norway tended 
to agree that another round of meetings was needed before the next cluster.  Given the deadline for the 
new round of revised offers by 31 July, a cluster at the end of June would be too late for negotiations 
to be reflected in offers due to the complex a nd time-consuming consultations and political clearance 
processes needed in many countries.  Therefore, a lot of work had to be done before the next cluster.  
Another round of plurilaterals in mid-May or at the end of May w ould ensure greater parallelism to 
agriculture and NAMA, which was necessary for the services negotiations as well.  Finally, he reminded Members that the services agenda went  beyond market access negotiations, including the 
implementation of the LDC Modalities, S& D proposals and rule-making negotiations. 
64. The representative of Hong Kong, China
 thanked the coordinators for their work on the 
collective requests.  He shared the positive assessment of the previ ous speakers on the services cluster 
especially on the first round of plurilateral meetings.  He noted that the heavy investment in time and 
efforts by all participants had been very much wo rth it and that the bilateral process had also been 
positively reinforced by these plurilateral efforts.  If there was any regret, it would be that Members 
had not started this six years ago.  He believed that  the factors that had contributed to the success of 
this round of meetings,  in no par ticular order, included: the sectoral and modal focus; the articulation 
of clear negotiation objectives by the proponents in individual sectors and modes through the collective requests; the coming together of a critical  mass of Members, with the participation of 
relevant sectoral experts from capital; a general condition of trust by all to engage positively and 
constructively, and to focus on substance wit hout getting bogged down by  procedures; and the 
carefully crafted and balanced Annex C in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  He, however, also 
noted that this round of meetings was only the start,  the prelude to serious negotiations, and that much 
more needed to be done.  Whether this newly fo und momentum in the process would enable Members 
to make the sort of strides needed for a credible  service package still rema ined to be seen.  Much 
would depend on whether Members could maintain th e conditions that had made the process work.  
Still more would depend on movement in the wider negotiating agenda.   
65. The representative of Hong Kong, China thought that the first round of exchanges in the 
plurilateral meetings had provided a rough sketch of the overall pictur e of the services negotiations.  It 
was a very rough sketch: the strokes were broad-brus hed, the fringes were blurry; indeed the picture 
was so sketchy that one could not tell yet whether it was to be a tiger or a pussy cat.  It was also a 
rather patchy picture, with what was to be clean perspective obstructed by a plethora of ugly, heavily 
marked redlines.  What the services negotiators needed  to do next was to refine the sketch, to sharpen 
the outlines, to fill in the details, and above all, to ma ke sure that it was a tiger and not a "tabby".  It 
would remain a sketch, until Members showed th eir real colours with substantive offers.  
Nevertheless, it was a useful sketch: it gave Memb ers an idea of what the picture on services could 
look like and what could be missed in services if  Members failed to deliver in other areas.   
66. Turning to process, the representative of Hong Kong, China noted that it seemed almost a 
ritual that whenever Ambassadors appeared in this  Council, they urged their negotiators to work  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 21 
 
 
  harder.  This was an excellent tradition and he fe lt no compunction at telling his negotiator to work 
even harder, to prepare for another round of serious negotiations as early as possible in order to capture the momentum.  But what was more difficu lt was to involve negotiations with ministries, 
agencies and other stakeholders in capitals.  To ma ke a round of negotiations useful, time was to be 
allowed for all negotiating parties to  make adequate preparations at home.   Therefore, another round 
of negotiations towards the end of May would be appropriate.  The need and timing for a further 
round of negotiations in June or July  could perhaps be reviewed after that.  He stressed that this was 
what needed to be done in services regardless of what happened elsewhere.  While understanding that 
many Members would be watching closely what woul d come by the end of April, he warned that 
waiting wasted time.  A more pragmatic approach w ould be to fix the schedule tentatively, book the 
rooms and interpreters, mark the diaries of capit als and experts, and review later to see if the 
conditions were ripe for another round of negotiations.  Finally, he reiterated that his delegation 
attached equal importance to the rules negotiations  in services.  He noted that the negotiations on 
domestic regulations had a pace of their own, an d that the Chair of the WPDR had provided a 
calendar and roadmap to guide the negotiations.  Th ere was a tacit understanding that the other rules 
subjects met as frequently as necessary.  Although hi s delegation was one of the active proponents on 
both domestic regulations and subsid ies, he believed that the rules negotiations were to job along at 
their own pace.   
67. The representative of Australia
 thanked all delegations that had participated in the plurilateral 
negotiations which had exceeded expectation. Two factors had contributed to the success of plurilaterals. The value added by in dividual collective requests, i.e. consolidation, clarification and 
prioritization, had provided recipients with a useful tool for engaging their domestic agencies.  More 
important, the good faith engagement by recipien ts on both technical questions and signals of 
potential flexibility had made the m eetings productive.  The quality of questions had revealed the 
seriousness and  in-depth analysis of collective reque sts.  His delegation trusted the genuine desire of 
recipients to understand and to be able to take  up these requests domestically.  This process had 
generated a new momentum in the services negotia tions.  The onus was now on co-sponsors to ensure 
it was maintained.  Co-sponsors needed to continue to add value to the collec tive requests, to further 
clarification and prioritization. They also needed to find scheduling another solution to the concerns 
raised by the recipients and to enhance the value of the collective requests as tools to engage domestic 
agencies.  Those requests which could not evolve w ould struggle to  maintain the momentum.  As to 
next steps, co-sponsors needed to have a better i ndication of the services potential available to be 
harvested as part of the ambitious package.  The productivity of subsequent engagement would 
depend automatically on progress elsewhere.  The se rvices negotiations needed further opportunity to 
engage on market access generally.  To this end,  his delegation supported th e suggestion of having 
meetings prior to the currently sche duled June cluster, probably in th e second half of May.  This could 
allow for further Geneva dedicated engagement on both  bilateral and pluirlateral request prior to the 
necessary further work in the capitals to finalize offe rs for the 31 July deadline.  The scheduled June 
cluster might need to be trimmed with one week de dicated to domestic regul ation and other elements 
of the negotiations.  His delegation agreed to take  stock of progress in the services negotiations at the 
end of April and look for available opportunities for Ministers to reflect on the progress achieved.   
68. The representative of Chile
 thanked the co-ordinators for their detailed reports.  Having 
participated in 16 plurilateral meetings, Chile thought the plurilateral process was very positive, 
hoping the outcome of this exercise would lead to revi sed offers in July.  Future plurilateral meetings  
needed to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Some collective requests might require new meetings in 
order to carry on with discussions on issues that had not been addressed adequately.  In Chile's view, 
another plurilateral meeting needed to be held at  least on Mode 4, cross-border supply, architectural 
and engineering services.  Some sectors would ha ve little added value and might not need further 
meetings.  Therefore, co-sponsors needed to asses s the situation carefully. Chile believed that 
domestic regulation was an indispensable complement to the market access negotiations.  Opening-up would be an illusion or wishful thinking if domes tic regulation was not objective and transparent. TN/S/M/19 
Page 22  
 
  Chile agreed to the suggestion that  the following pluilateral meetings be held in the second half of 
May.  Finally, he reiterated Chile's commitments  to services, which would be reflected in a new 
revised offer to be submitted soon.   
