WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG227/1 
16 January 2008 
 (08-0208) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
  
 
 
FACTUAL PRESENTATION 
 
Free Trade Agreement 
Between 
Panama and Singapore 
(Goods and Services) 
 
Report by the Secretariat 
 
 
 
 
This report, prepared for the consid eration of the Free Trade Agreement 
between Panama and Singapore, has been drawn up by the WTO Secretariat on its own responsibility and in full consul tation with the Parties.  The report has 
been drawn up in accordance with the ru les and procedures contained in the 
Decision for a Transparency Mechan ism for Regional Trade Agreements 
(WT/L/671). 
 
 Any technical questions arising from this report may be addressed to 
Ms. Jo-Ann Crawford (tel: 022 739 5422). WT/REG227/1 
Page iii  
 
  
  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Page 
 
I. TRADE ENVIRONMENT 1  
A. M ERCHANDISE TRADE  1 
B. TRADE IN SERVICES AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT  4 
II. TREATY CHARACTER ISTIC ELEMENTS 6  
A. B ACKGROUND INFORMATION  6 
III. NATIONAL TREATMENT AND MARKET ACCESS FOR GOODS 8  
A. I MPORT DUTIES AND CHARGES , AND QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS  8 
B. R ULES OF ORIGIN  11 
C. E XPORT DUTIES AND CHARGES , AND QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS  13 
D. R EGULATORY PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  13 
1. Standards 13  
2. Safeguard mechanisms 14  
3. Anti-dumping 15  
4. Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 15  
5. Other regulations 15  
IV. PROVISIONS ON TRADE IN SERVICES AND INVESTMENT 16  
A. S COPE AND DEFINITIONS  16 
B. M ARKET ACCESS  16 
C. M OST FAVOURED NATION PRINCIPLE , NATIONAL TREATMENT  17 
D. L OCAL PRESENCE OR PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS  17 
E. M OVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONS  18 
F. R ECOGNITION  18 
G. D OMESTIC REGULATION  18 
H. N ON-CONFORMING MEASURES  19 
I. D ENIAL OF BENEFITS  23 
J. L IBERALIZATION COMMITMENTS IN SELECTED SERVICES SECTORS  23 
1. Business Services 23  
2. Transport Services 24  
(a) Land transport services 24 
(b) Maritime transport services 25 (c) Air Transport services 25 
3. Communications 26  
(a) Telecommunications services 26 
(b) Audiovisual services 27 
4. Financial Services 27  
(a) Cross border trade in financial services 28 
(b) Banking and other non-insurance financial services 28 
(c) Investment in financial services 28 
(d) Insurance services 30 
V. PROVISIONS AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS, SERVICES AND INVESTMENT 31  
A. C
OMPETITION POLICY  31 
B. G OVERNMENT PROCUREMENT  31 
C. E LECTRONIC COMMERCE  32 
D. I NSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS  32 
1. General provisions and exceptions 32  
2. Accession 32  
3. Institutional framework 32  
4. Dispute settlement 33  
5. Relationship with other agreements concluded by the Parties 34  
ANNEX   36 WT/REG227/1 
Page 1 
 
  
  PANAMA-SINGAPORE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (GOODS & SERVICES) 
 
Factual Presentation by the Secretariat  
  
I. TRADE ENVIRONMENT 
1. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Panama and Singapore (hereafter PSFTA or 
"the Agreement") is Singapore's first bilateral FTA  with a Latin American country and Panama's 
second with an Asian country.  While similar in terms of population size, the countries have quite 
different economic structures.  In 2005, ma nufactures accounted for 80.6% of Singapore's 
merchandise exports, while for Panama, agri cultural products accounted for 81.1%.   
2. Panama's GDP was US$15.5 billion in 20 05, while that of Singapore reached 
US$116.8 billion.
1  With total merchandise exports of  US$229.6 billion and imports of 
US$200 billion, Singapore ranked in 2005 as the 14th top exporter and the 15th top importer;  with 
merchandise exports of US$1 billion and imports  of US$4.2 billion, Panama ranked as the 133rd top 
exporter and the 100th top importer in that year.  The two economies showed quite different average 
trade/GDP ratios in 2003-2005 with Panama's ratio 127 and Singapore's 432. 
A. MERCHANDISE TRADE  
3. Developments in recent years in global and in tra-Party merchandise trade are presented in 
Charts I.1 and I.2.  Over the period surveyed (1 998-2005), Panama has run a c onsistent trade deficit 
with Singapore.2   
0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 200501234567US$billion US$millionChart I.1 - Panama: Merchandise imports from and exports to 
world and Singapore, 1998-2005
Source: UNSD, Comtrade database.Total exports Total imports Left hand scale:
Imports from Singapore Exports to Singapore Right hand scale:
Note:      2000 data for exports to Singapore are not available.
 
                                                      
 1 WTO Statistics Database, Trade Profiles. 
2 Please note that in this Section trade figures reported for Singapore include transactions with 
Panama's Colón Free Zone (ZLC), whereas Panama's figures do not record these transactions. WT/REG227/1 
Page 2  
 
  0255075100125150175200225250
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 20050.000.250.500.751.001.251.501.752.002.252.50US$billion US$billionChart I.2 - Singapore:  Merchandise imports from and exports to 
world and Panama, 1998-2005
Source: UNSD, Comtrade database.Imports from Panama
Exports to PanamaTotal imports
Total exportsLeft hand scale: Right hand scale:
 
4. The Parties' current bilateral merchandise trade is  modest and post-entry into force trade data 
is still unavailable.  On the basis of 2005 data  from the United Nations' Comtrade database,  
Singapore is Panama's 54th largest trading partner in terms of imports, accounting for 0.04% of 
Panama's imports, and ranks 61st for Panama's exports (less than 0.01% of Panama's exports).  
Panama is Singapore 66th largest trading partner in terms of imports, accounting for 0.02% of 
Singapore's imports, and its 19th for exports, accounting for 0.83% of Singapore's exports. 
5. The commodity structure of trade among the Parti es, as well as of their imports and exports to 
the world in the period 2003-05, is shown in Chart I.3, on the basis of HS section product categories. 
6. Three product categories – machinery, chemicals,  and vehicles - accounted for almost 60% of 
Panama's imports from Singapore in the period 2 003-2005;  vegetables and base metals accounted for 
a further 17.2%.  Singapore's three largest e xport product categories - machinery, minerals, and 
chemicals - made up 79.1% of its total exports in 2003-2005 and accounted for 44.8% of Panama's 
imports from Singapore. 
7. Three product categories – vehicles, animals,  and machinery - accounted for over 90% of 
Singapore's imports from Panama in the period 2003 -2005.  Panama's three largest export product 
categories – animals, vegetables, a nd prepared foods - made up 88.9% of  its total exports in the period 
2003-2005 and accounted for 17.2% of Singapore's imports from Panama. 
 
  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
 Chart I.3
Panama and Singapore: product compos ition of merchandise trade, annual 
average (2003-05)
Panama's imports from Singapore Singapore's imports from Panama
 Source:  UNSD, Comtrade database.
                 Departamento de Estadística de VICOMEX, Contraloría General de la República de Panamá.Per cent
Total:  US$1.6 million Total:  US$20.0 million
Total:  US$3.6 billion Total: US$170.0 billion
Total:  US$0.9 billion Total:  US$196.1 billionPanama's global exportsSingapore's global exportsPanama's global imports Singapore's global importsOther
4.6
Machinery  
27.2Other 
2.2
Prepared foods 8.1Machinery 10.4
Other 
8.7
Machinery
53.3 Chemicals 
5.5Plastics 2.2Other
10.5
Minerals
16.2Machinery
18.5
Vehicles 10.7Chemicals 
11.6Textiles 4.0Base metals 4.3
Plastics 4.4Vehicles 4.6
Other 
9.0Other 
9.6
Chemicals 2.1
Base metals 3.9
Prepared foods  7.9Base metals 2.7
Minerals
10.5Machinery 
59.0Vehicles  2.1
Chemicals 
 9.6Chemicals 
17.6
Minerals 
15.8Optical  3.9Vehicles
65.7
Base metals 
7.2
Optical 3.2Plastics 2.6
Base metals 8.4Miscellaneous 6.9
Animals 16.8Optical 4.9
Plastics 3.3Articles of wood
 7.3
Vegetables 8.8Pulp of wood 2.8
Vehicles 13.9
Vegetables 3.5Miscellaneous 3.1
Pulp of wood 4.1
Animals 51.6
Vegetables 25.5
 
 WT/REG227/1 
Page 4  
 
  B. 
TRADE IN SERVICES AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT  
8. In 2005, Panama ranked 65th worldwide in terms of world exports of commercial services and 
85th in terms of world imports.3  Its commercial services exports amounted to US$3.1 billion, 
representing 0.13% of world exports, while impor ts amounted to US$1.7 billion and represented 
0.07% of world imports.  Services exports represe nt 75% of Panama's total exports and services 
imports for 29% of its total imports.   
9. In 2005, Singapore ranked 16th worldwide in terms of world exports of commercial services 
and 13th in terms of world imports.4  Its commercial services exports amounted to US$51.2 billion, 
representing 2.09% of world exports, while impor ts amounted to US$54.1 billion and represented 
2.28% of world imports.  Services exports represen t 18% of Singapore's total exports and services 
imports for 21.3% of its total imports.   
10. Chart I.4 shows the evolution of Panama's co mmercial services exports and imports for the 
period 2000-2006.  Exports to the world show consid erably stronger growth in the period 2000-2006, 
than do imports.  Panama has run a constant tr ade surplus in commercial services over the period 
surveyed. 
11. The composition of exports has remained fairly stable in the period 2000-2006.  
Transportation and travel are the most important cat egories, accounting in 2006 for over 80% of total 
exports;  transportation services represent by far the largest share, with 56% of total exports.  
Transportation and travel services accounted for a growing share of total imports in the period 
2000-2006, with imports of financial services a nd other business services also on the upswing. 
12. Chart I.5 shows the evolution of Singapore's co mmercial services exports  and imports for the 
period 2000-2005.  Singapore has run a small trade deficit in commercial services over the period 
surveyed. 
13. The composition of exports has remained fairly stable in the period 2000-2005.  
Transportation services and other business services are the most important export categories, accounting in 2005 for over 75% of total exports;  other business services account for an increasing 
share over the period surveyed, accounting for about 30% of total exports in 2000, and over 40% in 
2005.  Transportation, travel services, royalties a nd license fees and other business services accounted 
for the largest shares of total imports in the period 2000-2005. 
 
