RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/M/33 
4 February 2010 
 (10-0599) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 13 NOVEMBER 2009 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
 
1. The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services held a formal meeting on 13 
November 2009, chaired by Ambassador Fernando de Mateo of Mexico.  The agenda for the meeting, 
contained in document WTO/AIR/3474, was adopted. 
A. REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS , INCLUDING PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE 
GUIDELINES FOR NEGOTIATIONS ; AND ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK 
2. The Chair  recalled  that delegations had just comp leted a two-week services cluster, with a 
focus on the DDA negotiations during the second week.  Despite the far from rosy outlook overall in 
the DDA talks, he was confident that useful wo rk has been accomplished in the services area.  A 
senior officials week was to start on 23 November  (during which a further Enchilada consultation 
would be held), followed by another starting 14 D ecember that would mark the end to the services 
negotiations for the year. 
3. The Chair said he wished to hear assessments from delegations of the progress made in the 
negotiations, and how in practical  terms one should organize futu re work, particularly for the 
beginning of 2010.  One idea was to plan a week of  DDA activities in either the week of 1 February 
or the 8 February, followed by a week of meetings of regular bodies in the week of 15 February.  The 
second week would involve the regular Council a nd the two standing bodies – the Committee on 
Trade in Financial Services, and th e Committee on Specific Commitments.   
4. The delegation of India  noted that its report on the last two weeks’ activities was sombre.  
There had been an intensive series of engagement s, including eight bilaterals with major trading 
partners.  India had also met with the Cross-Bord er and Mode 4 plurilateral groups. There were also 
the meetings of the subsidiary bodies.  From a ll these engagements, India saw little that indicated 
Members were on track towards an ambitious and ba lanced outcome.  For balance to emerge, the two 
tracks of market access and disciplin es needed to proceed at  the same pace.  So far, there was little 
evidence that this was the case.   
5. On market access India had participated in eight bilateral meetings, aiming to confirm the 
signals from July 2008 and push for more liberal commitments in areas of interest.  India was 
disappointed on both counts.  It had hoped that many  of the vague signals on modes 1 and 4 could be 
clarified.  However, bilateral meetings had resulte d in the same vagueness and lack of clarity on what 
partners had to offer on these two modes. 
                                                      
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/33 
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  6. India, on the other hand, had reaffirmed the s ubstantial market access signals it had made.  On 
mode 4, India encountered the same responses hear d over the past five years.  These were that 
immigration was a sensitive topic, or that the economy was not doing well to permit mode 4 access.   It was embarrassing for India to hear these excuses, and even more embarrassing to have to repeat the 
usual responses – that mode 4 had nothing to do with immigration, fo r example.  If Members were to 
progress, negotiating on this issue had to go beyond the dialogue of the deaf.   
7. On the rule-making, the discussions revolved ar ound a new submission by friends of domestic 
regulation.  This was a positive and significant cont ribution, and it was hoped that it would take the 
discussions forward.  However, it was important to guard against any further erosion of levels of 
ambition.   On subsidies, India understood that th e chair of the WPGR was to put together a roadmap 
and a work programme, which was to be welcomed. The discussions on a definition of subsidies and 
information exchange on subsidies needed to proceed  in parallel.  On the issue of definition, the 
submission by Hong Kong China, Mexico and others, and Article 1 of the SCM agreement, were good 
starting points. 
8. India was puzzled by the stance of some Me mbers in the Committee on Trade in Financial 
Services.  India, along with South Africa, Argen tina and Ecuador, had asked for an analysis of the 
current financial and economic cr isis and its implications for developing countries.  Members’ 
concerns had been accommodated, but there was co ntinuing opposition to the proposal.  At least the 
first three steps (GATS provisions, a literature revi ew, and an event) should not be problematic for 
anyone, particularly since G20 leaders had asked fo r a deeper analysis of the financial crisis.  
Argentina and others had asked for such an analysis in the General Council, where they were told that 
the relevant committee should undertake the analys is, which was now being opposed in the CTFS.  
India emphasised the importance of such an analysis.  An inability to proceed with this work would be 
a boost for those who argued that the WTO was moribund and unable to decide anything.  Some of the immediate concerns regarding the impact of th e crisis on developing count ries were self-evident – 
higher interest rate spreads for developing countri es, shrinking of credit for developing country 
businesses, and continuing subsidies in developed c ountries for various service sectors, particularly 
financial services. 
9. Summing up, India believed that much work w as needed to restore the credibility of the 
services negotiations.  From the interactions dur ing the week, India could perceive no sense of 
urgency to address issues that would provide the mu ch needed balance to the outcome.  Needless to 
say, however, India would continue to plod on towards meeting that objective. 
10.  For the delegation of Canada
, much work remained in the services negotiations. The week 
had represented a good start to the process of reinvi gorating the services negotiations.  In addition to 
the regular meetings of the subsidiary bodies and friends' groups in which it had participated, Canada 
had held a total of 12 bilateral meetings with ot her Members to discuss sectors and modes of priority 
interest.  Most Members were genuinely willing to c onfirm and clarify previous signals of flexibility – 
including signals given during the July 2008 Sign alling Conference and in  previous bilateral 
meetings.  In some cases, Members were also ope n to discussing specific scheduling language to help 
clarify the precise nature of their proposed comm itments.  Some Members even went as far as going 
beyond their previous signals of flexibility to indicate additional areas where an improved offer might be possible, which was an especially positive an d welcome development.  Notwithstanding this 
positive depiction of developments, there were clear ly some Members during the week that were out 
of step with the objective of reinvigorating th e services negotiations.  Despite the commitment of 
Members to work towards this objective, a handful of Members did not come prepared to engage, and 
were either unprepared or unwilling to clarify signals .  In two cases, a Member suggested that it might 
be looking to backtrack on its previous signals of flexibility – a position which in Canada’s view 
served no useful purpose in moving the negotiations  forward, and which could actually negatively 
impact this and other areas of the negotiations.    TN/S/M/33 
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  11. Turning to the work of the subsidiary bodies,  Canada had witnessed a  genuine engagement 
from Members in the WPDR and WPGR, and in efforts to constructively discuss key issues pertaining to these areas.  Clearly, much further work remain ed to be done, but more productive discussions had 
been held during the week than ha d been the case in recent clusters.  The week had been a very good 
start to efforts to achieve greater clarity and certain ty in the services negotiations.  In order for Canada 
and others to be able to make difficult decisions in  the negotiations, whether in services or other areas 
such as agriculture and NAMA, there needed to be a very clear sense of what was on the table.  This 
did not necessarily mean modifying timelines for fi nal offers, although Canada would not necessarily 
be opposed to this if there were sufficient inte rest from Members in doing so.  Instead, Canada 
believed that detailed bilateral di scussions could serve a useful purpose for the time being to close the 
gap between revised offers and wh ere delegations needed to be by the end of the negotiations.  
12. Canada believed that services liberalizati on offered good opportunities for promoting 
economic growth and prosperity, and was complementar y to liberalization in other areas of trade.  
Canada strongly believed that the Doha Development Agenda represented the best means of 
harnessing the full benefits of trade liberalization, an d liberalization of trade in services represented a 
key component of this process. 