69. The representative of Korea
 noted that the first round of the plurilateral negotiations had been 
constructive and useful for moving the negotiations  towards a meaningful result in the services 
negotiations. The plurilateral process was in its initial stage, but its value had been recognized.  First, 
through the first round of plurilateral negotiations  over the last two weeks, participants, both 
requesting and requested, had had opportunities to iden tify individual Members' specific concerns and 
interests in services trade.    Second, sector a nd mode-specific plurilateral requests had served as a 
benchmark indicating the acceptable level of commitmen ts in Members' offers.  Third, the bilateral 
process would gain momentum through the plurilateral exercise in its follow-up negotiations by 
focusing on sectors and issues that were already addressed during the plur ilateral negotiations.  
Fourth, a number of Members had signalled their inte ntion to improve their current offers.  This was a 
positive step.  In this regard, Korea encouraged Memb ers, whether participants of specific plurilateral 
negotiations or not, to be fully engaged in  the services negotiations and not to draw a priori  red lines 
in specific sectors.  Korea had participated in 18 plurilateral meetings, 10 as a requesting Member, 8 
as a recipient.  Korea's priorities as a requesti ng Member were infrastructure services, including, inter 
alia, maritime transportations, construction, telecomm unications, distribution, and financial services, 
as well as the systemic issue, MFN exemptions.  Korea, both as a requesting Member and as a recipient, would seriously consider all the plurila teral requests and would take appropriate steps to 
respond to them.  Considering the tight schedul e for preparing the second revised offers, his 
delegation supported the idea of havi ng an additional round of plurilatera l meetings in the second half 
of May.   
70. The representative of Indonesia
 stated that his delegation shared the view expressed with 
regard to the plurilateral meetings that had been held over the past two weeks. Seventeen plurilateral 
requests had been addressed to Indonesia.  Alt hough plurilateral requests could complement the 
bilateral request-offer negotiations and the specificity of bilateral requests, they were not to supersede 
them.  He referred to paragraph 7 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, which stated: "In 
addition to bilateral negotiations, we agree that th e request-offer negotiations should also be pursued 
on a plurilateral basis in accordance with the principles of the GATS and the Guidelines and 
Procedures for the Negotiations on Trade in Services."   He stated that his delegation adhered to the 
principle whereby each requested Member might, in  good faith, not accommodate all the elements of 
the plurilateral request.  This principle was cons istent with the flexibilities provided for under the 
GATS, in particular Article XIX:2.  Indonesia revi ewed all the requests in conjunction with the limits 
stipulated in its Constitution and domestic legi slation which represented long-established national 
economic or social policies.  Indonesia needed more time to consult on the sensitivities of some 
sectors.  On the issue of follow-up, he underlined  that the plurilateral negotiations were to be 
organised with a view to facilitating the participa tion of all Members, taking into account the limited 
capacity of developing countries and smaller delegations.  In this re gard, demandeurs needed to take 
into account the difficulties faced by developing c ountries to mobilize experts.  Although delegations 
generally agreed on the voluntary nature of th e plurilateral meetings, Indonesia had attended 17 
plurilateral meetings during this clus ter.  These meetings proved  to be useful in clarifying the content 
of the requests and in identifying related concer ns. However, some requests were too general for 
requested Members to respond.  Noting that requesti ng Members had agreed to consider questions and 
concerns raised at the meetings,  his delegation hoped that they could further elaborate on some 
responses provided.  He reiterated that the plur ilateral process was complementary and the main 
method of negotiations remained th e bilateral request-offer process.  He underlined that the outcome 
of the services negotiations was to be balanced in terms of market access and rules making including 
emergency safeguard measures and domestic regulation, and depende d on the negotiations in other 
area as the final result of the Doha Round would be a single undertaking.  On the way forward, his 
delegation shared the reservation expressed on having another round of plurila teral meetings outside  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 23 
 
 
  of the scheduled services cluster,  thinking this  would be unduly burdensome in terms of human 
resources.  Nevertheless, his delegation remained fully committed to actively engaging in the services 
negotiations. Referring to paragraph 7 (c) of the Hong  Kong Ministerial Declaration, he stressed that 
the limited capacity of developing countries and smalle r delegations was to be taken into account.   
71. The representative of Colombia  stated that his delegation had participated in 13 plurilateral 
meetings.  Noting that the plurilateral process was successful, he believed that Members could benefit 
from additional exchanges.  Follow- ups were needed for Members to carry on with the negotiations 
expeditiously if they wanted to get the best results  as required by Ministers.  Follow-ups could include 
small-group meetings between inte rested Members or Members shar ing concerns;  written responses 
to questions; or video conference with experts in  capitals.  These follow-ups would allow developing 
countries to participate more effectively in the meet ings which could be held in May or June.  He 
hoped that these efforts would allow Members to ma ke commitments, in particular on Mode 4 which 
was of great interest to Colombia.  His delegati on was keen to see a good outcome in the negotiations 
on domestic regulation.  In addition, his delegati on wished to see negotiations in all areas make 
progress at the same pace so as to achieve an outcome conducive to economic development, which 
was the aim of this round.    
72. The representative of Ecuador  noted that Members had subm itted the collective requests in 
accordance with Annex C of the Hong Kong Minister ial Declaration.  Ecuador had received requests 
in the following sectors: computer and related servi ces, audiovisual services, distribution services, 
architectural and engineering services, energy services, and MFN exemptions.  Co-sponsor of the collective request on financial services,  Ecuador was also keen to see development in plurilateral 
negotiations on Mode 4 as well as on services rela ted to agriculture.  Its capital was currently 
reviewing the possibility of dealing with these issues .  Ecuador noted that exchanges on the content of 
collective requests and commitments in the plurilatera l negotiations had been very positive, which had 
allowed Members to share and understand each other' s sensitivity.  Ecuador also noted that exchanges 
with sectoral experts were very interesting. C oncerned about resources constraints, she urged donors 
to comply with their obligations on technical coope ration.  She stressed that the plurilateral process 
was not to undermine the bilateral process. Rather it was supposed to add value to the latter.  The 
whole negotiation process would be useful only if th e bigger players had true political will to move 
forward in all areas, taking into account different  levels of development and the flexibility for 
developing countries. Substantial progress was to be made in negotiations under Articles X, XIII and 
XV as well as on domestic regulation.  In addition, negotiations under Article XXI were to be taken 
into account, which had implications because of the enlargement of the European Communities.  
