WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
S/WPGR/M/77 
21 May 2012  
 
(12-2657) 
Working Party on GATS Rules  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 MARCH 2012 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. The meeting was chaired by Ms Tamsin Royson from New Zealand.  The agenda for the 
meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/3904.  The agenda was adopted. 
I. NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SAFEGUARD MEASURES (ESM) UNDER 
ARTICLE X OF THE GATS  
2. The Chairperson reminded delegations of the st atement made by the representative of the 
Philippines at the Working Party' s last meeting on 1 November 2011 calling for a period of reflection 
(statement delivered also on behalf of the dele gations of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, 
Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam).  She then gave some details about the Secretariat's 
forthcoming Documentation Guide .  The latter would consist of a Table with references to the 
documents where core ESM-related concepts had been  addressed in the course of past negotiations.  It 
would not attempt to summarize any of the substa nce contained in the various communications by 
Members, Notes from the Chairperson, Secretariat Not es and reports of formal and informal meetings.  
3. The representative of Thailand, on behalf of the delegations of Brunei Darussalam, 
Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippin es, Thailand and Viet Nam noted that, while the 
mandate for the ESM negotiations was provided for in  the GATS, account needed to be taken of the 
wider Doha Round context.  Given the work undertaken  in the WPGR to date and situating it within 
the broader negotiations' context, the Friends of ESM favoured extending the reflection period for the 
next few months, also to pursue their internal cons ultations.  However, they stood ready to continue 
discussions on ESM-related statistics and any other t houghts from Members in the future.  Finally, 
they looked forward to periodic updates being made  to the Secretariat document entitled "List of 
Documents Related to the Negotiations under Article X" (JOB/SERV/89) as well as to the 
forthcoming Documentation Guide.  
4. The Chairperson thanked the Friends of ESM for their indication that they intended to 
continue with both internal cons ultations and outreach with a view to bringing some new ideas for 
work in the coming year.   
II. NEGOTIATIONS ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT UNDER ARTICLE XIII 
OF THE GATS 
5. Turning to government procurement, the Ch airperson recalled that Members had been 
pursuing dedicated discussion on the topics outlined in the proposal from the European Union as 
contained in document RD/SERV/ 23 dated 24 September 2010.  In September 2011, the Working 
Party had held an informal meeting dedicated to  services procurement, focusing more specifically on 
                                                      
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/WPGR/M/77 
Page 2  
 
  sharing national experiences on re forms and openings of domestic pr ocurement systems, as well as on 
access to foreign procurement markets.  The meeti ng had greatly benefited from the participation of 
GPA Members and observers. 
6. Following that meeting, Members had made thr ee initial suggestions for possible future work 
in this area:  firstly, to elaborate a typology of market access obstacles, by mode of supply, to 
investigate the many similarities, despite differi ng terminologies, between barriers in commercial 
services trade and in services procurement;  secondly, to try and identify a number of services relevant for international procurement tran sactions (analogous to the EU's distinction between 'non-priority' 
and 'priority' services, the latter being defined as the most relevant for procurement within the EU’s 
internal market and internationally);  and, finally,  to collect statistical information on international 
procurement transactions with a special focus on the participation of developing countries.   
7. Members have had some time to reflect on th ese – and possibly other – suggestions for how 
to concretely move work forward on government pr ocurement, and she was interested in hearing  
views in this regard.  Before opening the floor, she once again reminded and encouraged delegations ‒ 
from both GPA as well as non-GPA Members ‒ to take the opportunity to share with this Working 
Party their national experiences with the reform of domestic procurement systems and access to 
foreign procurement markets.  Such presentations could be offered in any forthcoming regular session 
of the Working Party.   
8. The delegate of the European Union thanked the Chairperson for her summary and outlook.  
At this point, his delegation did not have concrete proposals on how to take the work forward, but 
would like to come back on the various suggestions made in due time.  He echoed the Chairperson's 
encouragement to other Members to come forward with additional presentations and the sharing of 
national experiences.   
9. The Chairperson remarked that discussions on those three initial tentative suggestions for 
future work would continue under her successor.  She looked forward to any additional ideas that the 
European Union or other Members wished to bring forward in this regard.      
III. NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBSIDIES UNDER ARTICLE XV OF THE GATS 
10. Turning finally to subsidies, the Chairperson recalled that, while useful momentum had been 
achieved through the information exchange process in  late 2010 and early 2011, views had remained 
divided for some time now between those favouri ng proceeding to negotiations to develop "necessary 
multilateral disciplines", and those who were opposed to devising disciplines (and, consequently, to 
adopting any work programme) in th e absence of evidence of subsidy-re lated trade-distorting effects.  
Other Members were of the view that there was still useful conceptual and technical work that could 
be done short of entering into ne gotiations on new disciplines.   
11. As she had observed at the last meeting in November 2011, the discussion was not lacking in 
material or inputs.  A range of Members had ta bled many interesting communications and proposals 
on the subject.  The problem rather was the lack of convergence  among Members on how to move 
ahead.  Undoubtedly, subsidies in the services ar ea represented an analytically demanding and 
politically delicate matter.  While it was not for her to  push in any particular direction, she encouraged 
Members to keep discussing as to the appropriate wa y forward.  Following this introduction, she 
opened the floor for comments.     
12. In the absence of any intervention, she proposed that Members revert to this item at the next 
meeting.  S/WPGR/M/77 
 Page 3 
 
 
  IV. OTHER BUSINESS 
13. No topic was raised under this agenda item.   
V. APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW CHAIRPERSON FOR THE WORKING PARTY 
14. Based on the consensus reached in  the General Council, the Ch airperson indicated that she 
was very happy to propose that delegations elected Ms Kyoko Hokugo of Japan as the new 
Chairperson of the Working Party.   
15. As the outgoing Chairperson of the Working Part y, the Chairperson wished to thank Members 
for the trust and confidence vested in her.  Alt hough progress had been modest, particularly in the 
areas of safeguard measures and public procuremen t, the Working Party did have some useful 
exchanges of information and experience that had helped deepen Members' understanding.  She hoped 
that this could be continued under the new Chairper son.  She also thanked the Secretariat for its 
support.     
16. She then proposed that the Wo rking Party elect Ms Kyoko Hokugo by acclamation as the new 
Chairperson of the Working Party on GATS Rules. 
17. The Working Party elected Ms Kyoko Hokugo by acclamation. 
18. The new Chairperson, Ms Kyoko Hokugo, than ked the outgoing Chairperson on behalf of all 
Members for having led the Working Party in a very  efficient, pragmatic and inclusive way. The 
Working Party had greatly benefited from her excellent work.   
19. She thanked Members for their confidence in her and hoped to live up to their expectations.  
She encouraged them to approach her to share their views regardi ng the work of the Working Party 
for this year to come.   
20. She then suggested that the Working Part y take note of the statements made.   
21. The meeting was adjourned. 
 
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