13. In this regard, Canada proposed that Members continue to build on the momentum of the 
week’s meetings, and continue to focus upon achieving greater clarity in services so that it could be considered as part of the broader package of the DDA.   With respect to the timing of the next cluster, 
Canada expressed a preference for the week of 1 Febr uary.  First, this would allow Members to build 
on the momentum of the week.  Second, the scheduling of a meeting during that week would allow 
for the possibility of having another cluster before th e end of March, in the event that such a cluster 
was warranted. 
14.  The delegation of Australia
 welcomed the opportunity to e ngage in bilateral market access 
negotiations and on the various technical issues dur ing the week.  While the atmosphere had been 
positive, it was very clear that there was a need to in tensify work to ensure that the overall shape of an 
ambitious balance package on services could emerge.  This meant more than a simple intensification 
of work, but rather a change in mindset as elude d to by India. Having e ngaged in ten bilateral 
negotiations as well as the various other fora of negotiations during the week, Australia’s sense was 
that, while there had been positive developments a nd reconfirmation of signals , too many delegations 
remained unwilling to move out of their comfort zo nes.  The gaps between even existing regulatory 
practices and offers remained far too wide to be credible.  More worryingly, Australia was concerned 
that some Members had indicated withdrawal of signals and a watering down of ambition, obviously a 
very dangerous tendency.  From Au stralia’s perspective, there was no justification for back-tracking 
from improvements in commitments foreshadowed in July 2008. 
15. Australia had no difficulty with the proposal by India, Argentina and others for a study on the 
impact on financial services of certain measures ta ken by Members, although there was a range of 
proposals before the CTFS which were worthy of being taken forward.  In terms of domestic 
regulation, Australia was pleased that the new prop osal co-sponsored by Australia was viewed by 
other Members as constructive and pointing to a way forward in these complex negotiations, and 
further work was needed. 
16. In terms of next steps, there was clearly a gr eat deal of work to be done.  As mentioned 
earlier, a change was needed not just in intens ity but also in mindset towards the negotiations. 
Progress might be achieved on agriculture and NAMA very rapidly, and services would then struggle 
to keep up with the process unless there were a diff erent form of engagement .  In terms of timing, 
Australia was not sure why there was a need to wait two months, until Febr uary, to have another 
meeting if Members were serious about early progress.   For that reason, Australia preferred the next 
meeting to be in January. TN/S/M/33 
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  17.  The delegation of Hong Kong, China
 had no problem with the next  cluster of meetings in 
February, although its preference was for 1 February due to the approaching lunar new year.  Its own assessment was slightly more optimistic than that of the delegation of India.  The previous cluster in 
early October had been characterized by a shared sen se of the need to refocus on the process of the 
services negotiations.  Since then, up to the present cluster, Hong Kong China felt that the momentum 
had been building.  The need for more intensity in the services negotiations had been recognised, and 
Members had engaged constructivel y.  However, there was still mu ch ground to cover if Members 
were to keep in step with th e pace of the other negotiations. 
18. The shared objective of Members should be to seek a consensus on what was doable and 
acceptable.  Members needed to work on the basis of what had been achieved so far, while keeping an 
open mind on any new options or suggestions that could provide greater clarity and advance the 
negotiations. 
19. On the market access front, it was very important to find a means to build the signals made at 
the 2008 Signalling Conference into something more tangible. To this end, Members had engaged in 
bilateral consultations during the course of the week .  In the process, it was important that there was 
no backsliding.  Hong Kong, China was fully prepared  for further positive engagement in bilateral or 
plurilateral fora in order to consolidate any emer ging consensus on this, and to take the negotiations 
forward to their multilateral conclusion. 
20. The medium-term objective should be to achieve a high level of clarity and certainty in the 
services package at around the time of agreement on modalities in agriculture and NAMA.  Hong 
Kong, China was willing to consider shortening th e time thereafter for the submission of revised 
offers and draft final schedules.  Other Member s should be encouraged to signal the same 
preparedness, on the understanding that the actual timi ng of submissions would need to be determined 
at some future date, in tandem with devel opments in other areas of the DDA negotiations.  
21. The GATS rule-making issues were also of great in terest.  It was important that the value of 
any hard-earned consensus on market access reached by the end of our negotiations would not be 
diminished by cumbersome rules and procedures that inhibited the free flow of trade in services.   
22. In that regard, it was encouraging to note th at the work on domestic regulation had been 
intensified.  Delegations, incl uding Hong Kong China, had offered specific proposals on individual 
chapters of the draft disciplines in domestic regul ation, with a view to facilitating constructive 
dialogue and consensus building among Members. The engagement of senior officials later in the 
month on this important subject was also welcome, to infuse more political will into moving things 
towards a successful conclusion. 
23. As far as GATS rules were concerned, useful technical discussions on government 
procurement and subsidies had taken place during th e cluster in the Working Party on GATS Rules. 
Members had called for a work plan for subsidies in order to take the discussion to a more substantive 
level of information exchange. Sensitivity was n eeded, and there was much complexity.  Members 
had to keep up the momentum so as to adva nce the negotiations in the Working Party.   
24. In conclusion, Hong Kong, China wished to observe that, with its services-based economy 
and liberal trading regime, it was fully committed to a successful conclusion of the DDA.  Finally, it 
was pleased to note the strong commitment of  the APEC economies to advance the Doha 
negotiations, reaffirmed in their recent ministerial statement. 
25. The delegation of Chinese Taipei
 felt a new sense of energy and momentum in the service 
negotiations.  Encouraging signs included a reviva l of market access consultations through the 
bilateral format and some constr uctive dialogue on domestic regulati ons.  Following the suggestion in  TN/S/M/33 
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  the previous Special Session meeting, it had intens ified its experts' engagement with Members in 
bilaterals.  Indeed, Chinese Taipei had received clar ification of market opening signals, and how they 
might be reflected in future revised offers.  This ex ercise had been extremely useful.  It had helped in 
understanding where Members stood, and what next steps might be needed to achieve an outcome 
commensurate with the level of amb ition in other key negotiating areas. 
26. Since domestic regulations were so closely linke d to market access, Chinese Taipei was very 
keen to see progress in the negotiation of disci plines covering them.  There was some very 
constructive dialogue in the area, although Members continued to differ on some of the phrases and wording in the Chair's current text.  These differe nces reflected the divers ity among Members in how 
they regulated services sectors.  With that in mi nd, there needed to be more information-sharing 
among Members about their current regulating practices.   This would help to narrow down differences 
in preparation for future text-based negotiations. 
27. Chinese Taipei agreed with th e Chair’s plan to put domestic regulation and GATS rules on 
the agenda of the next Enchilada meeting.  On th e timing of the next cluster, since the week of 14 
February was the lunar New Year holiday, it would be preferable if the second or third week of 
February could be avoided so that experts could have a better chance of attending.  Next year was also 
the year of the tiger, the symbol of energy and ambi tion – exactly what was need at this juncture to 
conclude the negotiations as soon as possible. 
28.  The delegation of Uruguay
 said that, despite the need for developing countries to receive a 
certain level of comfort in market access and modes of interest to them, they had received no responses on key needs.  These key needs were linked to the greater participation of developing 
countries in trade in services, which was a major objective of the DDA as a development round.  The 
signals received in mode 4, as recalled by the delega te of India, had been disappointing.  As well, in 
areas such as subsidies, emergency safeguard measures and domestic regulation, there was insufficient scope for the development of public polic ies.  In this connection, Uruguay wished to note 
its particular interest in this sector, which was of vital importance for its development.  It wanted to 
call attention to the fact that it needed to have ‘c omfort and joy’, but first it had to have a minimum 
degree of attention to its interests. 