Progress needed to be made in the agriculture ne gotiations, which would allo w developing countries 
to take real benefits.  
73. The representative of Thailand
 noted that the past two weeks were productive but tiring.  
Positively, there seemed to be general willingness to  engage in the plurilateral process.  Members had 
carefully listened, shared information, openly exch anged views, and asked technical questions with a 
view to understanding better the content of the re quests. By going through the process, Thailand had 
understood the positions of Members on both sides of  the requests, noting that the plurilateral 
negotiations had provided a platform for constructivel y moving forward and for further bilateral talks.  
Members would negotiate bilaterally with a broader picture in minds on where trading partners stood 
with regard to particular issues.  Thailand appreci ated those concessions that had been extended to it 
without specifically requesting for them, i.e. those co ncessions that would be obtained by virtue of the 
MFN principle.  Sometimes these concessions r esulted from tremendous efforts on the part of 
requested and requesting alike.  Having received 18 requests, Thailand had been involved in 19 
plurilateral meetings, unfor tunately without the presence of capital-b ased experts.  Not taking this as a 
convenient excuse, Thailand had participated cons tructively and sincerely.  During the meetings, 
Thailand had tried its best to address specific requ ests and had indicated to the extent possible the 
areas whether there was room for further improve ments, such as education services, audiovisual TN/S/M/19 
Page 24  
 
  services, legal services and telecommunications , while signalling the areas where Thailand had 
difficulties, such as distribution services and financia l services.  On the whole, Thailand had gathered 
information useful for further industry and interage ncy consultations which would focus on the final 
offer towards the end of July.  It became even mo re obvious that market access conditions were tied to 
domestic regulation as well as classification.  Ther efore, the outcomes of the negotiations under the 
WPDR and CSC were critical.  Thailand would keep  an open mind as the situation evolved.  The 
degree of responsiveness would depend on an individua l assessment of the overall balance of interest 
within the services context and outside.  On the issue of organization of future work, he noted that it 
would be difficult for Thailand's ca pital-based experts to come to Geneva on a monthly basis given 
limited resources.  Thailand was conscious of the fact that the availability and presence of capital-
based experts were critical to make  necessary adjustments in order to move negotiations forward.  But 
two full fledged clusters in May and June would be extremely difficult for Thailand in terms of 
sending capital-based experts.  It needed time to digest new information and further consult with 
stakeholders.  While the plurilateral process was useful, it would be redundant if Members met again 
simply to repeat the same positions.  Thailand be lieved that many Members were in wait-and-see 
mode: waiting for positive movement in other key ar eas of negotiations in April.  For Thailand, 
having meetings in May was possible in two scenarios:  either moving the June cluster to May, or only 
having some of the plurilateral meetings in May.  In  fact, some plurilaterals were closely related, such 
as transport, logistics and distribution, which could be merged.  Thailand's capital-based experts might 
have only one opportunity to come to Geneva, either in May or in June.  Therefore, Thailand needed 
to know when they were to come in order to be mo st instrumental in terms of determining the final 
look of the offer.   
74. The representative of Turkey
 thanked the co-ordinators for the information they had provided.  
He stated that Turkey had participated actively in  the pluirlateral process during the past two weeks 
with 13 requests received.  Turkey had also co -sponsored the collective request on construction 
services, attaching importance to liberalization in th is sector.  Sharing the view that the plurilateral 
process so far had been proceeding smoothly in a good and constructive at mosphere, Turkey hoped 
that GATS flexibility for developing countries and Memb ers' right to regulate would be respected in 
the process.  While having had slightly better unde rstanding of Members' positions in various services 
sectors after the plurilateral meetings, his delegation observed in some meetings that the focus was not 
clear enough and that there was not sufficient time to discuss real market a ccess issues.  He urged 
Members to focus on real market access issues in  plurilaterals instead of spending time on 
hypothetical matters.   He noted that the interna tional legal system including WTO was far from being 
perfect. A number of agreements might contain el ements that would potentially conflict with WTO 
agreements, such as RTAs, multilateral environmenta l agreements, convention on cultural diversity.  
These agreements were to be implemented in good faith and in harmony without creating hierarchy 
among them.   He believed that the informal summ ary of plurilateral mee tings should be provided 
automatically to all Members not upon request.  On  the issue of organization of future work, he 
stressed that it was essential to keep in mind th e limited capacity of developing countries.  The 
calendar of the meetings needed to be provided to Members well in advance so as to give them 
enough time to get prepared.  Noting the difficulty of keeping up with the frequency of the clusters or various meetings, he agreed to the point that further plurilateral meetings were to have added-value.   
75. The representative of Brazil
 thanked the coordinators for their brief summaries and 
evaluations.  Brazil had participated in 19 of the 20 plurilateral groups, in 2 of them as a requesting 
Member and in 17 as a requested Member.  As a demonstration of seriousness with which Brazil addressed the Hong Kong ministerial mandate, it had brought an extensive team of experts from 
capital to meet the challenge of the intensive par ticipation. Experts responsible for a number of 
sectors including financial, telecoms, postal, co mputer related, professional, construction, 
architectural and engineering, Mode  4, and energy, had been present at the meetings.  Brazil also had 
had bilateral meetings with a num ber of delegations, including the US, Japan, Canada and the EC, 
which had added the productiveness of the cluster.  Brazil shared the positive evaluation made by  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 25 
 
 
  other delegations on the cluster.  The plurilateral process had proved to be much more transparent 
than the bilateral one, allowing for collective exchange of views.  Pl urilateral meetings had been fully 
attended by requesting and requested Members w ith very positive engagement and discussions. 
Members had obtained rich information and ideas from technical debates, with which they could carry 
on the work at home.  The overview of domestic le gislative and regulatory realities allowed Members 
to gain useful insights as to possibl e solutions to some difficulties.  The fact that the co-sponsors had 
made efforts to approximate their positions to pr esent the collective requests helped them to narrow 
down differences and had avoided co nfusion in divergent requests.  The negotiations on domestic 
regulation would have a vital role to play toward s a successful outcome because they would be key to 
give Members the required degree of comfor t for making additional commitments.   
76. The representative of Brazil thought that the most significant result of this cluster was that the 
exercise had constituted a useful stocktaking of the general state of play within the services 
negotiations.  Now Members had a much clearer picture of where they stood, both individually with respect to their own offers and collectively as to the state of play in the services negotiations as a 
whole.  The services negotiations were not lagging behind other areas.  Meaningful achievements had 
been made in the services negotiations.  Developing countries had made very significant contributions 
to this process.  Referring to the metaphor made by Hong Kong, he said that the picture Brazil saw 
was neither a fully grown tiger nor a pussy cat, but a young tiger that might grow to be a robust adult 
if it had access to efficiently produced, high-quality agricultural products.  He reiterated that the 
plurilateral exercise was voluntary and informal, not  designed to replace the bilateral process, but 
rather to complement it.  Although responses give n by Members at the meetings were to be 
individual, flexibilities enjoyed by developi ng countries were to be maintained.   
