. /. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/FIN/M/52 
4 May 2006  
 
(06-2145) 
Committee on Trade in Financial Services  
   
REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 11 APRIL 2006 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  1. The Committee on Trade in Financial Services held a meeting on 11 April 2006.  The agenda 
is contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/2792.   
A. A
PPOINTMENT OF THE NEW CHAIRPERSON  
2. The Committee elected  Mr. Ragui El-Etreby, from Egypt, as the chairperson of the 
Committee for this year.  In assuming his chairmansh ip, Mr. El-Etreby said that his intention was to 
consult with Members in order to come up with a clear work programme for the Committee this year.  
With 2006 being the last year of the current round of negotiations, Members must make the best use 
of services subsidiary bodies, including this Committ ee.  He also stressed that his performance as a 
chairperson should not be measured by the mere  number of meetings the Committee might convene, 
but by how efficiently and meaningfully the Co mmittee served Members' interests and priorities. 
B. ACCEPTANCE OF THE FIFTH PROTOCOL TO THE GE NERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN 
SERVICES EMBODYING THE RESULTS OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS  
3. The Chairman  recalled that three WTO Members had yet to accept the Fifth Protocol:  Brazil, 
Jamaica, and the Philippines.  He invited these thre e Members to provide information on the status of 
their domestic processes. 
4. The representatives of Brazil  and the Philippines  said that the situation had not changed since 
the last report made to the Committee.   
5. The representatives of the United States, Japan, Switzerland , and the European Communities  
expressed their concerns for the delay in accepting th e protocol, and encouraged those three Members 
to accept it as soon as possible. 
6. The committee took note  of the statements made and decided  to revert to this agenda item at 
the next meeting. 
C. TECHNICAL ISSUES  
7. The Chairman  recalled that at the last meeting th e Committee agreed that the Chair would 
hold another round of bilateral consultations – at an  appropriate time – on the proposal to invite the 
international standard-setting organizations.  Th e proposal had come up while discussing the paper 
submitted by Brazil on modes 1 and 2 in financial ser vices.  His intention was to explore this issue 
further, in light of the mandate given by the Committee.  
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  S/FIN/M/52 
Page 2  
 
8. The Committee decided
 to proceed on that basis and to reve rt to this agenda item at the next 
meeting. 
D. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES TRADE  
9. The Chairman  highlighted the importance of this age nda item, in order for the Committee to 
stay updated on recent developments affecting financ ial services trade, at a national, regional or 
global level.  In his view, presentations on national e xperiences had turned out to be very interesting 
and informative.  He encouraged all Members to co me up with more presentations or statements of 
that kind.  Additionally, these national experience s could be complemented with presentations or 
discussions on bilateral or regional integration init iatives, or on global trends affecting trade in 
financial services. 
10. The Committee took note  of that statement and decided  to revert to this item at the next 
meeting.  
E. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING  
11. The Committee agreed  to hold its next meeting during the next cluster of services meetings.  
The exact date would be announced in due course.   
F. OTHER BUSINESS  
12. There was no issue raised under this agenda item. 
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