29. The delegation of Chile
 noted that the machinery of negotiation, which had been a little rusty, 
was slowly gaining energy and life.  There was now  an acceptable level of engagement on the part of 
delegations.  Nonetheless, there was still has a great deal  of work to carry out in order to achieve real 
results. Given the situation of the round in genera l terms, the regrettable lack of movement in 
important areas continued to impact the negotiations. Liberalization of trade in services had 
importance per se , unrelated to links with other areas of the negotiations.  There was much work to be 
done in services, so that when the time came the gr ound would be sufficiently prepared.  One of the 
most important characteristics of the services negotiations was the interest that the developing countries had in it – not only in mode 4, which was obviously important, but in other areas as well.  It 
was undeniable that in the current negotiations on services, unlike those in the Uruguay Round, the 
developing world had a great deal from which to benefit. 
30. On domestic regulation, Chile ha d engaged fruitfully with other delegations.  It had made an 
important proposal, which sought to reinvigorate the negotiating process by increasing the level of 
ambition of the disciplines based on Article VI:4 of the GATS.  It was to be hoped that this proposal would be considered in future stages of the negotiations .   With respect to the date of the next cluster, 
Chile thought, like Australia, that considera tion should be given to a date in January. 
31.  The delegation of the United States
 had somewhat mixed reactions to the cluster week 
discussions.  Looking at the issues on the domestic regulation side, good talks were held during the 
week.  The United States had met with a number of Members outside the Working Group to explain TN/S/M/33 
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  its concerns and look for areas of agreement.  It  welcomed the new draft language from the group of 
Members, which addressed some structural concerns with the drafting of the Chair's prior text, and narrowed differences on other core issues.  Alt hough it was important not to underestimate ongoing 
disagreements among Members on certain proposals, the United States did detect a new spirit of pragmatism in the Working Group and looked forw ard to continue to work on seeking practical 
solutions reflecting the concerns of both exporte rs and national and sub-national regulators.  On 
domestic regulation, the United States would continue to be engaged in the discussions.  However, it 
urged those wanting to advance the issues to  come up with more concrete proposals. 
32.   On financial services, the United States clarifie d that the it had never said that the financial 
crisis could not be discussed in the Committee.  It did have concerns, however, with the proposal 
advanced by certain Members.  The US position wa s that the Members be asked to do the work, not 
the Secretariat. 
33. On market access, the United States had met with a number of delegations bilaterally.  Some, 
like the United States, had capital-based experts for a number of sectors, and those discussions proved 
useful.  It was through direct engagement between e xperts in the particular sectors that meaningful 
progress would be achieved.  The United States also attended many friends' meetings, and hosted 
some as well, for example in express delivery and te lecommunications.  In its bilaterals, the United 
States tried to reconfirm and clarify signals from the Signalling Conference, and in some instances 
noted the absence of signals in key areas.  Some  clarifications raised concerns about moving 
backwards.  While the Signalling Conference marked  an important point in the negotiations, actual 
language would be needed to ensure that enough progr ess had been made in priority areas.  On this 
point, the United States noted with some concern the lack of engagement by some Members. Taken in 
the context of the overall negotiations, this might  be understandable.  Ho wever, no one should be 
under the illusion that it would be easy to get a clear picture on an acceptable services outcome.  It would require an effort to come to the table prepared  to listen, to engage and to negotiate.  Only then 
could Members build the political support necessar y for an acceptable outcome.  Because services 
often involved intensive consultati on with other agencies and constituen ts, involvement needed to be 
ongoing.  As the delegate from Chile had said, much  more work remained to be done.  The United 
States thanked those Members that did bring experts to exchange views and create a better understanding of the requests, and looked forward to future engagement.  The United States would 
support a further cluster in early February.  It prop osed that, since experts in financial services were 
also involved in the market access negotiations, th e Committee on Trade in Financial Services should 
hold a meeting during the market access week. 
34. The delegation of Korea
 said that it had had a very productive week on bilateral market 
access negotiations and discussions in the Working Pa rty on Domestic Regulations.  Korea had held 
six bilateral meetings with importa nt trading partners, and had also participated in various friends' 
groups meetings.  Its focus during the week was to  clarify the market access improvements made at 
the Signalling Conference in July 2008, and on writte n requests made in Korea's main sectors of 
interest: telecommunication, construc tion, maritime transportation, di stribution and financial services.  
Korea wanted to see an overall improvement in these sectors at least to the current level of liberalization during these DDA negotiations.  Despite  conditions attached to an agreement on 
modalities in agriculture and NAMA, most bilateral pa rtners were able to come forward with a clear 
indication of the improved commitments signalled in  July 2008.  In some cases, there was even 
willingness to further improve offers.  In additio n, Korea had held focussed discussions on domestic 
regulations, and was a co-sponsor of a new paper. 
35. Looking ahead, Korea observed that current offers did not reflect liberalization made 
autonomously since the last offers made in 2005.  Korea also deeply regretted that certain Members 
were not willing to engage in market access negotiations  during this cluster.  It was clear that certain 
Members needed further domestic consultations to ar rive at improved offers, and that this process had  TN/S/M/33 
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  been stalled as a result of the slow pace of progr ess in the overall DDA negotiations.  Korea urged 
more active participation domestically and also in these negotiations to come up with improved offers.  
At the next cluster, Korea hoped to maintain mo mentum for market access negotiations through 
various means.  It would be willing to continue e ngagement in bilateral ne gotiations, and would urge 
friends' groups to hold open-ended sectoral activities for a wider audience.  On domestic regulation, 
Members, after going through the technical discussions by the end of this year, should be prepared for 
text-phase negotiations, to be able to complete th e negotiations in parallel with the market access 
negotiations.  Finally, with regard to the LDC m odalities, Korea hoped to see concrete results in the 
near future.  In this respect, it welcomed that domestic regulation, rules and LDC modalities would be 
the focus of the upcoming senior officials meetings .  Korea hoped that the senior officials would be 
able to give clear political guidance on how to  move forward in the services negotiations. 
36. The delegation of Brazil  reminded delegations that, at the last meeting of the Council, it had 
stressed that, in the absence of progress in agri culture and NAMA, Brazil would not agree to reopen 
negotiations in market access for services.  Brazil al so warned against diverting the focus of the DDA 
from its central areas to services, and opposed such an approach. 
37. Brazil’s evaluation on the state of play of the DDA was still that the negotiating package of 
July 2008, which required delicate trade-offs, con tinued to be dismantled. At the TNC informal 
meeting of 23 October and on other occasions, Brazil highlighted th at, in agriculture, a higher degree 
of flexibility for developed countries had been discus sed, thereby reducing the level of ambition of the 
modalities, whereas in NAMA, devel oping countries had been urged to  make additional concessions.  
38. In this context, it was not possible to regard the current week as a negotiating week for market 
access for trade in services. Notw ithstanding this position, Brazil participated in some bilateral 
meetings to exchange ideas about the signals indi cated in July 2008. Brazil availed itself of these 
opportunities to reiterate that the signals were c onditional on the overall ba lance of the Round and, 
combined with its revised offer of 2005, should be seen as a landing zone.  Brazil also mentioned that 
it had been working on the translation of signals into scheduling language, which would be submitted 
to WTO members after agreement was reached on the modalities for agriculture and NAMA, and 
taking into consideration the final package.  