77. Noting that the first experience in the plurila teral process was positive, the representative of 
Brazil urged Members to think about how to move forward without losing momentum.  In order to meet the challenge, the productiveness of the meetings needed to be maintained.  On the other hand, 
Members were to be attuned to what was happeni ng in other areas of negations,  as progress in one 
area was contingent on the overall progress in other areas.   Both internal and external factors needed 
to be taken into account as to how to carry on work ing with the positive momentum achieved.  Brazil 
was prepared to consider the suggestion of having  additional meetings in May, but a number of 
factors needed to be taken into account, for example,  logistical difficulties of developing countries. It 
was difficult for Brazil to bring a large team from capital once a month, which was resources and time consuming and cut into the time needed for domesti c consultations.  Noting that two-week intensive 
meetings had led to meeti ng fatigue, he suggested that additional m eetings in May be kept strictly to a 
minimum in terms of time, one week for instance.  He  stressed that any additio nal meetings needed to 
bring added-value to the process.  To this end, he suggested that participants of the plurilateral groups 
keep in close contact and evaluate the real prosp ects of substantive progress in possible meetings in 
May.  Some groups might have limited prospects a nd therefore did not need to meet in May but in 
June.  For some other groups, their interest might be  better served bilaterally than plurilaterally.  His 
delegation supported the idea of holding joint sessions for groups with similar focus.  To evaluate 
which meetings were to effectively be convened in May would depend on the concurrent progress in 
other areas under the Hong Kong mandate.   
78. The representative of Canada
 stated that her delegation regarded services as a critical 
component of an ambitious outcome in the round as a whole.  Accordingly, Canada continued to 
focus its efforts on a triangle of interlinked services issues: domestic regulation, implementation of the 
LDC Modalities and market access.  On domestic re gulation, Canada welcomed a full-day session 
dedicated to this issue at the outset of the cluster with the presence of capital-based experts.  It was 
carefully considering its position on this issu e and increasingly conscious of importance of 
development-related aspects within the domestic regulation work programme.  Taking note of recent 
discussions on the relationships between domestic re gulation and market access, Canada stood ready TN/S/M/19 
Page 26  
 
  to work closely with the proponents as they brought forward more detailed versions of proposals and 
texts.   
79. The representative of Canada further stated that  her delegation attached equal importance to 
the implementation of the LDC Modalities.  She reminded Members of the Hong Kong collective 
undertaking to develop methods for the full and effe ctive implementation of the LDC modalities.  In 
this regards, Canada had taken the opportunity of  this cluster to submit its written response to the 
questions posed by LDCs.  She urged Members to star t to plant the same focus and attention to this 
issue as they did in domestic regulation and market access.  Therefore, Canada welcomed the recent communication from Zambia on behalf of the LDC group.  Canada requested the Chair to conduct 
dedicated consultations with a view to bringing so me constructive and creative thinking in this area.  
Canada would provide its full support in  this regard in order to ensure  that the consideration of  LDC 
issues would advance along with other aspects of the services triangle.   
80. On market access, the representative of Canada recalled that her delegation was an early 
proponent of the plurilateral approach as a me ans of expediting the services negotiations and 
improving the efficiency of the work.  She noted th at experience in the past two weeks was satisfying 
in this regard.  Canada had par ticipated 18 plurilateral meetings, 9 as a co-sponsor, 9 as a recipient.  
Canada welcomed the focused and technical di scussion in many meetings and the constructive 
approach taken by all participants.  In particular, Canada were appreciative th at many delegations had 
included well-prepared, capital-based experts.  The presence of such experts had greatly enhanced the 
utility of market access meetings during this cluster.   Believing that the plurilateral negotiations were 
not a replacement for the bilateral request-offer, Canada had conducted seri ous bilateral meetings 
during the cluster, notably with those Members not directly involved in many plurilateral meetings.  
Exchanges on market access during the cluster had helped Members develop a more common understanding of issues to be overcome between now and July.  The meetings had provided a 
preliminary glimpse of what an overall servi ces package might look like. While a common 
understanding of central sectoral or modal issues wa s useful, the real test would be the contents of 
offers in July.  Much work remained to be done in  this regard.  For this reason, Canada supported the 
idea of resuming market access discussions at a date  earlier than currently scheduled.  Noted that 
momentum had been generated across the triangle of services issues, she said that her delegation looked forward to working with Memb ers to translate this state of play into a substantive progress 
between now and July.   
81. The representative of Argentina
 stated that his delegation had participated in 14 of the total 20 
plurilateral meetings over the past two weeks, 2 as a requestor, the other as a requestee.  He noted that 
in various sectors, Argentina, as a requestee, had better commitments than some demandeurs.  In 
general, his delegation agreed with other delegati ons that these two weeks had been positive in terms 
of both the plurilateral services nego tiations and the multilateral negotia tions, hoping this would have 
a positive impact.  Argentina had co-ordinated a gr oup and was a co-sponsor of the collective request 
on Mode 4 that was of interest to developing co untries.  The plurilateral negotiations in which 
developing countries had taken part , whether as requestors or as requestees, had yet to further prove 
that they were of interest to developing countries, including Argentina.  Noting that there were certain 
limitations in this process on developing countries,  he referred to paragr aph 27 of the Hong Kong 
Declaration, which stated: "particular attention will be given to sectors and modes of supply of export 
interest to developing countries".  On the sugges tion of having meetings in May before the June 
cluster, referring to the statements made by so me Members, he thought it necessary to consider how 
to streamline the continuation of the entire process a nd to ensure value added to the next meetings.  
He noted that developing countries had to make tremendous efforts to bring experts from capital to 
take part in the meetings.  The duplication of such  meetings would give rise to drawbacks and costs 
for some delegations.  In order to streamline the futu re meetings, priorities needed to be identified for 
various sectors.  The timeframe for these meetings also  needed to be discussed.  Finally, he hoped that 
the prevailing positive atmosphere in the services nego tiations would be reflected in the agriculture  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 27 
 
 
  and NAMA negotiations so as to achieve progress in th ese areas to meet the objectives by the end of 
April.  