                                                     
 
 3 WTO Statistics Database, Trade Profiles. 
 4 WTO Statistics Database, Trade Profiles.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
 0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 20060.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Chart I.4
Panama, total commercial services trade, 2000-2006
Exports Imports
Transportation services
Travel services
Communication services
Source: IMF, BOP CD-Rom.US$ billion
Insurance services
Financial services
Computer and information servicesRoyalties and license 
Government servicesOther business services
 WT/REG227/1 
Page 6  
 
  051015202530354045505560
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005051015202530354045505560
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005Chart I.5
Singapore, total commercial  services trade, 2000-05
Exports Imports
Transportation services
Travel services
Source: IMF, BOP CD-Rom.Construction servicesUS$ billion
Insurance servicesFinancial services
Computer and information 
iRoyalties and license Other business services
Personal and cultural services
Government services
 
 
II. TREATY CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS 
A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
14. The Free Trade Agreement between Panama a nd Singapore was signed by the Governments 
of Panama and Singapore (the Par ties) on 1 March 2006;  it entered into force on 24 July 2006.  On 
4 April 2007, the Parties notified the PSFTA to the WTO under Article XXIV:7(a) of the GATT 1994 
and Article V:7(a) of the GATS (WT/REG227/N/1 a nd S/C/N392).  The text of the Agreement is 
available together with its Annexes,  on the Parties' official websites.5   
15. The Agreement is composed of 18 Chapters and related annexes.  A number of side letters are 
also an integral part of the Agreement (Table II. 1).  The commitments undertaken in the area of trade 
in goods have applied fully since the entry into fo rce of the Agreement.  Liberalization of trade in 
goods is principally contained in Chapters 2-6.  Trade in services is gene rally defined to include 
GATS modes of supply 1, 2, and 4;  its liberali zation is mainly governed by Chapter 10 on Cross 
Border Trade in Services.  Investment provisions , including all measures falling under mode 3 of the 
GATS, are covered by Chapter 9 on investment  and by the Chapters on financial services and 
telecommunications.  The Agreement also contains provisions relating to government procurement, 
intellectual property rights, electronic commerce, tr ansparency and dispute settlement provisions.  
 
 
 
                                                      
 5 http://www.mici.gob.pa and http://www.iesingapore.gov.sg  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 7 
 
 
 Table II.1 
Chapters, annexes and side letters of the Agreement 
Chapters and annexes Title/Description 
Preamble  
Chapter 1  Objectives, Establishment of  a Free Trade Area and Definitions 
Annex 1A Country-Specific Definitions 
Chapter 2  Customs Duties Elimination Schedule 
Annex 2-3  Customs Duties Elimination Sche dule – The Republic of Singapore 
Annex 2-3  Customs Duties Elimination Sche dule – The Republic of Panama 
Chapter 3 Rules of Origin 
Annex 3A     Product-Specific Rules  
Annex 3B     Specific Rules of Origin  
Chapter 4  Customs Procedures 
Annex 4.6  List of Data Elements for the Certification of Origin 
Chapter 5 Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
Chapter 6 Technical Barriers to Trade 
Chapter 7 Competition Policy 
Chapter 8 Government Procurement  
Annex 8A Government Procurement 
Chapter 9 Investment 
Annex 9A  Expropriation 
Chapter 10 Cross Border Trade in Services 
Annex 10A  Movement of Business Persons  
Annex 10B   Maritime Transport Services  
Annex I Singapore's Reservations to Chapters 9 (I nvestment) and 10 (Cross-Border Trade in Services) 
Annex II Singapore's Reservations to Chapters 9 (I nvestment) and 10 (Cross-Border Trade in Services) 
Annex I Panama's Reservations 
Annex II Panama's Reservations 
Chapter 11 Financial Services 
Annex 11.6 Application of Article 11.6 
Chapter 12 Telecommunications 
Chapter 13 Electronic Commerce 
Chapter 14 Transparency 
Chapter 15 Dispute Settlement 
Chapter 16 Strategic Partnership 
Annex 16.2 Possible Areas of Promotion and Attraction of Investment and Cooperation  
Chapter 17 Administration of the Agreement 
Chapter 18 General and Final Provisions 
Side letters Exchange of side letters  on Panama's tariff treatment of beer 
 Exchange of side letters on Treatment of Re-Exports 
 Exchange of side letters on Establishment of  Code of Conduct and Model Rules of Procedure  
 Exchange of side letters on Telecommunications 
Annex A Code of Conduct Pursuant to Articl e 15.7.6 of Chapter 15 (Dispute Settlement) 
Annex B Model Rules of Procedure Pursuant to Article 15.9.1 of Chapter 15 (Dispute Settlement) 
Source:  Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore. 
16. As regards trade in goods, no overall implemen tation period is explicitly stated in the 
Agreement.  However, Panama's schedule of c oncessions for merchandise trade foresees a transition 
period of up to 10.5 years for some products.  Si ngapore liberalizes tariffs on all goods upon entry 
into force of the Agreement.     
17. Chapter 2 of the Agreement contains the provisions  liberalizing bilateral trade in "goods of a 
Party" (Articles 1.3 and 2.1).  The Agreement also liberalizes trade between "persons" of Panama and 
Singapore.  Thirdly, the Agreement liberalizes invest ment by an "investor" of a Party (Article 9.2), 
defined as an "enterprise of a Party, or a natural pe rson of a Party, that has made, is in the process of 
making, or is seeking to make an investment".   WT/REG227/1 
Page 8  
 
  III. NATIONAL TREATMENT AND MARKET ACCESS FOR GOODS 
A. I
MPORT DUTIES AND CHARGES , AND QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS  
(a) General provisions 
18. Each Party accords national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with 
Article III of the GATT 1994 (Article 2.2 of the Agreement). 
19. The Parties may not increase existing, or in troduce new, customs duties on imports of an 
originating good (Article 2.3:3).  Article 2.3:1 pr ovides, in the case of Pa nama, for the progressive 
elimination of customs duties in accordance with va rious stages listed in the Tariff Elimination Annex 
(Annex 2.3) on the basis of a positive list.  This An nex lists the base rate and the staging categories 
that apply to tariff elimination.6  Duties on Panama's imports from Singapore not fully liberalized at 
entry into force are to be eliminated according to different timetables, either through their progressive 
reduction in equal stages or immediate zeroing after a period of ten years in which duties are kept 
constant.  With the excepti on of the year of entry into force, tariff reductions take place on 1 January 
of each year.  In the case of Singapore, duties on all products are eliminated as of the date of entry into force of the Agreement.  
20. Upon request by either Party, the Parties will c onsult to consider accelerating the elimination 
of customs duties or incorporating goods that are not subject to the elimination schedule (Article 2.3:4).  The Parties agree to allow duty -free temporary admission for certain goods detailed in 
Article 2.7, subject to the conditions therein.  Furthermore, professional equipment, commercial 
samples, advertising materials and goods temporarily shipped from one Party to another for repair or 
alteration are to be granted duty-free access in  both Parties (Article 2.7 and 2.8).   
21. As regards non-tariff measures, the Parties may not adopt or maintain any non-tariff measures 
on the importation of any good from the other Party, except in accordance with the Agreement and in 
accordance with its WTO rights and obligations (Article 2.9).   
22. The Parties shall eliminate any existing cu stoms processing fee on originating goods two 
years after the entry into force of the Agreement.   No new customs processing fees may be adopted 
two years after the date of entry into force of the Agreement (Article 2.6). 
(b) Liberalization of trade and tariff lines
7 
23. The elimination of tariffs applicable between  the Parties is detailed in the corresponding 
Parties' schedules.  Tariff elimin ation started on 1 July 2006, from the base rates applied in April 
2005. 
24. The overall tariff elimination under the Agreem ent is depicted in Tables III.1A and III.1B 
below.  In the case of Panama, 29.7% of to tal tariff lines were already MFN duty-free in 2006.8  A 
further 31% of tariff lines became duty-free for imports from Singapore in 2006;  in terms of imports from Singapore for the period 2003-2005, these figures amount to 40% and 46.7%, respectively.  By 
the end of Panama's implementation period in 2016 , a total of 97.3% of tariff lines, amounting to 
100% of 2003-2005 imports are to be duty-free.  
                                                     
 
 6 For Panama, the base rate is the MFN rate applicable in April 2005.   
 7 Unless otherwise specified, all statistics, tables and charts contained in this document have been 
prepared on the basis of data  provided by the Parties. 
8 Panama's tariff is composed of 8,912 tariff lines at the HS 8-digit level.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 9 
 
 
 Table III.1A 
Tariff elimination commitments under the Agreement  and corresponding average trade values for 2003-05 
A:  Panama 
Duty phase-out period  Number 
of lines % of Total lines in 
Panama's Tariff 
Schedule Value Panama 
imports from 
Singapore 
(US$ million) % of Total Panama 
imports from Singapore
MFN duty free 2,648 29.7 0.6 40.0 
2006 2,764 31.0 0.7 46.7 
2010 1,377 15.5 0.1 6.7 
2015 1,840 20.6 0.1 6.7 
2016 45 0.5 0 0.0 
Remain dutiable 238 2.7 0.0 0.0 
Total 8,912 100.0 1.6 100.0 
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates, based on data provided by the Panama and the Singapore authorities. 
 
