WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/WPDR/W/36 
14 September 2005 
 
 (05-4004) 
Working Party on Domestic Regulation Original:   English 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, 
PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU 
 
Transparency Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the
 
Telecommunications Sector  
 
 
The following communication, dated 5 Septem ber 2005, from the delegation of Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Mats u, is being circulated to the Members of the 
Working Party on Domestic Regulation. 
_______________ 
  I. OBJECTIVES 
1. This document from the Separate Customs Terr itory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu 
is submitted to the Working Party on Domestic Re gulation (WPDR) for Members' consideration. It 
aims to facilitate the discussion on possible el ements of transparency disciplines in the 
telecommunications sector.  We reserve the right to revise, supplement or withdraw this proposal 
according to the results of further examinations. 
2. The mandate of the WPDR under paragraphs 3-4 of the document Decision on Domestic 
Regulation (S/L/70) calls on the WPDR to develop generally applicable disciplines and allows it to 
develop disciplines as appropriate for individual sectors or groups thereof.  The WPDR has made 
significant progress recently towards a deeper understa nding of the coverage of these disciplines.  The 
intention of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiw an, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in this paper is to 
complement contributions made by other Members to the Working Party and to present a comprehensive set of disciplines for the telecommunications sector, mindful of the fact that it contains common elements with disciplines that are, or will be, developed for licensing requirements and 
procedures, qualification requirements and pr ocedures, as well as technical standards. 
3. Given the progress made in the WPDR, this co mmunication also has the objective of going 
beyond the general consideration of  domestic regulation and to engage in focused discussions on the 
telecommunications sector.  As already mentioned, we recognize the very useful contributions made 
by other Members on disciplines for domestic regulati on.  We would now like to underscore the need 
for Members to continue the task of understanding the coverage of regulatory measures, and we also 
believe that this submission will provide an add itional basis for further negotiations as mandated 
under Article VI:4 of the GATS. 
 
II. SCOPE & APPLICATION 
4. Telecommunications liberalization becomes a c onduit for growth because it fosters increased 
competition resulting in advanced technology, better ser vices and greater infrastructures.  It leads to a 
number of economic benefits throug h the development of services, infrastructure and technology, and S/WPDR/W/36 
Page 2  
 
 fosters the growth and expansion of other indust ries, all of which results in greater economic 
development overall.  However, lack of transparency is seen to be a major barrier to trade in telecommunications services.  Given the special particularities of the telecommunications services sector, we are of the opinion that more detailed sectoral regulatory disciplines are required, and should be developed, especially beyond t hose of Article III of the GATS.  
5. While the liberalization of telecommunications markets has yielded subs tantial benefits, the 
removal of barriers to entry, in itself, will rarely be sufficient to ensure th at such benefits can be 
reaped.  To a large extent, this  is because the telecommunications market exhibits a number of 
specific features that require a higher degree of transp arency disciplines to ensure the benefits of the 
access granted.  In other words, for the tel ecoms sector, market access commitments must be 
accompanied by commitments to provide competiti on safeguards on dominant carriers.  Therefore, 
before the complete liberalization of the telecoms  markets is set to occur, the new trade rules 
necessary to regulate the market have to be in place.   Transparency rules should be made in order to 
further deepen the liberalization.  In addition to the cross-cutting transparency issues, it is better to 
develop tailored transparency disciplines whic h are dependent upon sectoral specificities. 
6. These disciplines apply to measures affecting trade in telecommunications services, including 
those relating to licensing requirements and procedur es, qualification requirements and procedures, as 
well as technical standards.  However, these disciplin es are not meant to supersede Members' existing 
transparency commitments under the GATS and their individual schedules.  At present, transparency is required in existing GATS oblig ations under GATS Articles III & VI, the WTO Reference Paper on 
Basic Telecommunications Services, and the Annex on Telecommunications (see Appendix).  
Building upon the principles contained in all th e GATS obligations mentioned above, we hereby 
propose the following elements to supplement GATS Articles III and VI, and to address specific 
transparency requirements in this sector. 
III. PRIOR CONSULTATION & PUBLIC COMMENT PROCEDURES 
7. Members shall, to the extent possible, publis h in advance measures which affect trade in 
telecommunications services, when introducing,  formulating, amending or repealing them. 
8. Members shall provide the opportunity for comment s or consultations, a nd give consideration 
to such comments, before adop ting such proposed measures. 
IV. ESTABLISHMENT OF MECHANISM S TO RESPOND TO INQUIRES 
9. Members shall make publicly available, including through the inquiry points established 
under GATS III:4 and contact points established under  GATS IV:2, the names and addresses of the 
competent authorities, including all relevant gove rnmental or non-governmental entities responsible 
for telecommunications regulations. 
10. Members shall establish appropriate mechanisms to provide, upon request by any interested 
person, information with respect to laws, regula tions and other measures of general application 
affecting its specific commitments in the telecommunications sector. 
11. Members shall inform another Member, upon re quest, of the rationale behind domestic 
regulatory measures in the telecommunications sector. 
12. In addition to the inquiry or contact points in the trade ministry, Members shall endeavour to 
provide sector-specific inquiry points for the tel ecommunications sector to facilitate timely response 
to sector-specific inquires.  Members may nominate persons in each of the relevant agencies at the  S/WPDR/W/36 
 Page 3 
 