39. In Brazil’s view, the market access pillar had received a disproportionately high degree of 
attention in comparison to the other pillars of ser vices negotiations. This s ituation called for more 
intense work, in conformity with the Hong Kong mandate, in those other pillars, while Members 
continued to strive for a consensus on agriculture and NAMA.  Brazil was glad that during the week 
fruitful and constructive discussions were held on domestic regulation and GATS rules, especially 
subsidies, which gave hope that Members would be  able to fulfil the Hong Kong mandate in these 
areas. 
40. On domestic regulation, Brazil understood that the level of ambition of the current draft text 
was appropriate, and that it could serve as an ade quate basis for negotiations. It recognized, though, 
that there could be room for further improvement .  Brazil remained ready to contribute to the 
consensus-building process. Brazil had stressed flexib ility in terms of language, provided that the final 
product maintained the necessary balance between comme rcial interests and the right to regulate in 
pursuit of national policy objectives. In Brazil’s view, Article VI:4 of the GATS could not be read in 
isolation from other GATS provisions.  For instan ce, it was important not to lose sight of the 
preamble, which sets out principles that inform the entire agreement, and fully recognize the right to 
regulate and the particular need of developing countries to exercise this right.  
41. On the issue of LDC modalities, Brazil remained  committed to constructively engaging in the 
discussions in order to arrive at an agreed text.  Finally, on the dates for next cluster, Brazil preferred TN/S/M/33 
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  the end of February 2010. This would allow time  to conduct the necessary consultations with the 
Brazilian regulatory agencies on the current issues. 
42. The European Communities
 referred to the recent Delhi Ministerial declaration calling for a 
horizontal process including all areas of negotiations .  For the EC, this was a commitment by 
ministers to move forward also on services.  The present cluster was thus a crucial opportunity to 
resume market access discussions.  The EC was fully  committed to making the cluster an important 
milestone towards the conclusion of the DDA, and it ha d come with a full team prepared to address all 
issues of the negotiations.  During the week, the EC obj ective was two-fold.  First, it wished to clarify, 
consolidate and deepen the signals expressed at the Signalling Conference.  Second, it intended to 
identify flexibilities beyond those signals, through mean s such as the bilateral meetings it had held 
with a dozen Members.   
43. In the services negotiations clarity was para mount.  It was important to work towards 
achieving a high degree of understanding.  To fac ilitate the discussion, the EC had communicated 
well in advance an agenda for bilateral meetings , containing a list of issues for discussion. The 
outcome of the bilateral meetings had been vari ed.  Some Members had confirmed the signals and 
indicated further possible flexibilities. Other Member s had attempted to clarify the signals, but in 
doing so raised further questions.  Still other Me mbers expressed doubts about some of their own 
signals.  Clearly, the week had shown the need to in tensify work and continue discussions in order to 
both enhance clarity on signals and reach a satisfactory outcome in the services negotiations.  On that basis, as many other Members had said, the EC wi shed to continue bilateral discussions with the 
Members it had met during the week, and with other Members at next cluster.  
44. The EC had also convened three sectoral frie nds' meetings on air transport, energy and 
environmental services, and participated in sev eral other friends' groups.  Those exchanges had 
allowed the EC to confirm its assessment of the b ilateral meetings.  Regarding the forthcoming senior 
official meetings, as many of the Members had said, the EC was more than happy to receive political guidance and hoped that those meetings would give the services negotiations an additional impetus.  
However, it is essential that the senior officials d eal with the services negotiation in their entirety, 
notably within the market access discussions.  Regard ing next steps, the EC could fully agree with a 
proposal by the Chair to hold a two-week cluster in February. 
45. The delegation of Argentina
 disagreed with the view express ed by Chile that the glass was 
half full rather than half empty.  Unfortunate ly, it had not been possible to make progress on 
discussions on market access.  Given the current st ate of the negotiations in other areas of the DDA, 
where there were no signs of genuine progress being made or clarity in terms of the outcomes, it was 
not possible for Argentina to provide further details of clarification as to its initial offer or signals 
made during the Signalling Conference.  The services negotiations could not continue as if they were 
isolated from the rest of the Round.  This was pur e fantasy, as Brazil had rightly pointed out. On the 
basis of what various Members have indicated, Argentina saw little progress in terms of areas of 
interest for developing countries, such as mode 4, and it noted that certain Members had showed a  
degree of back-sliding on their offers in those ar eas.  Given this glum outlook, Argentina found it 
impossible to table an improved offer.  As to th e negotiations on rules, there were no substantive 
offers that might re-balance market access, particul arly when it came to subsidies.  Argentina had 
listened during the week to various expressions of flexibility from some Members, but others had not 
committed themselves to a serious examination of dist ortive effects on markets.  With respect to the 
proposal of Argentina, Ecuador, South Africa and India in the CTFS, the statement made by the 
United States had shown that concerns with the proposal were simply a moving target. 
46. Despite all of this, Argentina was willing once ag ain to sit with trading partners to clarify 
positions in the hope that necessary signals could be made, allowing substantive decisions in the 
Round to be taken.  As to the time anticipated in the Hong Kong Declaration for the submission of  TN/S/M/33 
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  final offers and schedules of commitments, Argentina was surprised at the apparent attempt to 
undermine a commitment, which had not yet been achie ved, after more than four years.  On the 
timing of the next cluster of meetings, Argentin a had no problem with a meeting in February, 
including during the last week as Brazil had indicated. 
47. The Chair  intervened to say that he had received requests from delegates that, due to school 
holidays in Geneva, the last week of February shoul d not be chosen for the next cluster of meetings. 
48. The delegation of China  concurred with the assessment made by India.  China had also held 
several bilateral discussions during this week, a nd these were helpful in enhancing its understanding 
of other's basic positions, and contributed to solving some technical issues existing in Members' offers 
and signals.  However, it seemed to China that so me Members were not willing to make substantial 
commitments in the modes and sectors crucial to devel oping Members' interests.  Even for the limited 
offers or signals already made, most were more  suitable for developed than developing country 
Members. It was extremely hard for developing Me mbers to persuade their domestic industry that 
they could have concrete gains through services negotiations, especially market access negotiations, 
even though they had made great efforts in accommodating other Members' interests.  Turning to 
negotiations on GATS rules and dom estic regulations, China did not see much progress.  But it was 
encouraging to see that a new proposal for domestic regulation had been put forward by Switzerland and others incorporating key points of the Chai r’s text, while avoiding some redundancies and 
possible ambiguities.  Although China had some reserva tions with regard to cer tain definitions in the 
current discussion, the proposal was a better basis on which to make further progress.  China also 
wished to encourage Members to intensify their wo rk on and make a breakthrough in the area of LDC 
modalities, which was crucial for the Round to live up to the ‘development agenda’ part of its name. 
49. With regard to the timing of the next cluste r, China joined Hong Kong in proposing putting 
the cluster on early February, because of the lunar New Year in mid-February. 