25. In the case of Singapore, 99.9% of tariff lines were already duty-free on an MFN basis in 
2006.9  All remaining tariff lines were liberalized as of  the entry into force of  the Agreement, resulting 
in a liberalization of 100% of trade and tariff lines. 
Table III.1B 
Tariff elimination commitments under the Agreement  and corresponding average trade values for 2003-05 
B:  Singapore 
Duty phase-out period Number  
of Lines % of total lines in 
Singapore's Tariff 
Schedule Value Singapore 
imports from Panama 
(US$ million) % of Total Singapore  
imports from Panama 
MFN duty free 10,682 99.9 33.4 100.0 
2006 6 0.1 0.0 0.0 
Total 10,688 100.0 33.4 100.0 
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates, based on data provided by the Panama and the Singapore authorities. 
 
(c) Panama's liberalization schedule 
26. The base rates used by Panama for implementing its tariff liberalization scheme already 
provided for 29.7% of tariff lines being duty free before the entry into force of the Agreement.  As can 
be seen from Chart III.1, most of the additional 31 % of tariff lines freed upon entry into force held 
base rates of 10% or less.  By 2010, over 80% of  all tariff lines with a 10% or less base rate are 
scheduled to be free.  In 2016, duties on most remain ing tariff lines with a base rate of 20% or less are 
scheduled to be fully liberalized, as well  as some subject to higher base rates. 
 
  
                                                     
 
9 Singapore's tariff is composed of 10,6 88 tariff lines at the HS 8-digit level. WT/REG227/1 
Page 10  
 
  0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,00020062007200820092010201120122013201420152016MfnChart III.1
Panama's duty elimination under the Agreement
Year of duty free treatment   
Source: WTO Secretariat estimates, based on data provided by the Panamanian authorities.Number if duty-free lines (cumulative)
Duty-free <10% <20% <30% <50% >50% Specific duty RateMFN is:
 
 
27. Table III.2 shows Panama's trade liberaliza tion commitments under the PSFTA on the basis 
of products' treatment at the HS 8-digit level orga nized by HS section product categories.  Of the 
8,912 tariff lines forming Panama's tariff schedule,  2,648 tariff lines were already duty-free on an 
MFN basis in 2006;  an additional 2,764 tariff lines were liberalized upon entry into force of the 
Agreement resulting in 60.7% of Pa nama's total tariff lines being duty-free to imports from Singapore 
in 2006.  Tariff lines subject to full liberalization in 2015 and 2016 cover a broad range of agricultural 
and industrial products.  All of the 238 products not liberalized under the Ag reement are agricultural 
products. 
Table III.2 
Panama: Tariff elimination under the Agreement, by HS section 
 
No of lines duty-free under the 
Agreement in: HS section and description MFN 
average 
% Total 
No of 
lines  MFN 
Duty 
Free 
2006 2010 2015 2016 Remain 
dutiable 
I Live animals and animal products 23.3 400 21 213 14 45 0 107 
II Vegetable products 11.1 429 122 101 74 100 6 26 
III Animal or vegetable fats and oils 11.6 70 17 9 2 22 0 20 
IV Prepared food etc. 14.6 572 62 129 91 205 0 85 
V Minerals 7.2 199 81 102 4 2 10 0 
VI Chemical and products 3.0 1,268 834 281 119 21 13 0 
VII Plastics and rubber 4.8 445 238 87 97 23 0 0 
VIII Hides and skins 12.3 121 3 62 18 38 0 0 
IX Wood and articles 7.3 176 68 11 64 33 0 0 
X Pulp, paper etc. 7.4 485 205 53 81 139 7 0 
XI Textile and articles  7.9 1,285 474 132 88 591 0 0 
XII Footwear, headgear 11.8 164 6 96 8 54 0 0 
XIII Articles of stone 9.7 293 39 32 134 79 9 0 
Table III.2 (Cont'd)   WT/REG227/1 
 Page 11 
 
 
  
No of lines duty-free under the 
Agreement in: HS section and description MFN 
average 
% Total 
No of 
lines  MFN 
Duty 
Free 
2006 2010 2015 2016 Remain 
dutiable 
XIV Precious stones, etc. 7.2 66 24 3 37 2 0 0 
XV Base metals and  products 7.6 927 328 238 232 129 0 0 
XVI Machinery 6.1 1,028 87 780 114 47 0 0 
XVII Transport equipment 13.0 358 20 97 48 193 0 0 
XVIII Precision equipment 9.8 305 14 225 63 3 0 0 
XIX Arms and ammunition 14.6 27 0 8 18 1 0 0 
XX Miscellaneous manufact'd articles 11.8 285 1 104 68 112 0 0 
XXI Works of art, etc. 7.8 9 4 1 3 1 0 0 
Total 8.7 8,912 2,648 2,764 1,377 1,840 45 238 
Source:  Data provided by Panama. 
(d) Singapore's liberalization schedule 
28. At entry into force of the Agreement, all but  six of Singapore's tariff lines were duty-free on 
an MFN basis.  Duties on these six lines were eliminat ed as of the date of entry into force of the 
Agreement. 
29. Table III.3 shows Singapore's trade liberaliza tion commitments under the PSFTA on the basis 
of products' treatment at the HS 8-digit level or ganized by HS section product categories.  The six 
lines not already MFN duty-free fall in Section IV, prepared food.  
Table III.3 
Singapore : Tariff elimination under the Agreement, by HS section 
HS section and description MFN 
average 
% Total 
No of lines  MFN Duty 
Free  
No of  lines duty-free under 
the PSFTA in 2006 
I Live animals and animal products 0  338 338 0  
II Vegetable products 0  388 388 0  
III Animal or vegetable fats and oils 0  151 151 0  
IV Prepared food etc. 0  417 411 6 
V Minerals 0  212 212 0  
VI Chemical and products 0  1,287 1,287 0  
VII Plastics and rubber 0  588 588 0  
VIII Hides and skins 0  112 112 0  
IX Wood and articles 0  253 253 0  
X Pulp, paper etc. 0  271 271 0  
XI Textile and articles 0  1,185 1,185 0  
XII Footwear, headgear 0  74 74 0  
XIII Articles of stone 0  221 221 0  
XIV Precious stones, etc. 0  77 77 0  
XV Base metals and  products 0  1,161 1,161 0  
XVI Machinery 0  2,202 2,202 0  
XVII Transport equipment 0  1,026 1,026 0  
XVIII Precision equipment 0  398 398 0  
XIX Arms and ammunition 0  28 28 0  
XX Miscellaneous manufact'd articles 0  287 287 0  
XXI Works of art, etc. 0  12 12 0  
Total  10,688 10,682 6 
Source:  Data provided by Singapore authorities. 
 
B. RULES OF ORIGIN  
30. Disciplines regarding rules of origin are set out in Chapter 3 of the Agreement.  Article 3.14 
defines the terms used and Articles 3.1-3.11 provid e the substantive rules.  The procedures designed 
to administer and enforce the rules of origin are set  out in Article 3.13, and in Chapter 4 dealing with 
Customs Procedures. WT/REG227/1 
Page 12  
 