82. The representative of Mexico  echoed the statements made by a lot of Members that the 
plurilateral meetings during the last two weeks had been very positive and constructive.  His 
delegation was satisfied with the process, in spite of  the fact that it had had certain doubts about this 
new approach in 2005.  His delegati on had taken part in 9 plurilateral meetings as a recipient, in other 
9 meetings as a co-sponsor.  This was a balanced s ituation in terms of part icipation.  Noting that 
unfortunately, his delegation had only had the presence of experts for 2 sectors in this round, he hoped 
that more experts would be present at the next pl urilateral meetings so that his delegation could 
contribute more directly to the process.  Stressing the importance of transparency in the process, he 
stated that the co-ordinators of the plurilateral gr oups were to make their reports of the meetings 
available to Members and be ready for consultations  on the collective requests.  He noted that during 
the past two weeks, Members had indicated wher e they could contribute constructively and where 
they had difficulties.  It was essential for Memb ers to make new commitments, bearing in mind 
GATS Article IV and paragraph 27 of the Hong Kong Declaration.  Noting that a lot of work 
remained to be done, he stated that Mexico was open to holding another round of meetings in the 
second half of May.  He wondered whether the curre ntly scheduled June cluster might be postponed 
to July or be shorter.  He emphasized the impor tance of the negotiations on domestic regulation, 
which had also been recognized by various plurilate ral groups.  Finally, he said that Mexico would 
continue to constructively participate in the ne gotiations on domestic regula tion as well as in other 
areas of rules.      
83. The representative of Peru  noted that the plurilateral process had taken place during the past 
two weeks with 21 collective requests submitted and 20 meetings held.  He stressed that this process 
was complementary to the bilateral request-offer appro ach.  He admitted that in view of the initial and 
revised offers submitted by Members since last De cember, the bilateral request-offer approach did 
require a complement which would lead Members to discuss their interests and sensitivities in the 
services market access negotiations.  During the past two weeks, the plurilateral approach had been 
followed as the complement Members were looking for.  Peru had been involved in 14 of the total 21 
plurilateral requests, as a co-sponsor in Mode 4,  computer and related services, architectural, 
engineering and integrated engineering services; as a r ecipient of 11 requests.  Noting that this was an 
ambitious process, he believed that there was still r oom for further requests and that the benefits for 
developing countries could be expa nded  Peru had further interest in the following sectors and sub-
sectors: professional services (including, inter alia , medical services, nursing services, accounting 
services), real estate services, other business services (including, inter alia , advertising services, 
market research services, consulting services, placement and supply services of personnel, maintenance and repair of equipmen ts), data process, call centres, and tourism (particularly hotels and 
restaurants under Modes 3 and 4).   Peru had re quests in these sectors, which corresponded to the 
characteristics of a developing economy like Peru.  During the past 15 years, Peru had made 
significant progress in economic growth with increa sed exports and investments, an opening trade 
system, and healthy macroeconomic policies.  Howeve r, a lot of work needed to be done for further 
development.  Peru was still a ne t importer of capital and an exporter of persons.  This was why Peru 
was interested in the opening-up of markets in those services sectors which were not capital intensive but needed certain degree of knowledge, such as re staurants, professional services.  Peru could be 
competitive in these sectors based on its traditiona l knowledge or culture, for example, Peruvian 
restaurants or traditional Peruvian medical services.  Mode 4 was very important for Peru in the services negotiations.  It was important for developi ng countries to obtain relevant trade facilities for 
the temporary entry of natural persons from develo ping countries into developed countries.  It was 
also of interest to developed countries as there ex isted an important link to investment in services 
which required exchange of pers onnel between one subsidiary a nd another.  Since the existing 
commitments in Mode 4 of interest to developed countries had been undertaken by developing countries, commitments were to be made on those cat egories that were of interest to developing TN/S/M/19 
Page 28  
 
  countries, including independent professionals an d technical personnel, contract-based services 
suppliers.  He noted that all but one recipient of th e Mode 4 collective request were ready to undertake 
commitments on these categories as they understood that Mode 4 commitments would guarantee the balance between developed and deve loping countries in the market access negotiations.  Without such 
balance, it would be very difficult, if not impossibl e, for Peru, to "sell" the agreement to the civil 
society and enterprises because they might have the feeling that their country had given in exchange 
for nothing.  He stressed that the GATS required Me mbers to give special consideration to sectors and 
modes of interest to developing countries.  Peru wa s requesting offers in sectors and modes of interest 
to it with true commercial value, such as Mode 4.   On rules negotiations, Peru was interested in 
domestic regulation and s ubsidies.  Concluding the negotia tions on domestic regulation was a 
prerequisite to ensure a real and effective access to the services markets in many Members in a way 
less cumbersome and restrictive, which would be  beyond their commitments in market access and 
national treatment.  Disciplines on domestic regula tion were to be broad and ambitious, and to 
guarantee compliance with healthy regulatory prac tices based on objective criteria and transparency.  
They were not to be more burdensome than neces sary and not to constitute barriers to trade in 
services.  It was also important to recognize Members' legitimate right to regulate without underlying 
motives seeking to reduce competition in market, and without adverse effects on services suppliers 
and consumers. Without prejudicing the outcome of th e plurilateral process, he  stressed that it was 
crucial to have significant commitments in Mode 4 in the interest of developing countries with 
ambitious disciplines on domestic regulation.  Although the plurilateral process was regarded as 
important and dynamic, it would be of little use if  the co-sponsors as well as the recipients did not 
take into consideration the collective requests wh en making their offers.  He urged Members to 
consider those requests and present more ambitious offers.  
84. The representative of the Philippines
 stated that his delegation had received 18 plurilateral 
requests.  He noted that plurilateral requests had been submitted in accordance with the Ministerial 
mandate to intensify the services negotiations, as co mplementing, and not superseding, the bilateral 
request-offer negotiations and the specificity of bila teral requests.  His delegation was also clearly 
guided by the principle that each requested Memb er might, in all good faith, not accommodate all the 
elements of the plurilateral request.  This prin ciple was consistent with the flexibilities under the 
GATS, particularly Article XIX:2.  While ther e was a broad agreement that attendance in the 
plurilateral meetings was purely voluntary, his dele gation had attended all the 18 plurilateral meetings 
organized during this cluster.  Sharing the positiv e assessment of the plurilateral meetings, his 
delegation found them useful in clarifying the conten t of and concerns arising from the requests.  His 
delegation appreciated the willingness of requesti ng Members to address both general concerns and 
specific questions. His delegation intended to raise fu rther questions or matters as deliberations would 
continue in capital.  However, noting that a nu mber of issues raised had not been sufficiently 
addressed in the meetings, his delegation urged requesting Members to be more pro-active in 
providing further clarification and elaboration.  So me of these issues included: regulatory concerns 
relating to Modes 1 and 2; the scope of requested Mode 2 commitments in some sectors; and the extent to which requesting Members were ready or  able to substantially comply with their own 
requests.  Domestic regulation was a major qu estion underlying his delegation’s examination of 
requests relating to Modes 1 and 2 because of its implications for consum er protection and quality 
control, as well as liability enforcement, particular ly when de-linked from commercial presence in a 
Member’s jurisdiction.  The Philippines was of the vi ew that these concerns were not to be dealt with 
in the negotiations on domestic re gulation alone. There had to be a serious, collective effort to 
exchange ideas and best practice in order to provide domestic regulators an adequate level of comfort.  