50. The delegation of New Zealand
 had held a number of bilaterals during the week and had 
attended friends' and regular comm ittee meetings.  There was little to say that was significantly 
different from its intervention in October.  R eal progress across the Doha negotiation remained 
illusive.  However, the week had been particularly u seful in two respects.  First, by re-engaging with 
trading partners and talking through signals, New Zeal and was able to highlight the considerable lack 
of clarity that persisted in the current and future offers.  It was surprising and a little frustrating that 
nearly 18 months on from the Signalling Conference, Me mbers were still trying to figure out what had 
been said, and whether it still held.  This might ser ve as a lesson for future exercises of a signalling 
nature.  The work on clarification therefore needed to  continue.  It was true that given the different 
negotiating methods in services as compared to ag riculture and NAMA, Members risked being caught 
short in the event of real progress elsewhere.  On a positive note, as a co-sponsor of a new contribution on domestic regulation, New Zealand w as optimistic that some much needed progress 
was possible in this negotiation, and looked forward to the issue being on the agenda of the next 
senior officials week.  In terms of the schedule outlined for 2010, New Zealand was flexible and 
supported the early February timing and that wh ich would enable a maximum participation. 
51. The delegation of Pakistan
 said that a productive services cluster had been held which 
provided a sound basis for working further.  Howe ver, the cluster had not been as meaningful as it 
would have liked, and there was a need to make further progress.  Some delegations even had a 
feeling of backward movement.  Pakistan’s assessment  was that the cluster was circular, but that the 
circle – or the services pie – was growing.  Ther e had been a detailed discussion on various topics in 
the WPDR and the WPGR, and good engagement in CSC and CTFS.  The friends of domestic 
regulation had submitted a proposal in the WPDR th at Pakistan welcomed and was willing to build 
upon.  Progress in market access, especially in mode  4, was not however proportionate with progress 
in disciplines, which made it difficult for Pakistan to convince its domestic industry.  Pakistan also TN/S/M/33 
Page 10  
 
  agreed with the Chair’s proposal of having the next  cluster in early February. Further conclusive 
progress in LDC modalities was needed, and Pakistan reiterated its resolve to engage constructively 
when would take a meeting would take place. 
52.  The delegation of Japan
 felt that the result of the w eek was positive in the sense that 
Members could restart real negotiations, especially on market access.  Many Members including 
Japan felt the necessity to have some impr ovement through continued negotiations.  Japan’s 
assessment of the dozen bilateral negotiations it participated in was positive. It had sent some 
questionnaires beforehand, and ha d had detailed discussions on signa ls and further liberalization 
based on those documents.  As some of the previous  speakers had pointed out, Japan also found that 
there were differences in the understanding of what signals Members had made.  It was important to 
have a common understanding on other Members’ signa ls, and to have the same aspiration to go 
further than what had been signalled.  Japan wished  strongly to continue detailed discussions with its 
trading partners. It had convened two friends’ group meetings, on cons truction and maritime transport 
services, and participated in several others.  G ood sectoral discussions on substance and on the way 
forward had been held, with the partic ipation of capital-based experts.   
53. Japan noted that active discussions had also been  held in the subsidiary bodies such as the 
WPDR and the WPGR.  Japan would continue to be positive and active in the discussion on rules 
issues.  Concerning the dates of the next cluster, Japan was open to both of the dates proposed – either 
the weeks of 1 February or 8 February.  Japan was al so ready for another cluster in January.  One idea 
was to put everything into one week, since the regular Council session dealt with sectoral papers 
written by the Secretariat which gave some a ppetite for capital experts to come to Geneva. 
54. The delegation of Guatemala  thanked those delegations wh o had engaged in bilateral 
discussions during the week.  It reiterated the impor tance of improvements under mode 4 and, having 
heard the signals, felt that there was a lack of clar ity in terms of this mode.  Guatemala expressed its 
concern as to the lack of progress under mode 4, and hoped that substantia l improvements would be 
seen under this mode in 2010.  As to the date for th e next cluster of meetings, Guatemala agreed with 
a meeting in the first week of February rather th an the second, since otherwise it would clash with 
trade facilitation discussions. 
55. The delegation of Egypt  emphasized its disappointment w ith the level of liberalization 
presented in mode 4 signals, and in the offers that had been tabled so far.  Egypt had previously 
indicated that its assessment of mode 4 offers wa s strongly related to its level of ambition for the 
outcome of the current round of negotiations.  Egypt encouraged any efforts to  analyze the impact of 
the global economic crisis, in order to avoid ad verse effects on developing countries.  While 
understanding the active role of the CTFS in raising emerging issues, Egypt belie ved that the financial 
services sector classification was comprehensive, and did not need to be altered to include any of these issues.  Egypt emphasized that government procurement disciplines should be limited to 
transparency and not be included in schedules of commitments, due to developing countries’ 
insufficient institutional and regulatory capacity.  Egyp t also recognized the crucial role of subsidies 
in most countries' development programmes, espec ially developing ones, he nce intensified efforts 
were needed to reach a common definition for subsidi es within the context of GATS.  In this respect, 
a process of information exchange was welcome, but  it needed to consider the different level of 
development of Member countries and their capab ilities.  Egypt was committed to achieving progress 
in developing the necessary horizontal disciplines fo r domestic regulations.  It stressed that these 
disciplines should take into consideration the de velopmental aspect, and not lessen the flexibility 
margins granted to developing countries under the GATS.  In this respect, Egypt highlighted its objection to necessity tests in the disciplines of domestic regulations. 
56. The  delegation of Colombia
 said that the negotiations need ed to proceed step-by-step, 
bearing in mind the objective of the negotiations.   As a developing country, Colombia stressed the  TN/S/M/33 
 Page 11 
 
 
  importance of the objective provided in Article IV:1 (6) of the GATS.  In the present cluster, the 
meetings had been completed successfully.  Colo mbia had improved its understanding of the path 
towards the submission of new offers, and hoped that  it would be in a position to discuss the date of 
these offers in the near future.  Fo r modes  such as mode 4,  and sect ors of interest to Colombia and 
on which it had submitted requests, Colombia believed there could be progress in the near future.  
Colombia was committed and prepared to continue th rough the next stages of negotiation in order to 
ensure that the desired objectives were reached at the appropriate time.  Failing to do this could 
undermine the multilateral trading system and the WT O, which Members were seeking to strengthen. 
57. Colombia along with others had recently s ubmitted a proposal for a text on substantive 
sections of the disciplines on domestic regulation.  This was a positive effort that was intended to 
ensure a clearer text with fewer redundancies, and one that sought to overcome gaps between certain 
positions of other Members.  This did not mean that  Colombia’s level of ambition has been reduced.  
Nor did it mean that Colombia had increased its le vel of ambition beyond the levels provided for in 
GATS, particularly in Article VI. The commitment made by one of the largest Members on this subject was noteworthy. Colombia appreciated me eting with other delegations over the week, in 
friends groups or bilaterals.  With regard to th e proposal for a February meeting, Colombia had no 
problem.  However, when setting the precise date, it requested that the Chair take into account the 
capacity of delegations in Geneva to attend other meetings that had been timetabled for the dates 
during which the services cluster was planned.  It w as also important to bear in mind the importance 
of capital-based officials attending the maximum number of services meetings. 