  31. A good is considered as originating when (Article 3.1): 
(a) it is wholly obtained or produced in the territory of the Parties;
10  or 
(b) it satisfies the specific requirements laid down in Annex 3A of the Agreement;  or 
(c) where there is no product-specific rule set out in Annex 3A, it fulfils a qualifying value 
content of not less than 35% determin ed in accordance with Article 3.4. 
32. The specific rules in Annex 3A are normally de tailed at the HS heading level (4-digit), 
although rules applicable to HS subheadings (6-d igit) occur, particularly for some prepared 
foodstuffs, paper products, and furniture.  In the ma jority of cases, origin is granted if the final 
production process takes place in one of the Parties a nd there is a change in the tariff classification 
(CTC) of non-originating materials.  The CTC criterion predominantly requires either a change of 
HS chapter (CTCh) or a change of HS heading (CTH ).  A change in HS subheading (CTS) is rarely 
used.  In particular, a CTCh is the most common ru le for agricultural products, raw hides and skins, 
and some textiles.  A CTH criterion predominates in  tanning or dyeing extracts, plastics, wood, paper 
and paperboard, some textiles, stone, ceramic products , glass, articles of iron or steel, machinery, and 
some vehicles.  Finally, a CTS is the prevailing rule  for some agricultural products, cement, soap, and 
furniture. 
33. Products falling in HS Chapters for which there are no product-specific rules are subject to a 
qualifying value content (QVC) of not less than 35%.  This occurs for some mineral products, 
chemicals, rubber, leather, cork, pulp of wood , printed books, textiles, footwear, base metals, 
machinery, vehicles, and optical equipment.  The qualifying value content requirement establishes the 
minimum value of originating materials needed in the final product for it to be granted originating 
status, expressed as a percentage of the F.O.B. valu e of the product.  For some products, such as some 
prepared foods and furniture, a combination of CTC and QVC criteria applies.  On a few occasions, 
the QVC requirement figures in itself as an altern ative rule, as is the case for tanning and dyeing 
extracts, plastics, some paper products, base metals, and machinery products.   
34. Article 3.5 establishes a de minimis principl e whereby a good can still qualify as originating 
even if the non-originating materials incorporated  therein do not meet the criteria of Annex 3A, 
provided that the value of the non-originating goods does not exceed 10% of the F.O.B. value of the good.  The de minimis article does not apply to milk and cream, cheese, coffee, prepared meat, some sugars, fruit juices, water, flour, and certain miscellane ous edible preparations.  Textiles are subject to 
a different rule that allows a good to qualify as originating if the fibres and yarns used do not 
represent more than 10% of the total we ight of the product (Article 3.5:2). 
35. Vegetable products (HS Chapters 6-14) are treated as originating if grown in the territory of 
the Parties, whether or not they grow from originating stock.  For certain goods belonging to HS Chapter 20 (mushrooms, other prepared vegeta bles, of headings 20.03, 20.04, 2005.40-2005.90), 
the fresh product must be wholly obtained or prod uced in the territory of the Parties to receive 
originating status.  Chemical products in HS Chapters  28, 29 and 32 are considered originating if they 
are the product of standard materials, isomer separa tion or chemical reaction, as defined in a note to 
Chapter 27 in Annex 3A, whether or not they meet the specific rules. 
                                                     
 
 10 This concept applies to goods that are entirely grown,  fished or hunted in the territory of a Party, or 
fishery goods produced and/or made on board a factory ship provided that the factory ship is registered, licensed or recorded with a Party, and entitled to fly its flag, as  well as to recovered goods and waste and scrap derived 
from production in the territory of the Parties.   WT/REG227/1 
 Page 13 
 
 
 36. Bilateral cumulation is allowed under the Agreemen t (Article 3.6) i.e., cumulation in terms of 
materials between the Parties. 
37. There is no general definition in the Agreem ent for minimal, non-qualifying operations 
carried out in the territory of the Parties which do not confer origin.   Article 3.12 restricts outward 
processing to those operations necessary to preserve the goods or to transport them to the territory of 
the other Party.  Additional rules in Articles 3.7-3.11 clarify how certain materials (standard 
accessories, spare parts or tools; packaging materials and containers; fungible goods;  and indirect materials) are to be treated/valued wh en determining the origin of goods. 
38. Article 3.13 provides that the Administrative Commission may establish an ad hoc Committee 
on Trade in Goods and Rules of Origin to oversee  and review the implementation of the rules of 
origin chapter, provide advice to the Parties on matt ers relating to trade in goods and rules of origin 
(which may include identification and recomme ndation of measures to promote and facilitate 
improved market access and to accelerate the tariff elimination and reduction process), and to review the rules of origin and make any agreed modifications. 
Box III.1:  Rules of Origin:  Basic Features at a Glance 
• No single rule of origin methodology.   
• Product specific criteria: 
-  Wholly obtained or entirely produced goods 
-  In general, CTC at the chapter or heading levels 
-  If no product specific rule, then a QVC of 35% applies.   
-  In most textiles, QVC rules only apply. 
• A "chemical reaction" rule applied to goods in Chapters 28, 29 and 32.  
• Bilateral cumulation. 
• Tolerance rule:  non-originating materials can repres ent a maximum of 10% of th e adjusted value of the 
product; for textiles, 10% of the total weight.    
• Outward-processing not authorized. 
• Transit through third parties authorized only under certain conditions. 
C. EXPORT DUTIES AND CHARGES , AND QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS  
39. The Parties are not allowed to adopt or maintain  any duty, tax or other charge on the export of 
any good of the other Party, unless such charges are adopted or maintained on such a good when 
destined for domestic consumption (Article 2.4).   
D. REGULATORY PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  
1. Standards 
(a) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures 
40. In Chapter 5, the Parties reaffirm thei r existing rights and obligations under the 
WTO Agreements on SPS (Article 5.3).  The Chap ter does not create new SPS rights and obligations; 
rather it provides a framework for cooperation on such matters.   
41. Article 5.5 provides for each Party to designate a Coordinator whose functions include 
monitoring the implementation of the SPS Chapter;   enhancing communication between the Parties' 
agencies and ministries with responsibility for S PS matters;  facilitating information exchange;  
addressing any bilateral SPS issue to enhance coopera tion and consultation;  promoting the use of 
international standards by both Parties in their r espective adoption and application of SPS measures;  
reviewing progress on addressing SPS matters that arise between the Parties' agencies; and convening, WT/REG227/1 
Page 14  
 
  as necessary and appropriate, an ad hoc technical working group for addressing requests for technical 
clarification with the objective of identifying practi cal and workable solutions that would facilitate 
trade.
11 
(b) Technical barriers to trade 
42. In Chapter 6, the Parties reaffirm th eir existing rights and obligations under 
the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) (Article 6.2:1).  The Chapter provides a 
framework to address the impact of technical barrier s to trade between the Parties and applies to all 
standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that may affect the Parties' 
mutual trade (Article 6.1:2).  To facilitate implem entation of the Chapter and cooperation between the 
Parties, each Party designates a Coordinator respons ible for coordinating all matters pertaining to the 
Chapter on TBT (Article 6.9).12 
43. The Parties agree to use international standards,  to the extent provided in Article 2.4 of the 
TBT Agreement, as a basis for their technical regulati ons (Article 6.3:1).  With respect to technical 
regulations (Article 6.6), the Parties agree to gi ve favourable consideration to accepting as equivalent 
each other's technical regulations provided that th ey are satisfied that they adequately fulfil the 
objectives of their own regulations (Article 6.6:1).  Should a Party deny such equivalence it will, at 
the request of the other Party, explain its reasons;  an ad hoc  working group may be established to 
give further consideration to the matter (Article 6.6:2).   
44. With respect to conformity assessment procedur es, the Parties agree to exchange information 
on a variety of mechanisms with a view to facilitating the acceptance of each other's conformity assessment procedures and to exchange information on mechanisms that facilitate this process;  an 
indicative list of existing mechanisms is provided in Article 6.5:1.  Article 6.5:2,3 and 4 requires the 
Parties to explain their reasons for (a) refusal of the results of a conformity assessment procedure conducted in the territory of the other Party;  (b ) denial of national treatment with regards to 
accreditation, approval, licensing or recognition of each other's conformity assessment bodies;  and 
(c) refusal to engage, upon request from the other Party, in negotiations of agreements facilitating 
recognition of the results of conformity assessment pro cedures;  in the latter case, the Parties, if they 
so agree, may establish an ad hoc  working group to give further consideration to the matter. 
45. The Chapter includes additional provisions d ealing with trade facilitation.  Article 6.4 
commits the Parties to identifying trade facilitating bilateral initiatives regarding standards, technical 
regulations and conformity assessment procedures.   
2. Safeguard mechanisms 
46. Articles 2.12 and 2.13 deal respectively with bilateral and global safeguard measures.   
(a) Global safeguards 
47. With respect to global emergency action, the Pa rties retain their rights and obligations under 
Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.  Imports of originating goods 
from the other Party may be excluded from the action if these are not a "substantial cause of serious 
injury" or threat thereof (Article 2.13).  
                                                     
 
 11 Chapter coordinators are: in the case of Panama, the Ministry of Trade and Industries;  in the case of  
Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry. 
 12 Ibid.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 15 
 
 
 (b) Bilateral actions 
48. For trade between the Parties, Article 2.12 provides for bilateral emergency action on 
originating goods during  the transition period.13  The imposition of safeguard  measures is allowed if 
an originating good is imported in such increased qua ntities, either in absolute terms or relative to 
domestic production, and under such conditions that the imports are a substantial cause of serious 
injury to the domestic industry of the importing Pa rty producing a like or directly competitive good.  
The safeguard can be applied only following an inve stigation by the Party's competent authorities in 
accordance with Articles 3 and 4.2(c) of the WT O Agreement on Safeguards (Article 2.12:2).14  
Disciplines regarding timing are multiple;  they specify inter alia  the permissible duration of 
safeguard measures and when these shall be terminated. 
3. Anti-dumping  
49. In Article 2.11, the Parties reaffirm their ri ghts and obligations under the WTO Agreement.  
Article 2.11:2 provides for immediate notification following the acceptance of a properly documented 
application for the initiation of an  anti-dumping investigation.   
4. Subsidies and Countervailing Measures 
50. In Article 2.10, the Parties agree to prohibit export subsidies on all goods, including 
agricultural goods.  Notwithstanding this provision, th e Parties reaffirm their commitment to abide by 
the provisions of Article VI and XVI of the GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and  Countervailing Measures, and the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. 
5. Other regulations 
(a) Customs-related procedures 
51. Customs procedures are dealt with in Chapter 4 of  the Agreement.  The Parties are required to 
ensure that their respective laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings governing 
customs matters are promptly published;  they also  agree to designate, establish and maintain one or 
more inquiry points (Article 4.3).  The Parties agre e to adopt a risk management approach in their 
customs activities based on identified risk of goods in  order to facilitate the clearance of low risk 
consignments, while focusing inspection activities on hi gh-risk goods (Article 4.4).  Upon request by 
the importer or exporter or producer of the good, and the submission of the required information, the importing Party shall issue its dete rmination regarding the origin of the good within 120 days of an 
application for advance ruling (Article 4.11).  The Par ties also ensure that importers have the right to 
an administrative review of the determinations of customs authorities and a judicial review of decisions taken at the final level of the administra tive review (Article 4.13).  Other provisions dealing 
with penalties for violations, confidentiality, and the sharing of best practices and cooperation are 
dealt with in Articles 4.12 and 4.14.-4.15, respectively. 
52. Article 4.6 sets out the provisions regarding certif ication of origin.  This does not need to be 
in a prescribed format, but should contain the data elements set out in Annex 4.6.
15  Article 4.7 
                                                      