Without such level of comfort, developing Memb ers would be well justified to invoke the GATS 
flexibilities.   
85. The representative of the Philippines noted that the discussions held during the last two weeks 
had also reinforced his delegation’s belief that the result of the negotiations on domestic regulation 
was critical for developing countries.  The result had to find the optimal balance between the right to  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 29 
 
 
  regulate and the need for necessar y disciplines to reduce unnecessary re gulatory barriers to trade.  
This balance now seemed more vital. From a nego tiator’s perspective, regulatory assessment would 
also be important for developing Members to make informed decisions on future disciplines.  On a 
practical note, some of the requests were too br oad and comprehensive in scope, which resulted in 
either lack of clarity or specificity as to the in terest of the requesting Members.  His delegation 
understood that this was out of a collective effort.  Bilateral contacts might provide more focus and 
context to plurilateral requests.  The services negotia tions needed to be looked at with more practical 
and realistic lenses.  Many developing countries ha d been providing real, effective, and operational 
market access through autonomous and unilateral market opening initiatives.  There was some degree 
of reluctance to bind existing open regimes for a va riety of legitimate reasons, not least among them: 
political or economic sensitivity in some areas, pursuing orderly growth and development in a 
particular sector, upgrading of the capability of dom estic suppliers, and develo pment of regulatory or 
adjustment policies.   
86. In response to the general theme of many statem ents that trade liberalization was necessarily 
good, the representative of the Philippines stated  that the development dividends of trade 
liberalization could not be reaped by market ope nings alone.  Much of the promised growth and 
prosperity could not be guaranteed by what was got or given at the negotiation table.  Members 
needed to ensure that the complex of linked and inter-related domestic infrastructures, institutions, 
systems and enterprises necessary for effective comp etition existed. Members who had benefited the 
most from trade liberalization were clearly those th at recognized the role government could play in 
development rather than relying on a self-re gulated market fixing its problems.   
87. On the way forward, the representative of the Philippines said that his delegation did not 
agree with the suggestion to hold further plurilate ral meetings outside of the scheduled services 
cluster.  His delegation had human resource constr aints and would have difficulty in mobilizing the 
participation of relevant capital officials on a regul ar basis as capital officials had other equally 
pressing responsibilities.  Such meetings would also  be difficult even for Geneva-based delegates 
since many small delegations did not have offici als dedicated only to services, and other negotiating 
areas were equally pressed for time and attention.  While remaining fully committed to being actively 
engaged, his delegation drew atte ntion to paragraph 17 of the Negotiating Guidelines which called for 
taking into account the needs of smaller delegations .  In this regard, he reminded Members of the 
suggestions the ASEAN had made at the Counc il on 29 September 2005.  He emphasized that 
coordination with proper authorities was needed in order to avoid a confusing multiplicity of 
negotiating channels and that the domestic negotiating dynamics in Members was to be respected.  
His delegation believed that demandeurs needed to ex ercise the required leadership in the negotiations 
by following through on productive discussions of this cluster with more focused and intense 
discussions on technical issues. The quality of the meetings counted more than the frequency.   
88. The representative of Switzerland  thanked those Members that had organized or participated 
in the plurilateral meetings. He shared the po sitive assessment of these meetings made by other 
delegations.  In addition, he t hought it was important that no se ctor or mode had been excluded a 
priori  from the process and that the requests had al so been addressed to requestors themselves. 
Switzerland believed that it had a role to play as a model when progress had to be made.  It also believed that the plurilateral process was complementar y to the bilateral one, the latter being the main 
method of negotiations.  As to future work, an op timal combination of bilateral, plurilateral and 
multilateral methods was to be fou nd.  Any process was not an end itself.  The next step, a more 
important step, was to make offers.  Members had to  start working on it in their capitals.  Switzerland 
expected improvements of offers in all sectors a nd all modes by Members, in  particular in bigger 
markets, taking into account special situation of de veloping countries in terms of their levels of 
development as well as the efforts made by ne wly acceded Members in the accession process. 
Switzerland was contemplating possible ways to make improvements in its future offer in such sectors TN/S/M/19 
Page 30  
 
  as environmental services, financial services, services auxiliary to all modes of transport, which were 
directed to sophisticated clients.    
89. The representative of Barbados
 made the following statement on behalf of the delegations of 
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica , the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, 
Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Ja maica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicar agua, Paraguay, St. Kitts and 
Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.  She thanked the coordinators of the 
various plurilateral groups for their presentations at the meeting.  She noted that this services cluster 
had thus far generated significant activity emana ting from the results of Annex C of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration. This group of delegations  she was speaking on behalf of continued to be 
committed to actively participating in the services negotiations, with particular reference to the 
operationalization of paragraph 8 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration.  To this end, this group 
of delegations wished to advise the Council of a recent submission made during this cluster in the 
Working Party on Domestic Regulation (WPDR), on the Trade Related Concerns of Small, 
Vulnerable Economies. The communication, circ ulated as JOB (06)/66, represented an initial 
contribution from this group of delegations to th e ongoing negotiations, with a view to having their 
concerns appropriately addressed within the Minister ial mandate, to accord "due consideration ….to 
the proposals on trade related concerns of sma ll economies".  Furthermore, this communication 
represented an important component towards adva ncing the two-track approach of the Small 
Economies Work Programme, which had also been endorsed by Ministers in Hong Kong.  In the 
coming weeks, the co-sponsors to this statement wo uld continue their work on this initial WPDR 
submission and would seek to advance work in ot her trade related areas in the services negotiations. 
They therefore looked forward to continued inter action and engagement with  other Members towards 
fulfilling these important dimensions of the Ministerial outcome which aimed to facilitate the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies in th e multilateral trading syst em.  Members were all 
cognisant of the limited time left to complete this Round, and it was vital that the focus on a tangible 
development outcome be ensured.  This key objectiv e would form the basis of a successful conclusion 
to the Round, taking the balance of interests of all Members into account.   
90. The representative of New Zealand
 stated that his delegation had been heavily involved in the 
plurilateral process. As a recipient, New Zealand had found it useful to be provided with clear 
indication of priorities on the targeted sectoral or  modal basis, which had been shared by other 
Members in the groups, including bot h developed and devel oping countries.  As a participant, New 
Zealand had benefited from the openness Members ha d shown in informally indicating areas where 
they could or could not c onsider improving.  In terms of the question-answer process, as a recipient, 
New Zealand had benefited from hearing answers to technical questions, and as a requestor, it also found the process useful in clarifying its own thinki ng.  New Zealand shared the view that another 
round of meetings was needed in the second half of May.  Nevertheless, New Zealand was fully aware 
that Members' considerations of the extent to wh ich they might be able to consider improving their 
offers did not take place in a vacuum.  Members' co nsideration of what they might do in their revised 
offers also depended on progress in other areas of ne gotiations.  Therefore, while believing that the 
plurilateral process needed to continue and to be intensified with a focus on useful and valuable 
deliverables, New Zealand saw a need to continue to engage strongly on the bilateral front.  He hoped 
that the focus of further bilaterals would not just  be about information exchange, but taking a lead 
from the positive aspects of the plurilaterals to have open and direct dialogue about what Members 
needed to see in order to meet each other's request.    