58. The delegation of Singapore
 said that services were an integr al part of the DDA package in 
terms of market access and rules. The cluster had been a useful one with regard to intensifying 
engagement on market access and rules.  On market access, Singapore was pleased to see engagement in bilateral and plurilateral mee tings, furthering an understanding on what could be expected from 
other Members.  On rules, Singapore welcomed th e increased engagement on domestic regulation and 
GATS rules.  This had been constructive, and Singapore was keen to support and continue the 
momentum. Flexibility and creativit y was necessary to create positive movement in the negotiations, 
so that when the moment was right for political deci sions Members were ready.  On the next cluster, 
Singapore preferred the week of 1 February, since th e week of the 8 February was close not only to 
the lunar New Year, but also to the week of the negotiating group on trade facilitation. 
59. The delegation of South Africa
, indicated its support for the statement made by India, 
particularly on the issues pertaining to the subsid iary bodies.  However, it wished to make a few 
comments on market access.  Although South Africa ha d only participated in three bilaterals, it had 
the impression that there was still a reluctance to make commitments  of commercial value in those 
sectors and modes, including horizontal commitments, that would be of most value to developing countries.  While in this respect highlighting mod es 1 and 4, South Africa’s concerns extended to the 
other modes as well.  Except for some isolated cases of what could be deemed progress, South Africa 
did not see a level of progress commensurate with the level of ambition being demanded of it.  
Several Members had made referenc e to the issue of back-sliding, and Members indicating that they 
would want to scale back the signals that they ha d made in 2008.  South Africa fully respected and 
was willing to abide by the mandate given by Minist ers in both Doha and Hong Kong.  It viewed the 
issue of back-sliding extremely seriously, and en couraged all Members to desist from any such 
practice.  However, in saying so, South Africa point ed out that since July 2008, in the agriculture 
negotiations, some of the biggest developed count ry Members had demanded increasing flexibility for 
themselves. This was equally unaccep table back-sliding.  Members shoul d not to point to back-sliding 
they deemed was occurring only in the services negotia tions.  Services could not be seen in isolation 
from agriculture and NAMA. 
60. South Africa wished to see an expeditious c onclusion of the LDC modalities, and looked 
forward to further progress on that.  With regard to the scheduling of the next cluster, South Africa TN/S/M/33 
Page 12  
 
  also preferred the first week of February, as it sh ared Guatemala's concern with the clash with the 
talks on trade facilitation. 
61. The  delegation of Chile
 wished to respond to earlier statements referring to other areas of the 
negotiations.  It is was clear that Members were e ngaged in a single undertaking, but this should not 
be taken to the extreme by indicating that one could not conclude the week without a spirit of 
negotiation.  This set up a harmful spiral for the negotiating process.  Members needed to be 
pragmatic and positive.  In this sense, services could serve as a key to other areas that were bogged 
down, something that could help in the other areas of negotiation. 
62. The delegation of Morocco, on behalf of the African Group , said  that it was pleased about the 
level of commitment of Members, and the work that has taken place during the cluster in the 
subsidiary bodies and in the numerous bilatera ls.  Nevertheless, the African Group remained 
convinced that much remained to be done to bridge gaps and achieve the results .  This applied not just 
in services, but also in other areas such as NAMA  and agriculture.  The African Group welcomed the 
new text proposal on disciplines in domestic regula tion, but emphasized that the text of the former 
chair should be preserved and serve as the basis fo r future work.  Other areas in services which 
required more attention and intensif ied work were rule-making, mode  4, and LDC modalities.  As for 
the programme of work that the Chair proposed, and given the small size of its delegations, the 
African Group wanted the date to be set soon, so that it did not clash with the holding of other meetings, and allowed its  experts to attend. 
63. The Chair
 said that he would try to summarize the points made during the discussion of this 
agenda item.  He noted overall that there had been  a reaffirmation of the commitment by all to the 
services negotiations in the DDA.  There was a sense  of re-engagement through  bilateral meetings and 
friends' groups held during the week.  In the ma rket access area, there had been mixed signals.  
Regarding the outcome of bilateral meetings durin g the week, some indicated that there had been 
positive clarification of previous signals.  Howeve r others expressed disappoin tment regarding lack of 
progress in areas of interest to them, or even rega rding some so-called ‘back-tracking’ by negotiating 
partners. 
64. The importance of negotiations on rule-maki ng had been stressed by many delegations.  
Several had welcomed the heightened sense of en gagement and activities during this week.  On 
domestic regulation, the recent contribution from a group of Members had been widely welcomed.  
Many considered it as a significant step forward.  On GATS rules, there had also been a sense of 
increased focus on central issues regarding subsid ies and government procurement.  LDC modalities 
remained a priority in this area of negotiation,  and progress on that front was urgently needed. 
65. Most Members referred to the importance of ba lance within the services negotiations between 
market access and rules, and across the different ar eas of the DDA.  However, as usual, balance was 
in the eye of the beholder.  It was certainly true that the services negotiations were not taking place in 
a vacuum,  and the nature of the single undertak ing required commensurate progress across all areas.   
66. Regarding the next cluster of meetings, the ma jority appeared to favour the first week of 
February.  This took into account the Davos meeting in the last week of January, school holidays in the last week of February, and trade facilitation meetings and lunar New Year holidays in the second 
and third weeks of February.  The best possibility seem ed therefore to be the first week of February. 
67. The Council took note of the statements made, and d ecided to revert to this item at its next 
meeting.  TN/S/M/33 
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  B. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MODALITIES FOR THE SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR LEAST -
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS IN THE TRADE IN SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS  
68. The Chair  understood that consultations were still continuing on this topic in the consultative 
group led by Norway.  At the last meeting of the Special Session, some delegations expressed the 
wish to broaden the consultative process.  As he ha d said before, the Chair, and the Secretariat on the 
technical side, were always available to assist in advancing these discussions. 
69. The delegation of Norway  said it had for some time been i nvolved in consultations with other 
interested Members on the issue of LDC modalities.  The purpose of these consultations was to try to 
flesh out a draft waiver, available to all Members, from the obligations of Article II:1 of the GATS in 
respect of preferential treatment benefiting all LDC Members.  This option was identified in 
paragraph 9 of the Chair's road map from July 2008 as offering the most satisfactory outcome of this 
part of the negotiations.  These consultations were still a work in progress, but Norway hoped that a 
draft could be presented to the Special Session in the near future. 
70. The delegation of Tanzania, as coordinator of the LDC Group , fully supported the statement 
and the progress report by Norway.  The Group wished to thank Brazil, China, South Africa and other 
delegations who had spoken in favour of LDC modalities as a priority.  It  also wished to state that the 
review of progress in the services negotiation and the organization of the future work in the area were 
of great importance, particularly as the Doha round was to be concluded as soon as possible.  
71. From the LDC perspective, the implementation of  modalities for special treatment of the least 
developed countries in trade in services was a pa ramount need.  The LDC Group urged Members to 
ensure that negotiations in trade in services con tinue to be guided by the objective of the GATS 
stipulated in paragraph 3 of Article IV – that sp ecial treatment for LDCs be granted as a matter of 
priority in the implementation of pa ragraphs 1 and 2 of that provision.   Particular account had to be 
taken of the peculiar economic and development s ituation, including trade and financial weaknesses, 
which made it difficult for these count ries to undertake specific commitments. 
72. Furthermore, the LDC Group recalled that at Doha in 2001 Members agreed to undertake 
negotiations on trade in services with a view to promoting the economic growth of all trading 
partners, and the development of developing a nd least-developed countries. This decision was 
strengthened by the adoption of the LDC Modalities in 2003, aiming at meaningfully integrating the 
trade in services of LDCs into the global ec onomy. Subsequently, Annex C of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration, adopted in 2005, clearly  stated how and when these modalities were to be 
implemented.  
