RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/CSC/M/45 
11 October 2007 
 (07-4371) 
Committee on Specific Commitments  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2007 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
1. The Committee on Specific Commit ments (CSC) held a meeting on 18 September 2007.  The 
agenda for the meeting is contained in WTO/AIR/ 3062.  Under Other Business, the Chairman stated 
that he would provide an assessment on the current situation of work in th e Committee.  The agenda 
was adopted
 with this addition.  
A. C LASSIFICATION ISSUES  
2. The Chairman  recalled that the representative of the European Communities had introduced a 
submission entitled "Understanding on the scope of coverage of CPC 84 - Computer and Related 
Services" by a group of Members (S/CSC/W/51) at the informal meeting in January 2007.  Upon 
request of the proponents, their introductory statem ent concerning that paper had been reflected in the 
report of the Committee's June meeting (S/CSC/M/44).   
3. The representative of Costa Rica  requested that his delegation be  added to the list of sponsors 
of communication S/CSC/W/51.2   
4. The Chairman  noted that there were no further comments on this subject, and suggested that 
the Committee conclude its discussion on the "Unders tanding" for the time being.  Any delegation 
wishing to revert to it in future would of course have an opportunity to do so.  He then drew the 
attention of the Committee to an informal note on the classification of distribution services, which the 
delegation of the European Communities had circul ated ahead of the meeting, JOB (07)/138.   
5. The representative of the European Communities  stated that the purpose of the informal note 
was to share with Members the classification of  distribution services that the EC was using in 
negotiations on regional trade agreements.  The pape r did not constitute a classification proposal.  The 
classification used in RTA negotiations sought to capture as many CPC numbers as possible because 
the W/120 correspondence with CPC was not fully accu rate and complete.  While efforts had been 
made in the Committee to make it more comprehensiv e,  some CPC numbers had not been taken into 
account in the last proposals, in particular CPC 7542 regarding the retail or wholesale sales of telecommunication terminal equipment.  For purpo ses of the RTA negotiations, the EC had developed 
a list of subsectors under different sections.  As this list contained a separate section on energy 
services, some distribution services related to energy  services had been placed there, even though they 
remained distribution services.  The five subsector s relating to energy distribution services were "D. 
Wholesale Trade Services for solid, liquid and ga seous fuels and relate d products", which was 
contained in CPC 62271 and covered by W/120; "E. Wholesale Trade Services of electricity, steam and hot water," for which no CPC correspondence exis ted; "F. Retailing Services of motor fuel," CPC 
                                                     
 
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. 
2  Costa Rica's request to be added to the list of sponsors is reflected in document S/CSC/W/51/Add.4, 
dated 27 September 2007.   S/CSC/M/45 
Page 2  
 