 13 The "transition period" is defined as two years begi nning from the entry into force of the Agreement, 
except where the tariff elimination for the good occurs ov er a longer period of time, in which case the transition 
period is the period of staged tariff elimination of the good.  Measures may be taken beyond the transition period only with the consent of the Party against whose originating good the measure is taken. 
 
14 To this end Articles 3 and 4.2 (a) and (c) of th e WTO Agreement on Safeguards are incorporated into 
and made a part of the Agreement, mutatis mutandis .  
 15 These include name and address of the exporter or producer, name and address of the importer, 
description of the goods, HS Tariff Classification num ber, preference statement, and authorised signature. WT/REG227/1 
Page 16  
 
  provides for the waiver of certification of origin und er certain circumstances.  Provisions relating to 
record keeping requirements, and origin verification are set out in Articles 4.9-4.10. 
IV. PROVISIONS ON TRADE IN SERVICES AND INVESTMENT 
A. S
COPE AND DEFINITIONS  
53. Trade in services liberalization is mainly govern ed by the Chapter on Cross Border Trade in 
Services (Chapter 10), which is generally defined to include GATS modes of supply 1, 2, and 4.  
Measures falling under mode 3 under the GATS are c overed by Chapter 9 on Investment, and by the 
Chapters on Financial Services and te lecommunications (Chapters 11 and 12)16;  however, disciplines 
contained in the Investment Chapter apply not only to direct investment but also to other assets such 
as portfolio investment.  
54. The Agreement follows a "negative list" appro ach:  therefore, all sectors or sub-sectors are 
assumed to be open to competition from nationals of the other Party, both in terms of market access 
and national treatment, unless otherwise specified in  Annexes I, II and III which contain a list of 
non-conforming measures or other reservations. 
55. The Agreement liberalizes trade between "persons" of Panama and Singapore.  These persons 
are defined as either a national or an enterprise of a Party.  In turn, the Agreement defines a national 
of a Party as a natural person that is either a citizen  of Panama, Singapore, or a permanent resident of 
either country.17  An enterprise of a Party means an "ent erprise organized or constituted under the 
laws of a Party and a branch located in the territory of a Party".  An investor means an "enterprise of a 
Party, or a natural person of a Party, that has made, is in the process of making, or is seeking to make 
an investment".  Territory is defined, for Panama as its land, maritime and air space under its 
sovereignty, and for Singapore as its land, internal wa ters and territorial sea as well as any maritime 
area situated beyond the territorial sea which has been or might in future be designated under its 
national law.18 
56. As described above, the Agreement defines a "n ational" as either a citizen or a permanent 
resident.  Accordingly, under the terms of the Agreement, permanent residents of Panama and 
Singapore enjoy the benefits of the Agreement as well as their citizens.  Under the GATS, Members 
must accord the same benefits to permanent reside nts of another Member as are accorded to that other 
Member’s citizens provided, among other things, that a notification to this effect has been submitted 
by such other Member at the time of acceptance or accession to the WTO Agreement.19  Neither 
Panama nor Singapore has made such a notification to the WTO. 
B. MARKET ACCESS  
57. Article 10.5 essentially reproduces the market access provisions of Article XVI of GATS 
(with the exception of Article XVI:2(f) regarding limit ations on the provision of foreign capital).   
58. Chapter 9 – Investment – applies to measures a dopted or maintained by a Party relating to 
investors of the other Party; and to their investme nts in its territory.  Article 9.7 of the Agreement 
contains provisions regarding e xpropriation and compensation, whilst Article 9.8 contains provisions 
on transfers.  The Investment Chapter does not apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party to 
the extent they are covered by the Chapter on Financial Services. 
                                                      
 16 See Table II.1 for details. 
 17 See Article 1.3:  Definitions of General Application. 
18 See Annex 1A of the Agreement for full definitions. 
 19 See GATS Article XXVIII(k)(ii)2.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 17 
 
 
 C. MOST FAVOURED NATION PRINCIPLE , NATIONAL TREATMENT  
59. Under Article 10.3 on the principle of nationa l treatment, each Party agrees to accord to 
service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like 
circumstances, to its own service suppliers.  Article 10.4 on the Most favoured Nation (MFN) 
principle requires that each Party accord to service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less 
favourable than that it accords, in lik e circumstances, to service suppliers of a non-Party.  This implies 
that any better treatment granted by either of the Parties to a non-Party will be automatically extended 
to the other Party.20   
60. Chapter 9 requires each Party to accord MFN treatment (Article 9.4) and national treatment 
(Article 9.3) to investors of the other Party and th eir investments, with resp ect to the establishment, 
acquisition, expansion, management , conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments 
in its territory.   
D. LOCAL PRESENCE OR PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS  
61. The Investment Chapter's provisions on performance requirements apply to all investments 
irrespective of the origin of investors.  Article 9.6 prohibits performance requirements.  Accordingly, 
the Parties undertake not to impose any of the following requirements or conditions in connection 
with the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation or sale or other 
disposition of the investment:  
(a) export a given level or percentage of goods or services; 
(b) achieve a given level or percen tage of domestic content;   
(c) purchase, use, or accord a preference to locally-produced goods or to purchase goods 
from persons in their territory; 
(d) relate in any way the volume or value of im ports to that of exports or to amounts of 
foreign exchange inflows associ ated with such investment; 
(e) restrict sales of goods or services in their territory that such investment produces or 
supplies by relating such sales in any way to the volume or value of exports or 
foreign exchange earnings; 
(f) transfer a particular technology, a produc tion process, or other proprietary knowledge 
to a person in their territory; or 
(g) supply exclusively from the territory of th e Party the goods that such investment 
produces or the services that such investment supplies to a specific regional market or 
to the world. 
62. The Parties reserve the right to condition the granting or continued receipt of advantages on 
compliance with requirements to locate production,  provide a service, train or employ workers, 
construct or expand particular facilities, or carry ou t research and development, in their territory.     
                                                      
 20 This provision is qualified by an MFN reservatio n taken by both Parties reserving the right to 
maintain or adopt any measures that accord differential treatment to countr ies under any agreement in force or 
signed prior to the date of entry into force of the Ag reement; and with regard to any bilateral or multilateral 
international agreements in force or signed after the date of  entry into force of the PSFT A in selected sectors.   WT/REG227/1 
Page 18  
 
  63. Article 9.9 contains a general prohibition on restrictions concerning the nationality of 
individuals appointed to senior ma nagement positions.  However, a Party may require that a majority 
of the board of directors be of a particular nationality  or have residency in the territory of the Party, 
provided that the requirement does not materially impa ir the ability of the investor to exercise control 
over its investment. 
E. M
OVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONS  
64. Annex 10A contains provisions  relating to the movement of  business persons.  Temporary 
entry is granted to intra-corporate transferees of th e other Party for an initial period of up to two years 
which may be extended for periods of up to three y ears at a time for a total term not exceeding eight 
years.  The definition of intra-corporate transferees is  provided in Article 2 of the Annex.  A refusal to 
grant temporary entry is not normally subject to dispute settlement unless the matter involves a pattern 
of practice and the natural persons  affected have exhausted the available domestic administrative 
remedies. 
F. RECOGNITION  
65. Article 10.10 contains further provisions on r ecognition of standards or criteria for the 
authorization, licensing, or certification of ser vices suppliers which essentially mirror the provisions 
of GATS Article VII.   
G. DOMESTIC REGULATION  
66. Chapter 10 (Cross-border Trade in Services) contains some provisions on domestic 
regulation, transparency and mutual recognition.  The provisions on domestic re gulation (Article 10.9) 
and cooperation (Article 10.15) also  apply to measures by a Party affecting the supply of a service in 
its territory by an investor or an i nvestment as stipulated by Article 10.2. 
67. Article 10.9 contains rules governing the treat ment of applications for authorization, 
which mirror the corresponding GATS provisions (Artic les VI:1 and 3).  The provisions of Article 
10.9:4 regarding authorization to supply a service mirrors the provisions of GATS Article VI:3, but 
calls for a "prompt" response from the competent au thorities.  The relevant criteria for measures 
relating to qualification requirements and procedures,  licensing requirements, and technical standards 
are the same as those stipulated in the nego tiating mandate under Article VI:4 of the GATS 
(transparency and objectivity, not unne cessarily burdensome, etc.) which, in turn, are implemented on 
a provisional basis, in the form of a qualified st andstill, under GATS Article VI:5.  Referring to the 
negotiations at the multilateral level, in Article 10.9: 5 the Parties agree to review the results with a 
view to their incorporation into the Agreement.     
68. Article 10.13 specifies rules on transparency that  mirror the requirements of Article III of the 
GATS.  Chapters 11 and 12 also provide some se ctor-specific disciplines on domestic regulation for 
financial and telecommunications services (see be low).  The Chapter on Financial Services also 
contains detailed provisions on transparency.  
69. Article 10.8 states that the provisions of Chapter 10 relating to cross-border trade in services 
will apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party relating to the provision of new services.21  
Nonetheless, the Parties retain the right to impose conditions on the supply of new services as long as 
such conditions are not discriminatory and that a balance of services commitments remains between 
the Parties. 
                                                      