73. The LDC Group was concerned that, despite remi nders, compliance with Article IV of the 
GATS had not yet materialized, and progress towards implementation continued to be elusive. The LDC Group took this opportunity once again to urge Members to honour the decision by 
implementing the LDCs Modalities as agreed without  further delay. The importance of trade in 
services for LDCs went beyond its pure economic signi ficance, due to the major role played by the 
sector for achieving social and development objectives.  These included addressing poverty, upgrading welfare, improving universal availabilit y and access to basic services, and ensuring 
sustainable development. Presently, many LDCs were experiencing a multiplicity of extreme and 
complex difficulties, and a lack of institutional and human capacity to analyze and respond to offers 
and requests by other Members.  This is why the LDC Group was stressing the need for 
implementation of the LDC modalities in services as soon as possible.  
74. The African Group recalled that at the Signalling Conference in July 2008, Ministers 
expressed satisfaction about the progress of the work  on the LDC services modalities. This was in the 
context of the prospect of a waiver decision.  During 2009, the LDC Group continued to build on this TN/S/M/33 
Page 14  
 
  political momentum, and carried out intensive technical  consultations with Members, with a view to 
making progress and concludi ng on this outstanding issue.  As reported by Norway, some progress 
had been made.  The LDC Group was thankful to Norway and the other Members in the small group 
for their dedication and hard work towards coming up with a  draft formulation of a services waiver 
for LDCs, which would soon be brought up for cons ideration by all Members, consistent with the 
principle of transparency and inclusiveness. 
75. The delegation of India
 added its support to the statements  made by Norway, and Tanzania as 
coordinator of the LDC Group.  India had been an ac tive participant of the small group led by Norway 
and would continue to work on this important topic. 
76. The delegation of Chile  said that this was first time it had taken the floor on this important 
item.  It wished to thank both Norway and Tanzania  for their reports and statements.  However, Chile 
was concerned that, meeting after meeting, Members had been hearing the same thing from those who were conducting the process.  It was not a simp le and easy process, but it was one that had 
implications for all Members.  A waiver of a f undamental obligation of the services agreement had 
fundamental legal implications.  That was why the work carried out in the small group needed to be 
followed closely by all Members. The work being done in the small group had to be disseminated, 
analyzed, and evaluated by the other Members. It  was necessary therefore for the rest of the 
Membership to play a more active role in the process.  Perhaps there could be some type of 
involvement by the Chair of the Special Session.  
77. The delegation of Colombia
 said that an outcome on LDC m odalities in services was essential 
for the Doha Round.  It thanked Norway and Tan zania for the information provided, and hoped to 
receive very soon the draft text referred to.  What  Colombia had previously said about paragraphs 3 
and 4 of Article IX should be recalle d, so that benefits were achieved for all Members, in particular 
developing countries.  It was important to note however that any waiver should not go beyond the scope of what is set out in paragraph 3 of Article IV. 
78. The delegation of Bangladesh
 fully endorsed the statement ma de by Tanzania as coordinator 
of the LDC Group, and also the progress report ma de by Norway.  Bangladesh was resolved to 
continue work on the basis of the Chair’s text of July 2008.  There was already a general consensus 
that a waiver would be the most suitable option to operationalize the special modalities for LDCs.  
Bangladesh firmly believed that work on LDCs m odalities was founded on paragr aph 9 of Annex C of 
the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  A waiver  would not create an obligation on the part of 
Members.  Bangladesh noted the difficult situation of LDCs that had been highli ghted by Tanzania.  It 
therefore hoped that Members would agree on an in strument that resulted in benefits for LDCs, 
including through providing certain, secure and pr edictable market access to the services and service 
suppliers that were of export interest to LDCs.  
79. The delegation of Pakistan  attached a very high importance to an acceptable outcome on LDC 
modalities.  However, as mentioned during the last meeting, Pakistan was concerned with the process 
adopted in order to achieve the common objective to  which all Members agree.  Pakistan requested 
that the small group process be expanded.  If this were  not the right time to bring the process back to 
the formal Special Session, then perhaps there could be an informal exchange of views, or informal 
stock-taking of the progress so that all of interest ed Members could contribute.  Pakistan said that 
even if the process were not complete it would want to contribute at least through an informal, or a one-off, session.   
80. The Council took note of all the statements made, and agreed to revert to this item at its next 
meeting.   TN/S/M/33 
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  C. ITEM C:  WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES – REPORTS BY THE CHAIRPERSONS  
81. The Chair  said that the four subsidiary bodies ha d met recently and, in the interests of 
transparency, he would call on any chair of a subsid iary body who wished to do so to report on recent 
progress in their discussions. 
82. Jean-Marc Mignon, Chair of the Committee on Specific Commitments , said that since his last 
report the Committee on Specific Commitments had held a formal meeting on 6 November.  The 
discussion in the Committee continued to focus on th e agenda item regarding the relationship between 
old and new commitments.  The Secretariat's back ground Note (S/CSC/W/55) on past practice on 
incorporation and verification had been circulated to  delegations before the meeting.  Based on this 
Note, he invited delegations to consider issues unde r three aspects:  (1) how the relationship between 
the schedules currently in force and the new sc hedules would be specified in the incorporation 
instrument, given that Members had agreed that  the replacement method was the working assumption 
to incorporate the results of the current market access negotiations into the GATS;  (2) whether and 
how Members' concern over rollbacks that might occur in the new schedules could be addressed 
through additional language in the protocol, as sugg ested by some delegations; and (3) how Members 
wished to proceed with the verification exercise at the end of the round.   
83. The Committee had held a substantive discussion on these issues.  Delegations' interventions 
continued to reflect a divergence of views, in par ticular on the issue of additional language to be 
included in the protocol.  A number of delegations reiterated the necessity to include certain language 
in the incorporation instrument as a way to prev ent rollback in the new sch edules.  However, some 
delegations expressed their caution about the inclusio n of additional language, but were also willing to 
examine the issue on the basis of written proposals. 
84. Australia presented its proposal for such langua ge at the meeting and, shortly after the 
meeting, the Swiss delegation submitted to the Co mmittee a communication with a view to advancing 
the discussion on the relationship between old a nd new commitments.  Those contributions would 
constitute a very good basis for future discussions , with a view to reaching an agreement on the 
content of a draft protocol that would be co mmunicated in due course to the services Council for 
adoption.  To that end, and before next mee ting, he would probably hold consultations with 
delegations on the content of the new contributi ons, and what next steps the Committee should take. 
85. There was no discussion on scheduling and classification issues. 
86. Sudhir Sooklal, Chair of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services , said that the 
Committee had held a formal meeting on 2 and 9 N ovember.  There was no news to report with 
regard to the acceptance of the Fifth Protocol to the GATS, which was still to be accepted by Brazil, 
Jamaica and the Philippines.  On 2 November, the Committee had carried out the eighth review of the 
implementation by China of its WTO commitments  pursuant to section 18 of its Protocol of 
accession.  The report of that review can be f ound in document S/FIN/23.  Apart from those two 
items, the rest of the agenda was completed on 9 November. 