  613; "G. Retail sales of fuel oil, bottled gas, co al and wood", CPC 63297;  and finally "H. Retailing 
services of electricity, (non-bottled) gas, steam and hot water", for which no CPC correspondence 
existed. 
6. Because of the separation of distribution services between the two headings, footnotes were 
used to indicate where the various service sub-sect ors were classified.  Due to the EC regulatory 
regime, retail sales of pharmaceutical, medical and orthopaedic goods were classified as professional 
services, as was reflected in a footnote.  He invite d Members to follow the same approach as the EC.  
He also noted that all maintenance and repair ser vices were contained under a single heading of the 
schedule under Business Services, while under W/120 certain aspects of these services were contained 
under distribution and transport services.   
7. The representative of Brazil
 requested clarification as to whether energy generation was 
deemed a service.  As for item "E. Wholesale Trade Services of electricity, steam and hot water," he requested clarification on the relationship between  generation, transmission and distribution, on 
whether transmission and distribution fell under item E,  and how the generation of energy could fit in 
the classification.   
8. The representative of Switzerland
 stated that his delegation held divergent views on the 
classification of distribution services.  For instance, his delegation did not see a need to modify the existing classification contained in W/120with regard to headings "B . a) Wholesale Trade Services of 
motor vehicles, motorcycles, snowmobiles and part s and accessories thereof," and "C. a) Retailing 
Services of motor vehicles, motorcycles, snowmob iles and parts and accessories thereof,", if the 
reason for the modification was that retail and w holesale trade services for the respective products 
should not be mentioned under the same CPC numbe rs.  While the scope of retailing services of 
motor vehicles was not very explicit, it could still be  clearly interpreted on the basis of the CPC.  His 
delegation was still reviewing the separate listi ngs under "B. b) Wholesale Trade Services of 
telecommunication terminal equipment," and "C. b) "Retail Trade Services of telecommunication terminal equipment."  Concerning item F. under Ener gy Services, "Retailing Services of motor fuel", 
he noted that this activity was not explicitly c overed under W/120, but might  be listed under retailing 
services.  With regard to the two energy subsect ors, "E. Wholesale Trade Services of electricity, 
steam and hot water" and "H. Retailing services of el ectricity, (non-bottled) gas,  steam and hot water", 
Switzerland considered it possible that these services were not covered by any CPC codes, because by 
definition, the CPC should cover all services.  Energy Services subsectors "E. Wholesale Trade 
Services of electricity, steam and hot water", and "G . Retail Sales of fuel oil, bottled gas, coal and 
wood", were already covered under the heading of  distribution services of W/120.  Due to these 
doubts, Switzerland had no intention of following th e classification model suggested in the EC's 
informal note.   
9. The representative of the United States
 stated that her delegation was studying the submission 
as an information note of what the European Co mmunities was doing in their bilateral free trade 
negotiations.    
10. The representative of India  expressed his understanding for the EC approach of separating 
energy-related services, but had doubts whether this logic should be followed for the distribution of 
other products.  For instance, wholesale or retail services of live animals, would then be classified 
under services related to agriculture.  It was importa nt that any reclassification did not unravel the 
existing classification. 
11. The representative of Saudi Arabia,  supporting the views expressed by Switzerland, 
considered it problematic to insert a new head ing under W/120 concerning energy services at the 
present stage.  A discussion among the friends of energy group was called for.  S/CSC/M/45 
 Page 3 
 
 
  12. The representative of the European Communities  stated that it was not his delegation's 
intention to propose modification of W/120.  As set out in the informal note, and in his introductory comments, the EC was merely providing informati on on classification used in the context of its RTA 
negotiations.  While the EC was using a separate he ading of energy services in these negotiations, all 
the services listed in the informal note remained distribution services, and could be classified as such.  
As regards India's comments about arranging the dist ribution services by activity, he agreed that this 
was also possible.  Also, the relevant CPC numbe rs could be listed next to Commission Agents' 
services, Wholesale Trade Services, and Retailing Services.  The EC classification made references through footnotes and covered all distribution servi ces.  If all services were arranged under the same 
heading, the footnotes were not necessary.  He cons idered energy generation and transmission through 
mains not to be services; this issue was addressed in the part of the schedule dealing with investment 
in non-services activities, under a specific classification.  However, wholesale distribution of electricity not through mains on a fee or contract basis was a service.  Since the purpose of the informal note was to address distribution services, it did not cover the entire energy services section.  He hoped that some of the RTA negotiations would be concluded in the near future, which would 
allow the EC to share the entire classification with Members.   
13. The Chairman
 suggested that Members take note of the statements made and that the 
Committee revert to the agenda item of "Cl assification Issues" at the next meeting. 
14. It was so agreed . 
B. SCHEDULING ISSUES  
15. No delegation spoke under the agenda item "Scheduling Issues".  
C. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OLD AND NEW COMMITMENTS  
16. No delegation spoke under the agenda item "Relationship Between Old and New 
Commitments".  
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
17. The Chairman , noting that no delegation had indicated that it wished to raise any item under 
Other Business, stated that with the exception of  the new contribution by the European Communities 
under classification issues, there had been no substa ntive intervention today, as had been the case 
already at the Committee meeting in June.  Since the Committee's agenda was already very slim 
overall, he was not convinced that a full-fletched fo rmal meeting during the next cluster was required.  
Rather, it might be sufficient to set aside some time  in an informal context to revert to the EC 
informal note.  He would consult with delegations on future work of the Committee, and encouraged 
any delegation with concre te suggestions for such work to contact him. 
 
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