 
 domestic level who can provide informatio n on particular problems relating to the 
telecommunications sector. 
13. Responses to inquiries for information, which significantly affect trade in services covered in 
the specific commitments under this Agreement sha ll normally be provided within 30 calendar days 
after receipt of a request.  In exceptional cases, responses may be provided within 45 calendar days 
after receipt of a request. 
V. NOTIFICATION & PUBLICATION 
14. Members shall ensure that measures which pertain to or affect telecommunications sectors are 
published or otherwise made publicly available no late r than 90 calendar days after their enactment or 
issuance, or as otherwise required by applicable law.  Such publicly available information may 
include, but not be limited to, terms and conditions  of the provision of services, specifications of 
technical interfaces with the networks and ser vices, information on bodies responsible for the 
preparation and adoption of standards affecting the access and use; conditions applying to attachment 
of terminal or other equipment, and notifications , registration or licensing requirements, if any.  
15. Any exception or derogation granted to services s uppliers in or from the laws and regulations 
shall also be made publicly available in the same manner as specified above. 
VI. INTERCONNECTION ARRANGEMENTS 
16. Each Member shall ensure that: 
(a) a major supplier1 has an obligation to provide in terconnection under transparent terms 
and conditions, including techni cal standards and specifications; 
(b) the procedures for interconnection negotiati ons applicable to interconnection to a 
major  supplier will be made publicly available; 
(c) a major supplier will make publicly available either its interconnection agreements or 
a reference interconnection offer. 
VII. ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS 
17. Members shall ensure that wh ere a licence is required, the following will be made publicly 
available and the reasons for the denial of a licen ce will be made known to the applicant upon request. 
(a) a list of telecommunications services subject  to licensing requirement, and the name 
and address of the competent authorities; 
(b) all the licensing criteria and the period of time expected to reach a decision 
concerning an application for a licence; and 
(c) the terms and conditions of individual li cences, the requirements and procedures to 
obtain, renew or retain such licences, the competent authorities' monitoring 
arrangements for ensuring compliance, and in formation on technical standards to be 
fulfilled by the licensee. 
                                                      
1 A major supplier is a supplier which has the ability to materially affect the terms of participation 
(having regard to price and supply) in the relevant ma rket for basic telecommunicati ons services as result of: 
(a) control over essential facilities; or use of its position in the market. S/WPDR/W/36 
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 18. Procedures for the review of administrative d ecisions, as provided for by GATS VI:2, shall be 
made public. Members shall ensure that the procedur es in fact provide for an objective and impartial 
review. 
VIII.  OTHER OBLIGATIONS. 
19. Each Member has the obligations to administer  in transparent manner the kind of universal 
service obligation it wishes to maintain. Furthermore,  the implementation plans or adjustment plan of 
universal service shall be published .   
20. Any procedure for the allocation and use of scarce resources, including frequencies, numbers, 
and rights of way, shall be carried out in a transparent manner.  The current state of allocated frequency bands shall be made public ly available, but detailed identification of frequencies allocated 
for specific government uses is not required.  S/WPDR/W/36 
 Page 5 
 
 
 APPENDIX:   
Coverage of (Selected) Existing and Pr oposed Services Transparency Disciplines 
Transparency 
Disciplines GATS III, 
VI GATS 
Reference 
Paper on 
Telecom2 EU Proposal 
on Licensing 
Procedures Japan Proposal 
on DR Annex US Proposal on 
Horizontal 
Transparency 
Disciplines GATS 
Accountancy 
Disciplines Chinese Taipei 
Proposal on 
Telecom 
Transparency 
Disciplines 
Public 
Comment 
Procedures   √ Δ3 √ √ √ 
To make 
publicly 
available the 
competent authorities √  √ √ √ √ √ 
To provide 
information to 
any interested 
person  Δ4  √ √ √ √ √ 
To provide 
sector-specific 
inquiry points       √ 
Strict 
Timeframe for 
inquiry point       √ 
Strict 
Timeframe for publication       √ 
Prompt 
notification       √ 
Additional 
transparency requirement 
for major 
supplier  √     √ 
Transparency 
on Universal 
Services and Scarce 
Resources  √     √ 
Transparency 
of Administrative 
Decisions √ √ √ √ √ √ √ 
Review of 
Administrative Decisions √  √ √ √ √ √ 
 
__________ 
 
                                                      
2 It should be noted that only less than 30% of the WTO membership has adopted the Reference Paper 
in full. 
3 In sectors where specific commitments are undertaken. 
4 Governmental level only.