87. The highlight of the meeting was a dedicated  discussion on Islamic finance, whose purpose 
was to build on the Committee's previous discussions  on the topic, and to explore and identify the 
potential trade-related aspects of Islamic finance th at might warrant further consideration by the 
Committee.  Two guests speakers, Mr. Muhammad bi n Ibrahim, Assistant Governor, Bank Negara 
Malaysia, and Mr. Mahmood Shafqat, Senior Jo int Director, Banking Policy and Regulations 
Department, State Bank of Pakistan, made very inte resting initial presentations.  He wished to thank, 
on behalf of the Committee, both Malaysia and Pakistan for having volunteered such qualified speakers. Additionally, a representative from th e Islamic Development Bank participated as an 
observer.  The discussion proved useful, allowing Me mbers to enhance their understanding of Islamic TN/S/M/33 
Page 16  
 
  finance and exchange informati on on their own initiatives regarding the development and regulation 
of this modality of finance.  When it came to  trade issues, judging by the interventions made, 
Members seemed to share the view that no change s were needed to the current classification of 
financial services used in the negotiations, and that Islamic finance did not raise any specific scheduling issues.  
88. On another matter, he recalled that the Comm ittee was currently considering three proposals 
for further work.  The proposals addressed very differ ent topics, all of them relevant to the work of 
the Committee. These proposals were:   
a) A proposal by the United States for an information exchange on trade in non-life 
insurance services;   
b) A proposal by Argentina, Ecuador, India, and South Africa to consider the effects of 
the current financial crisis on tr ade in financial services; and 
c) A proposal by Pakistan to launch a discussion on trade-related aspects of e-finance. 
89. Despite the progress made in the consideration of these proposals, it was clear that further 
consultations were needed on the content, format and sequence of the work envisaged.  In his view, 
the topics raised by all these proposals were releva nt and timely, and would constitute a very good 
basis for work in the Committee.  They covered i ssues that were in accordance with the mandate of 
the Committee and that required serious considerati on. Recalling the spirit of compromise that all 
agreed to at the beginning of his chairmanship , it was his hope that delegations would show the 
necessary flexibility to allow the Committee to make progress in the consideration of these topics in 
the interest of all Members. 
90. Misako Takahashi, Chair of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation
, said that since her 
last report, the Working Party had held one formal meeting, on 11 November.   The substance of the 
meeting was devoted to a technical discussion on the development of disciplines on domestic 
regulation pursuant to Article VI:4, and focussed on f our chapters of the former Chair's revised draft 
text (Room Document, 20 March 2009). 
91. The four draft chapters under discussion (Li censing Requirements, Licensing Procedures, 
Qualification Requirements, Qualification Procedur es) contained the core obligations that Members 
had been negotiating for many years.  It was her se nse that delegations had displayed a genuine level 
of engagement and focus during the exchange.  
92. A group of seven delegations had introduced a new element to the discussions, by proposing 
to merge the chapters on Licensing Requirements and Qualification Requirements, and Licensing 
Procedures and Qualification Procedures, respect ively.  The proposal, which would remove a 
considerable amount of repetition that was contained in  the current draft, was in preliminary reactions 
welcomed by several other delegations.  Due to th e introduction of the proposal only on the day of the 
meeting, it was agreed to revert to a discussion of the four chapters at the next meeting, in particular 
to address the structural amendments that had been proposed. 
93. As concerned the substantive oblig ations contained in the four chapters, it was her belief that 
good progress had been made on technical drafting ques tions.  However, more focussed work needed 
to be carried out in this respect.  With regard to the level of ambition, on the other hand, she could not 
report a great deal of convergence: although the pr oposal raised the ambition of the disciplines in 
some respects, several other Members sought more  flexibility even with regard to the current 
Chairman's draft.  In other areas, some delegations  thought that the proposal fell short of what was  TN/S/M/33 
 Page 17 
 
 
  contained in the Chairman's draft, and of their exp ectations.  In those areas of substantive negotiation, 
more convergence would be required for to move ahead.  
94. On future work, the Working Party would hold an informal meeting in mid-December, during 
the week of the senior officials' meeting.  At that  meeting, there would be an effort to complete 
discussions on all chapters of the Chairman's draf t, and consider how to move the process forward 
in 2010. 
95. Felipe Lopeandia, Chair of the Working Party on GATS Rules , said that since his last report 
to the Council for Trade in Services in Special Se ssion, the Working Party had met in formal session 
on 10 November.  It had also completed a second  round of informal technical discussions on selected topics from the three GATS Rules areas. 
96. On emergency safeguard measures, the Working Party continued to examine
 the relevance of 
the treatment of the concept of "domestic industr y" under the anti-dumping, subsidies and safeguard 
agreements, to trade in services.   To facilitate the discussion, a Secretariat note on the subject was 
circulated in JOB (09)/146.  The discussions focused on technical elements such as how the criteria of  
territory, control and ownership, and registration,  could be used to define domestic industry.  
Members also discussed whether a single definition c ould capture the various situations that could 
arise with respect to different modes of supply.  Hi s intention was to continue with the examination of 
these issues.  
97. On subsidies, the Working Party continued to address the "chicken and egg" syndrome that 
had, unfortunately, developed over the formulation of  a definition of subsidies and the exchange of 
information mandated by Article XV.  At the info rmal meeting of 10 November, there was a common 
view that, while a definition of subsidies would be desirable, it was not a pre-requisite for information 
exchange. The Article XV mandate had been cast  very wide and a Member could submit any 
information that it considered relevant.  Throughout  the discussion, it was also clarified that, since 
"discriminatory subsidies" were already covered by  the national treatment obligation of the GATS, the 
question for Members is whether there were any trade-distortive effects created by "non-
discriminatory subsidies".  To that question, no Me mber had yet concretely identified the problem to 
be resolved.  In this connection, he would be consulting with Members on the next steps, in particular, 
on the development of a work programme on issues related to definition and information exchange.  
He would also be encouraging Members to submit examples of trade-distortive effects.   
98. On government procurement, the Working Part y had held a second round of discussions on 
the proposal for a GATS Annex on Government Pr ocurement, as contained in S/WPGR/W/54.  In 
particular, the sponsors of that proposal had illust rated how commitments on government procurement 
could be taken for scheduled sectors by using the "additional commitments" column.  As only a few 
delegations intervened, he intended to revisit this subject at a future meeting, after Members had had 
more time to digest the elements proposed.  
99. The delegation of Chile  responded that it would wish to make  a specific reference to what had 
taken place at the recent meeting of the Committee fo r Trade in Financial Services.  The impossibility 
of discussing an issue as important as the financial crisis within the framework of the Committee was 
a matter of great concern.  Chile believed that the inability to discuss this question was very much 
affecting the role that the CTFS could play within  the institutional framework  for services discussions 
within the WTO.  At a time when Members were oc cupied with strengthening the organization, events 
such as the discussions during the week were worr isome.  Chile requested that, on the basis of 
consultations held with interested Members, a serious  effort be made to overc ome this problem.  Chile 
believed that the argument put forward by those delega tions that did not wish to give the green light to 
discussion in this area were not convincing.  At no time had the proposal put forward on this issue TN/S/M/33 
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  prevented Members from submitting their own experien ces on the results of the financial crisis.  For 
this reason, Chile thought that seeking to circum vent these sorts of problems was not convincing. 
100. The Council took note of the reports and the statement made. 
D. O
THER BUSINESS  
101. Since there was no other business, the Chair  adjourned the meeting. 
__________