21 New services are defined as those not currently in ex istence in the territory of a Party, or an existing 
service not covered or defined in the Central Product Classification (CPC).  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 19 
 
 
 H. NON-CONFORMING MEASURES  
70. Under the Agreement, reservations and non-conforming measures with respect to 
cross-border trade in services (Article 10.7) can be  specified with respect to the obligations of 
MFN treatment, national treatment, market access an d local presence; and in the case of investment 
(Article 9.10) with regard to measures relating to MFN treatment, national treatment, performance 
requirements or senior management and boards of directors.  Non-conforming measures are set out in 
Annexes I-III (Annex III, which contai ns non conforming measures with respect to financial services, 
is described below in the section on financial services). 
71. In its Annex I, Panama has listed existing limita tions to market access by foreign suppliers in 
a number of sectors, including electrical energy, telecommunications, hotels and restaurants, post 
office and telegraphs, games of luck and chance, and por ts and airports (Table IV.1).  Panama has also 
listed a large number of restrictions to the national treatment obligation in its Annex I, generally in the 
form of nationality requirements.  Panama has taken only one MFN reservation which applies to 
services relating to transmission of radio and television programs. 
Table IV.1 
Non conforming measures listed by Panama in Annex I  
Sector Obligations Mode Description 
Retail Sales NT/SMBD I Nationality requirement 
All sectors NT I Restrictions on real ownership of property 
Public Utilities NT I Nationality requirement on capital 
All sectors NT/SMBD I/CBTS Nationality preference for positions in Panama 
Canal Authority 
Musicians and Artists NT/PR I/CBTS Promotion of Panamanian artists 
Travel Agencies NT I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Services of transmission of radio/TV programs NT /MFN/SMBD I/CBTS Nationality/shareholding requirement 
Telecommunications services NT I Nationality requirement 
Education NT CBTS Nationality requirement 
Electrical energy NT/SMBD/ MA I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Crude petroleum and natural gas NT/LP/PR I/CBT S Establishment, preference for Panamanians 
Operation of mines NT/PR I/ CBTS Nationality requirement 
Exploration/exploita tion of non metallic minerals NT I Nationality requirement 
Fishing NT/LP/PR I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Activities related to Fishing LP/PR I/CBTS Establishment requirement 
Guard services NT/SMBD I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Advertising services NT CBTS Nationality requirement 
Transport services NT I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Maritime Transport, Pilotage NT CBTS Nationality requirement 
Maritime Transport NT/LP I/CBTS Pr eference to Panamanian nationals 
Air Transport NT I Nationality requirement 
Air Transport Auxiliary services NT CBTS Nationality requirement 
Professional services, Journalists NT/SMBD I Nationality requirement 
Professional services, Lawyers NT/SMBD I/CBTS Nationality requirement 
Professional services NT/MFN/LP CBTS Nati onality requirement (multiple professions) 
Agriculture MA CBTS 50%  Panamani an families in agricultural 
colonies 
Telecommunications MA CBTS Restriction on provision of cellular services 
Telecommunications LP CBTS Residency requirement 
Hotels and restaurants services MA CBTS Limitation on establishment of bars 
Post office and telegraphs MA/NT I/CBTS Monopoly for the state of Panama 
Games of luck and chan ce MA/NT I/CBTS Monopoly for the state of Panama 
Ports and airports MA/LP CBTS Concessi ons determined by Executive Branch 
Notes:  CBTS:  Cross-border trade in serv ices;  Investment;  LP:  Local presence requirements;  MA:  Market access restriction;   
MFN: Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restric tion;  PR:  Performance requirements;  SMBD:  Restrictions af fecting 
senior management and board of directors. 
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore, Annex I. 
 
72. Table IV.2 contains the non-conforming measur es listed by Panama on which it has reserved 
the right to adopt or maintain existing or future  measures as listed in its Annex II.  Panama has WT/REG227/1 
Page 20  
 
  scheduled a number of national treatment reservations in Annex II, thereby reserving the right to 
adopt or maintain any measure in areas such as social services, movement of natural persons, 
communications, transportation and broadcasting.  Panama also reserves the right to accord 
differential treatment to countries pursuant to international agreements signed after the entry into 
force of the Agreement for the fo llowing sectors:  air services;  environmental matters;  maritime and 
services auxiliary to maritime;  land transport;  telecommunications and information technology;  
postal and courier;  and professional services (legal service). 
Table IV.2  
Non conforming measures listed by Panama in Annex II 
Sector   Obligations Mode Description 
Social services NT/MFN/LP/P
R/SMBD/MA CBTS/I Measures pertaining to the provision of listed services (Annex II-PA-2). 
All sectors NT/MFN/LP/
MA CBTS/I Any measure pertaining to supply of a service by presence of, or 
movement of natural persons, subj ect to provisions of Annex 10A. 
Issues related to native 
populations NT/MFN/MA/
LP/PR/SMBD CBTS/I Measures denying foreign investor s and investments or foreign service 
suppliers any right or preference granted to native populations in their 
reservation areas. 
Minority related issues NT/MFN/MA/
LP/PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure with respect to the ri ghts or preferences granted to minorities 
with social or economical disadvantages. 
Issues related to the 
Panama Canal NT/MFN/MA/
LP/PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure related to use, management, administration, operation, 
maintenance, conservation, moderniza tion, exploitation, administration, 
development and ownership of the Panama Canal. 
Issues related to state enterprises/ governmental organizations NT/MFN/LP/
MA/PR/SMBD CBTS/I Limitations on rendering of serv ices, ownership, technical, financial 
capacity and experience when selling or disposing shareholding interests or 
goods of existing Panamanian state en terprise/ governmental organization. 
Communications NT/LP/MA CBTS/I Any measure related to  receiving, transporting, dispatching and delivering 
extra-postal mail or urgent documents to or from Panama. 
Construction services NT/MFN/LP/
MA CBTS/I Any measure related to provision of construction services by foreign 
natural, juridical persons or organi zations, in the sense of residency 
requirements, local presence or financial guarantees. 
Road transportation svcs NT/MFN/LP CBT S Any measure related to cross-border trade in the transportation of goods. 
Fisheries and services 
incidental to fishing NT/MFN CBTS/I Measures relating to investment , ownership, control, operation of vessels 
engaged in fishing and related activ ities in Panamanian jurisdictional 
waters. 
Broadcasting services MA/NT/MFN/
LP/PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure relating to the crea tive arts, cultural heritage and other 
cultural industries. 
All sectors MFN CBTS/I Any measure according pref erential treatment as a result of a prior or 
future international agreements in seven sectors (See Annex II-PA-13). 
Notes:  CBTS: Cross-border trade in services;  I: Investment;  LP: Local presence requirements;  MA: Market access restriction;   
MFN: Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restri ction;  PR: Performance requireme nts;  SMBD: Restrictions affe cting 
senior management and board of directors. 
 
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore, Annex II 
 
73. In its Annex I, Singapore has listed existing lim itations to market access by foreign suppliers 
in sectors, including business services, health and social services and transportation services (Table 
IV.3).  Singapore has also listed a number of restri ctions to the national treatment obligation in its 
Annex I, generally in the form of residency requi rements.  MFN reservations mainly reflect existing 
bilateral agreements, in activities such as unarm ed guard services, air transport and maritime 
transport.   
Table IV.3  
Non conforming measures listed by Singapore in Annex I  
Sector Obligations Mode Description 
All MA/NT CBTS/I Limitation on financial in stitutions extending S$ credit>5million.  
All MA/NT CBTS/I Limitation on foreign share holdings in PSA Corporation to 49% limit 
All MA/NT CBTS/I Equity ownership limits: Singapore Technologies Engineering (15%), 
PSA Corp (5%), Singapore Airlines (5%), Singapore Power, Power Grid, Power Supply, Power Gas (10%) 
All MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Registration/resi dency requirements for businesses. 
Table IV.3 (Cont'd)   WT/REG227/1 
 Page 21 
 