91. The representative of Uruguay
 stated, that having received 5 plurilateral requests and co-
sponsored 2, her delegation had taken part in the process with great  interest.  It was a positive exercise 
and a useful forum, which allowed Members to par ticipate in technical discussions and gather clearer 
information on current situation and national legisl ation in sectors and modes of supply.  This was 
important as Members were to submit the second revi sed offers in July.  While committed to the 
plurilateral process, Uruguay attached importance to th e bilateral negotiations which, it thought, were  TN/S/M/19 
 Page 31 
 
 
  the key in the services negotiations.  Uruguay's part icipation in the process was without prejudice to 
its final position in negotiations, ta king into account the progress made in areas of interest to Uruguay, 
particularly in agriculture.  On organization of futu re work, she stated that the constraints of smaller 
delegations were to be taken into  account to ensure that they w ould have sufficient time to make 
preparations in order to fully participate in the process.    
92. The representative of China  stated that his delegation had par ticipated in plurilateral meetings 
as well as 5 bilateral talks over the past two weeks.  He noted that the plurilateral meetings were well 
organized, productive and constructive, with the activ e participation of both requesting and requested 
Members.  Experts from capital had not only made contributions to but also benefited from the 
discussion on technical issues.  These meetings were very informative in terms of Members’ positions 
in various sectors, modes and MFN exemptions.  He  thanked the Chair and the Secretariat for their 
assistance in ensuring the smooth proceeding in all the plurilaterals.  With rega rd to another possible 
round of plurilateral meetings, hi s delegation was flexible, believing that the momentum emerging 
from the first round of talks needed to be kept.  He hoped that the co-sponsors would hold adequate 
consultations to ensure that the next round of plurilateral talks could produce real results.  He 
reiterated that the plurilateral process was voluntary and informal and did not replace the bilateral one.  
He noted that his delegation had satisfied most of the plurilateral requests it had received.  He pointed 
out that China was a newly acceded Member and had fulfilled most of its phase-in commitments 
made in the accession process. The rest of these comm itments would meet their deadline by the end of 
this year. Nevertheless, China had some difficulties in further liberalizing a few sectors.  He believed 
that Articles IV and XIX provided it with some flexibility in this regard. As far as further 
liberalization was concerned, he thought that policy objectives, regulatory capacity and ongoing 
domestic reforms had to be taken in to consideration.  On the pluril ateral requests where China was a 
requesting Member, including Mode 4 and maritime tr ansport, his delegation hoped that the requested 
Members could make commercially meaningful offers in this round of negotiations.  Regarding rules, 
he emphasized that the negotiations on domestic regu lation needed to be pushed forward, which had 
an important bearing on the market access negotia tions.  He hoped that the negotiations on domestic 
regulation could be completed within the timeline set out in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.   
93. The representative of Morocco  stated that his delegation was one of the co-sponsors of the 
collective request on Mode 4.  It had participated in  7 plurilateral meetings, a nd had paid attention to 
other such meetings as well.  He noted that these me etings were very useful, informative with positive 
atmosphere, which enabled Members to exchange views.  He hoped that the services negotiations, 
both bilateral and plurilatera l, both market access and rules, would be reviewed as a whole, taking into 
account the interest of developing countries, particular ly in Mode 4.  On future work, it was important 
to continue bilateral or plurilatera l negotiations.  However, as to the idea of having meetings in May, 
he thought it difficult for those delegation with limited human and financial resources to be present 
and to bring experts from capital, especially for meet ings with short notice.  He wondered whether it 
was possible to have meetings in July with a br oader participation, at least for requestees whose 
experts needed time to properly examine the requests and consult with the private sector and relevant 
departments. Another option was to have a set of m eetings at the end of May or at the beginning of 
June, part of which might be devot ed to bilaterals or plurilaterals .  Nevertheless, his delegation was 
open to any suggestions in this regard.   
94. The representative of Pakistan  noted that the collective requests were comprehensible, clear 
and rational in terms of technical requirements and that the plurilateral exercise was helpful in 
enabling her country to involve capital stakeholders .  She further noted that the co-sponsors had 
clarified a lot of concepts.  Her delegation had received 13 collective requests and had co-sponsored 
4, including computer and related services, cro ss-border supply, Mode 4 and MFN exemptions.  Her 
delegation was particularly keen to see a positive a nd tangible outcome in Mode 4. Transparency and 
predictability at the multilatera l level was important for Mode 4 services suppliers, including 
independent services providers, contractual services providers, along with business visitors and intra-TN/S/M/19 
Page 32  
 
  corporate transferees.  With regard to anothe r round of plurilateral meetings, she hoped that the 
requests could be submitted earlier. Reluctant to accept the idea of having meetings in May, she 
wondered if it would be possible to move the June clus ter to early June so that capital officials would 
have more time to c onduct consultations.  
95. The representative of Cuba
 noted that the plurilateral pro cess was the driving force of the 
negotiations rather than complementary, which wa s in fact undermining the bilateral approach, the 
main focus of the negotiations as set out in A nnex C.  Her delegation attached importance to 
plurilateral negotiations which needed to be carried out in line with the negotiating Guidelines and the 
development objectives set out in the Doha Declarat ion.  These objectives had been recognized in the 
preamble to the Hong Kong Ministerial Declar ation.  She cautioned that the market access 
negotiations were over-accelerated and that negotiations in other areas such as domestic regulation 
and rules needed to be equally advanced in order to have a ba lanced outcome. She stressed the 
importance of some other negotiation issues such as the implementation of the LDC Modalities, concerns of small and vulnerable economies, S&D treatment.  She reiterated that the assessment of 
trade in services was to be carried out, noting that some studies had shown that market access might 
have different effects depending on specific sector s, regions or countries.  There was no "one-size-
fits-all" solution and Members needed to consider the concerns about possible effects of reforms in 
services sectors.  Prior decisions needed to be ta ken to meet development targets, and proper policies 
needed to be adopted to ensure capacity building and efficiency and competitiveness.   Therefore, her 
delegation believed that it was vital to fulfil the mandate of the assessment of trade in services in order to adopt development-friendly policies, in cluding appropriate mark et opening-up, and to 
establish the national regulatory framework to acco mmodate individual country's concerns.  On the 
organization of future work, her delegation was flexible  as to the frequency of the clusters in so far as 
inclusiveness could be ensured.  She suggested th at the meetings of subsidiary bodies take place 
within one week immediately after the market access negotiations, be they plurilateral or bilateral.  