 
 Sector Obligations Mode Description 
Business services:    
-  Architectural svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS/I  
Licensing requirement 
-   Financial auditing and other 
tax-related svcs MA/NT/LP/S
MBD CBTS/I Residency requirement 
-  Collection agency svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Designation by relevant government body/local presence requirement. 
-  Non-financial intangible assets MA/NT/LP CBTS Local Pres ence required for register royalty collection mgmt entities. 
-  Land surveying svcs MA/NT/LP/S
MBD CBTS/I Registration, licensing and residency requirements. 
-  Leasing/rental concerning 
private cars, goods transport  MA/NT CBTS Prohibition on cross-border rental of private cars, goods transport 
vehicles, other land transport without  operator, if used in Singapore. 
-  Patent Agent Svcs MA/NT/LP/S
MBD CBTS/I Registration/residency requirements. 
-  Placement/supply of personnel MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Local Presence requirement. 
-  Professional Engineering svcs MA/NT/LP/S
MBD CBTS/I Registration/residency/licensing requirements. 
-  Real Estate svcs MA/NT CBTS/I Only Sentosa Development Corporation may develop and manage 
resort island of Sentosa and its waterways. 
-  Technical testing and analysis  MA/NT/LP CBTS Local Presence requirement. 
-  Testing/analysis of automobiles MA /NT/LP CBTS/I Local Presence requirement. 
-  Unarmed guard svcs MA/MFN/LP
/NT/SMBD CBTS/I Registration/residency requirements 
Education services MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Only local tertia ry institutions may operate undergraduate or graduate 
programmes for training of doctors. 
Health and Social Services : 
-  Contact Lens Practitioners MA/NT/LP CBTS  
Residency requirement. 
-  Nursing, physiotherapeutic and para-medical svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS Registration/residency requi rement for nursing and midwifery svcs. 
-  Medical svcs MA/NT/MF
N/LP CBTS Registration/residency requirement to supply medical services. 
-  Pharmacy svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS Registration/re sidency requirement to supply pharmacy services. 
Import, export and trading svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS Local presence requirement. 
Telecommunications svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS Local incorpor ation for facilities-based a nd service-based operators. 
Telecommunications svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS Local incor poration for registrars for .sg domain names. 
Power supply MA/NT/LP CBTS Restriction for powe r producers to sell power only through Singapore 
electricity wholesale market. 
Power supply MA/NT CBTS/I Monopoly for SP Services to supply electricity. 
Power transmission/ distribution MA/NT CBTS/I M onopoly for Power Grid as transmission licensee. 
Private households with 
employed persons MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Restriction on setting up businesses at home. 
Tourism and travel related svcs MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Nationality/p ermanent resident requirement to apply for a license to 
set up a food establishment in personal capacity. 
Distribution/sale of hazardous substances MA/NT/LP CBTS Local presence required to  distribute and sell hazardous substances. 
Trade services MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Lo cal agent required to supply whol esale, retail and distribution 
services for medical and health -related products and materials. 
Air Transport services:  Ground 
Handling Services MA/NT CBTS/I Only Singapore Airport Terminal Services and Changi International 
Airport Services may provide gr ound handling services, including 
cargo handling services at airports. 
Transport Services MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Local presence required to supply maintenance and repair services of 
transport equipment and rela ted manufacturing activities. 
Air Transport Services MA/NT/MF
N/LP/PR/SM
BD CBTS/I Monopoly for Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to provide 
rescue and fire-fighting servi ces at airports in Singapore. 
Maritime Transport Services MA/NT/MF
N CBTS/I Cargo handling, pilotage, supply of  desalinated water to ships berthed 
at Singapore ports or waters reserved for Singapore companies. 
Maritime Transport Services MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Local presence to operate and manage cruise  and ferry terminals.   
Maritime Transport Services MA/NT/LP CBTS/I Residenc y/establishment requirements to register a ship under 
Singapore flag. 
Maritime Transport Services MA/NT CBTS Residenc y requirement to register as Singapore seamen. 
Production, retail, transportation,  
distribution of manufactured and natural gas MA/NT CBTS/I Only City Gas Ltd may produce and retail manufactured gas.  Only 
Power Gas Ltd may transport and distribute manufactured and natural gas.  Only Power Gas Ltd may own and operate the gas pipeline. 
Pipeline Transportation services  MA/NT/ LP CBTS/I Local presence requirement. 
Notes:  CBTS: Cross-border trade in servi ces;  I: Investment;  LP: Local presence requirements;  MA: Market access restriction;   
MFN: Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restri ction;  PR: Performance requireme nts;  SMBD: Restrictions affe cting 
senior management and board of directors. 
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore, Annex I 
 WT/REG227/1 
Page 22  
 
  74. Table IV.4 contains the non-conforming measur es listed by Singapore in its Annex II.    
Singapore has scheduled a large number of market access and national treatment reservations in its Annex II, reserving the right to adopt or maintain  any measure in areas such as private education, 
social services, real estate services, distributi on, healthcare, radio and television broadcasting and 
land, air and maritime transport.  Singapore also reserves the right to accord differential treatment to 
countries under any bilateral or multilateral internati onal agreement in force or signed prior to entry 
into force of the Agreement and to accord di fferential treatment to other countries under any 
international agreements in force or signed after th e date of entry into force of the Agreement for the 
following sectors: air services;  environmental matters ;  maritime and services auxiliary to maritime, 
and port matters;  land transport matters;  teleco mmunications and information technology matters;  
postal and courier matters; and professional services (legal service). 
Table IV.4 
Non conforming measures listed by Singapore in Annex II 
Sector  Obligations Mode Description 
All MA/NT/MFN/LP CBTS Measures pertaining to na tural persons subject to provisions of Annex 
10A 
All 
 MA/NT/LP/MFN/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting supply of health services by government-owned or 
controlled healthcare institutions, su ch as hospitals and polyclinics. 
All MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting supply of so cial security, public training, public 
law enforcement, ambulance, correctional and fire-fighting services. 
Urban/Land Planning 
and Development MA/NT/MFN/LP CBTS Any measure affecting land or  usage of land, including land zoning, land 
use and urban planning policies. 
All MA/NT/MFN/PR/
SMBD I Any measure affecting the alienation a nd divestment of real estate by the 
State. 
All   MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting full/partial devolvement of svcs provided by  
Singapore government, and divestment of  equity interests in enterprises 
wholly or partially owne d by Singapore government. 
Admin. of national 
electronic systems  MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting admini stration/ operation of any national 
electronic system containing propri etary information of government. 
Arms and explosives MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the arms and explosives sector. 
Broadcasting services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting broadcasting services receivable by Singapore's 
domestic audience. 
Broadcasting, entertain-
ment/cultural svcs MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure relating to the crea tive arts, cultural heritage and other 
cultural industries. 
Credit reporting services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of credit reporting services 
Patent Agent Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Measures affecting recognition of  educational/professional qualifications, 
e.g. admission, registration of patent agents 
Real Estate Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting real estate services. 
Scientific and technical 
consulting services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting supply of scientific and technical consulting 
services. 
Armed Escort/Guard Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the provision of armed escort, armoured car and 
armed guard services. 
Betting and Gambling Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the suppl y of betting and gambling services. 
Legal Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of legal services in Singapore. 
Community, Personal 
and Social Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting services provided by cooperative societies and 
trade unions. 
Defence MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD I Any measure relating to retention of a controlling interest by the 
Singapore government in Singapore Technologies Engineering. 
Distribution, publishing,  printing of newspapers MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting publishing or printing of newspapers, including 
but not limited to, shareholding li mits and management control. 
Distribution, 
commission, wholesale, 
retail, franchise MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of any products subject to import 
prohibition or non-automatic import licensing. 
Primary/secondary education Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting supply of primary, general secondary and higher 
secondary education servi ces for Singapore nationals. 
Sports Education 
Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting supply of spor ts education services at the primary, 
secondary, post-secondary a nd higher education levels. 
Table IV.4 (Cont'd)   WT/REG227/1 
 Page 23 
 
 
 Sector  Obligations Mode Description 
Medical services; nurses, 
midwives; pharmacy svcs MA/NT/MFN/LP CBTS Quota on doctors and pharm acists who can practise in Singapore.  
Registration conditions of doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists. 
Svcs provided by health-
related professionals MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Measures related to recognition of  educational/professional qualifications 
for admission, registration etc. of health professionals 
Services incidental to 
manufacturing MA/NT/MFN/PR CBTS/I Measures affecting impos ition of duty, restrictions on manufacture of 
goods, and/or penalties for offences under Control of Manufacture Act 
Archive services for 
government records MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of archive services for government 
records specified under the National Heritage Board. 
Museum services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the s upply of museum services and the 
preservation services of historical  sites, monuments and buildings. 
Nature reserve services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I National Parks Board is only agency authorized to control, administer, 
build and manage national parks, nature reserves and parklands. 
Waste Water 
Management MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting waste water management, including but not 
limited to collection, treatment and disposal of waste water. 
Social Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of social services. 
Mailing list compilation 
and mailing services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Only Singapore Post Pte. Ltd. is allowed to convey letters, postcards and 
svcs of receiving, collecting, sendi ng, dispatching, and delivering. 
Telecommunications 
Services MA/NT/MFN CBTS/I Foreign ownership in teleco ms service suppliers restricted to 73.99% 
foreign shareholding, based on 49% di rect/ 24.99% indirect investment. 
Supply of potable water 
for human consumption MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of potable water. 
Air Transport Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the investme nt in, and/or supply of, certain air 
transport services (see Annex II-SG-37 for list). 
Air Transport Services  MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting, includi ng but not limited to the building, 
ownership, operation and manageme nt of airports and heliports. 
Passenger/Freight 
Transportation by Air MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure relating to requirement of Singapore's bilateral and 
multilateral air services agreements. 
Land Transport Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of public transport services. 
Land Transport Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting rail and road  freight transportation and supporting 
services for rail and ro ad transport services. 
Maritime Transport/ all 
auxiliary transport 
modes  MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of storage and warehousing, freight 
forwarding, inland trucking, cont ainer station and depot services. 
Maritime Transport 
Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting certain services (see Annex II-G-43 for list). 
Internal Waterways 
Transport Services MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of internal waterways transportation 
services. 
Wholesale/retail trade  MA/NT/MFN/LP/
PR/SMBD CBTS/I Any measure affecting the supply of wholesale and retail trade services of 
tobacco products and al coholic beverages. 
All Sectors MFN CBTS/I Any measure according prefer ential treatment as a result of prior, or 
future agreements in seven sectors (See Annex II-SG-46). 
Notes:  CBTS: Cross-border trade in servi ces;  I: Investment;  LP: Local presence requirements;  MA: Market access restriction;   MFN: 
Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restriction;   PR: Performance requirements;  SMBD: Restrictions affecting  senior 
management and board of directors. 
 