96. The representative of Tunisia
 stated that her delegation had participated in 2 plurilateral 
meetings, on financial services as a recipient, and on Mode 4 as a co-sponsor since Tunisia were 
considering commitments in terms of contractua l services suppliers and independent professionals.  
On the issue of transparen cy, she suggested that the summaries of  all the meetings be available to 
Members, including those being neither demandeurs nor recipients.  She stressed the importance of flexibility accorded to individual de veloping countries in scheduling their commitments, whatever the 
method of negotiations was, bilateral or plurilatera l.  With regard to the negotiations on domestic 
regulation, she stated that they were to be carried  out in parallel with the market access negotiations in 
order to engage developing Members in scheduling more specific commitments.  Due respect was to 
be given to developing countries regulation. Sp ecial and differential treatment for developing 
countries was to be taken into account.  Finally, sh e called for a balanced outcome of the negotiations 
in terms of modes of supply as well as in all nego tiation areas of the Doha Development Agenda.   
97. The representative of Dominica Republic
 thanked the coordinators for their reports on the 
plurilateral meetings.  Her delega tion had participated in several such meetings, both as a recipient 
and as a co-sponsor (on Mode 4).  She thought that the exercise was positive, especially in terms of 
information exchange and clarification of technical issues.  On Mode 4, echoing the statements made 
by Peru and China,  she stated that her dele gation was expecting substantive results in the 
negotiations.  Regarding future work, she hoped that  the concerns of smalle r delegations would be 
taken into account.  It would be difficult for her delegation to bring experts from capital to Geneva 
both in May and June.  She endorsed the proposal that  the June cluster be moved to early June with 
the subsidiary bodies meetings taking place within the cluster.  
98. The representative of Venezuela  supported the statement made by Cuba, in particular the 
suggestion that all the subsidiary  bodies meetings take place with in one week to facilitate the 
participation of capital-based experts in these meetings.    TN/S/M/19 
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  99. The Chair  concluded that the feedback on plurilatera l meetings was very positive.  He noted 
that these meetings were helpful in focusing on sectors and modes and that the exchanges between 
Members had been substantive and frank.  The presen ce of capital-based experts had enhanced the 
value of these meetings.   While recognizing that plurilaterals were helpfu l, Members believed that 
bilaterals were still strategically important for achieving the final results.  He noted that many 
delegations had stressed the importa nce of follow-up to this round of  plurilaterals.  There seemed to 
be a very broad demand for another round of request-o ffer meetings (plurilatera ls as well as bilaterals) 
to start around mid-May.  He also noted that so me delegations had expr essed their concern about 
resources constraints.  He thought it would be very  important to have a preliminary understanding on 
how to proceed at the meeting in order to allow dele gations to plan ahead and to allow the Secretariat 
to start making the necessary logistical arrangements.   He therefore suggested the following: another 
round of request-offer meetings be organized to start on 15 May; the length of that round and the sectors and modes to be taken up to be determin ed in the light of consultations between the 
delegations concerned, taking in to account resources constraints of some delegations, especially 
smaller ones; the coordinators communicate to the Secretariat their meeting requirements by close of 
business, Friday 14 May; a timetable for such meetin gs be issued on the basis of information received 
from delegations; the current arrangements for the cl uster due to start on 19 June be retained.  He 
would hold consultations if delegations wished to pr oceed differently with the June cluster after the 
meetings in May.  
100. It was so agreed
.  
H. OUTLINE OF THE CHAIRMAN 'S REPORT TO THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE  
101. The Chair  stated that he would report to the Trade Negotiations Committee that the Council 
had met in formal session on 7 April 2006.  His wr itten report was made further to his oral remarks 
made to the TNC on his own responsibility at its me eting on 28 March 2006.  He would report to the 
TNC that the process of plurilateral request-offer negotiations had proceeded smoothly.  Based on 22 
collective requests submitted in acco rdance with the timeline set out in the Hong Kong Declaration, 
20 plurilateral meetings had been held from 28 March to 6 April, with active participation of capital-
based sectoral experts. At these meetings, delega tions had engaged in s ubstantive discussions.  
Members had recognized that in order to maintain  the momentum and achieve substantive progress in 
the services negotiations, more effort and stronger e ngagement was needed, especially in capitals and 
at a higher level. He would also report to the TN C that the Council continued its discussions under the 
item "Implementation of LDC Modalities". The LDC Group had submitted a communication 
proposing a mechanism to operationalize Article IV :3 of the GATS.  This submission helped 
Members enter into more focused discussion under this  item.  He would hold further consultations on 
the issue of LDC modalities. Finally, on "Organi zation of Future Work", he would report that 
Members had agreed to hold a second round of re quest-offer meetings around mid-May in order to 
meet the timeline set out in the Hong Kong Minister ial Declaration for the submission of a second set 
of revised offers by the end of July.  The next clus ter of formal meetings w as scheduled to take place 
from 19 to 30 June 2006.   
102. It was so agreed . 
I. OTHER BUSINESS  
103. The Chair  informed the Council that the Secretar iat had received two documents from the 
APEC Telecommunications and Information Worki ng Group, which had been endorsed by the Sixth 
APEC Ministerial Meeting in June 2005. The fi rst document was about APEC best practices for 
implementing the WTO Telecommunications Referen ce Paper, which served as a guide for economies 
to implement the principles contained in the Refe rence Paper.  The second document, entitled "APEC TN/S/M/19 
Page 34  
 
  Effective Compliance and Enforcement Principles, Guidelines and Practices", aimed to deepen the 
understanding of the importance of effective comp liance and enforcement measures.  He suggested 
that the Secretariat circulate these two documents to Members. 
104. It was so agreed
. 
105. A representative of the Secretariat  stated that as requested, the Secretariat would provide a 
briefing session on GATS, the ongoing services nego tiations and related issues on 21 April.  
Invitations had been circulated to all Geneva-bas ed delegations.  The Secretariat had proposed 12 
potentially relevant themes for discussion, includ ing services statistics, public services, etc, among 
which delegations had been invited to select six for this one-day session.  It was assumed that 
whoever had expressed his preferences by 12 April would participate in the session.  An E-learning 
course on trade in services with online discussions w as organized by the World Bank Institute.  The 
course was based on video and powerpoint presentations , and some mandatory reading materials. It 
further provided opportunities for online discussions with the moderators covering individual issues from 2 May to 23 June.  Applications for the course were to submitted to the World Bank Institute by 
16 April.   
106. The Chair
 suggested that the Council take note of th e statements made before he adjourned 
the meeting.   
107. It was so agreed .  
 
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