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore, Annex II 
 
I. DENIAL OF BENEFITS  
75. Under Article 9.11 and Article 10.12, a Party may de ny the benefits of the relevant chapter to 
an investor or service supplier in the other Party if that person is an enterprise owned or controlled by 
persons of a non-Party or of the denying Party,  and has no substantive business activities in the 
territory of the other Party.  
J. LIBERALIZATION COMMITMENTS IN SELECTED SERVICES SECTORS  
1. Business Services 
76. Professional services other than certain legal ser vices (part of CPC 861), accounting, taxation, 
architectural and engineering services (in which Panama has scheduled partial commitments), are WT/REG227/1 
Page 24  
 
  currently excluded from Panama's GATS commitments.
22  Under the Agreement, Panama has listed a 
wide range of professional services, in particular me dical services, which are subject to a nationality 
requirement and thus closed to competition from Singapore's suppliers.  Research and development 
services and real estate services are not included in Panama's GATS schedule and are not subject to any specific restriction under the Agreement, thus opening them to Singapore's suppliers.  Panama has 
scheduled most of the sub-sectors of computer and related services, rental/leasing services without 
operators, and other business services in its  GATS schedule with few restrictions.   
77. Singapore has opened the majority of business services (with the exception of legal services 
and services provided by midwives, nurses, physiothe rapists and para-medical personnel which it has 
not scheduled) to foreign competition in its GATS schedule.
23  Under the Agreement, Singapore 
reserves the right to maintain or adopt any measure  affecting the supply of legal services in Singapore, 
and maintains registration and residency requireme nts for the supply of nursing, physiotherapeutic 
and para-medical services.  For architectural service s, the residency requirement for directors has been 
lifted by Singapore under the Agreement.  Research  and development services, certain computer and 
related services, and a wide range of other business services are scheduled in Singapore's GATS 
schedule and subject to few restrictions.  Singapore has not scheduled real estate services and 
rental/leasing services without operators in its GATS schedule and has retained some reservations in 
its Annex I in these subsectors.   
2. Transport Services 
(a) Land transport services 
78. Panama has scheduled no commitments in ra il or road transport services under the GATS.  
Under the Agreement, Panama has taken a nationa l treatment reservation for passenger and freight 
road transport services, restricting operation certifi cates for these activities to Panamanian nationals.  
In addition, Panama has reserved the right to adopt  or maintain any measures related to the cross-
border trade in the transportation of goods.  No reservations concerning rail transport services have 
been taken by Panama under the Agreement, thus opening this subsector to  Singapore's suppliers. 
79. Singapore has scheduled no commitments in rail or road transport services under the GATS 
and has taken a reservation for the maintenance a nd repair of transport equipment and related 
manufacturing activities under the Agreement.  In add ition, Singapore has reserved the right to adopt 
or maintain any measures relating to the supply of public transport services, rail and road freight 
transportation, and supporting services for rail and road transport services. 
80. Panama has not subjected pipeline transport to any restriction or reservation under the 
Agreement, thus resulting in a full market-openi ng commitment.  Singapore's reservation under the 
Agreement for the production, retail, transportation and distribution of manufactured gas and natural 
gas (piped gas) limits these servi ces to two Singapore companies.  In addition, Singapore restricts the 
transportation of goods via pipeline of goods such as chemical and petroleum products and petroleum, 
and other related products to servi ce suppliers with a local presence. 
                                                      
22 Panama's GATS Schedule includes an MFN exemption for professional services under which 
authorization to exercise a profession is granted on the basis of reciprocity. 
23 Accounting/auditing services and taxation serv ices are subject to a residency requirement, 
engineering and architectural services are subject to re sidency and licensing requirements for directors, and the 
number of new foreign doctors registered each year may be limited.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 25 
 
 
 (b) Maritime transport services 
81. Maritime transport services are excluded from Panama's commitments under the GATS.  
Under the Agreement Panama has scheduled a nationa l treatment reservation with regard to pilots' 
apprentices who must be Panamanian nationals.  In  addition, Panama has scheduled reservations in 
the case of all shipping companies using Panamanian -flagged vessels to grant preference in the hiring 
of Panamanian nationals, spouses of Panamanian nati onals or parents of children born in Panama for 
their crew.  Foreign placement agencies operating or wishing to operate in Panama shall designate at 
least a proxy of Panamanian nationality, residing in  the national territory.  Panama has reserved the 
right to adopt or maintain any measure related to  the use, management, administration, operation, 
maintenance, conservation, modernization, explo itation, administration, development and ownership 
of the Panama Canal.  With these exceptions, mar itime transport services have been liberalized by 
Panama. 
82. Under maritime transport services in its GATS schedule, Singapore has liberalized freight 
transportation (less cabotage), shipping agency servi ces and shipping brokerage services.  Under the 
Agreement, Singapore restricts the right to provid e cargo handling, pilotage, and supply desalinated 
water to ships berthed at Singapore ports or in Sing apore territorial waters to Singapore companies.  
Only local service suppliers are allowed to operate  and manage cruise and ferry terminals.  Singapore 
has scheduled reservations with regard to the re gistration of ships under the Singapore flag and 
restricts the registration as Singapore seamen to Sing apore nationals and permanent residents.  In 
addition, Singapore reserves the right to maintain or  adopt any measure affecting the supply of storage 
and warehousing, freight forwarding, container sta tion and depot services; towing and tug assistance;  
provisioning, fuelling and watering;  garbage collec tion and ballast waste disposal;  port captain's 
services;  navigation aids;  emergency repair faciliti es;  anchorage;  and other shore-based operational 
services essential to ship operations, including communications, water and electrical supplies.  
Singapore also reserves the right to maintain or a dopt any measure affecting the supply of internal 
waterways transportation services. 
83. Annex 10B on maritime transport services appli es to measure adopted or maintained by a 
Party affecting maritime transport services by maritime  transport service suppliers of the other Party.  
The Parties agree that taxes, f ees and levies assessed on tonnage or freight value should be based on 
reciprocity and that port services are made availa ble on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and 
conditions.  Annex 10B also contai ns provisions applying to the co astwise transportation of empty 
vans, tanks and barges, and interna tional maritime transport and feeder  services.  Finally, the Parties 
accord each other the right to negotiate accession to  any agreement regarding maritime transport 
services signed between a Party and a non-Party. 
(c) Air Transport services 
84. Chapter 10 on cross-border trade specifically excludes air transport services, including 
domestic and international air transportation ser vices, whether scheduled or non-scheduled, and 
related services in support of air services with th e exception of aircraft repair and maintenance 
services, the selling and marketing of air transport services, and computer reservation systems.  In contrast, air transport and related services in suppor t of air services are not specifically excluded from 
Chapter 9 on investment.   
85. Panama has scheduled the maintenance and re pair of aircraft under the GATS, while 
Singapore has made no GATS commitments in air transport services.  Under the Agreement, Panama 
reserves investment in air transportation services under the Panamanian flag to its nationals and 
enterprises that are majority owned by Panamanian  nationals.  In addition,  crew members and all 
other aeronautical technical personnel, including aircra ft repair and maintenance, on the service of all 
national aviation companies and in all commercial and transportation airshi ps with Panamanian WT/REG227/1 
Page 26  
 
  registration must be Panamanian nationals.  Pana ma has taken no reservations with regard to the 
selling and marketing of air transport services and computer reservation systems, thus opening these 
subsectors to competition from Singapore's suppliers. 
86. Under the Agreement, Singapore has restricted the provision of ground handling services, 
including cargo handling services at airports to two Singapore companies.  In addition, there is a 
monopoly for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapo re to provide rescue and fire-fighting services at 
airports in Singapore.  Singapore also reserves the right to maintain or adopt any measure affecting 
investment in, and the supply of, a number of air transport services as detailed in Annex II-SG-37.  In 
addition, Singapore reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure affecting, including but not 
limited to the building, ownership, operation and management of airports and heliports.     
3. Communications  
(a) Telecommunications services 
87. Specific liberalization commitments relating to telecommunications services are contained in 
Chapter 12 on telecommunications.  Panama's co mmitments in communications under the GATS 
cover value-added services, while Singapore made co mparatively more substantial commitments and 
included the WTO Reference Paper on basic teleco mmunication as an additional commitment.    
88. On regulatory matters, Chapter 12 reitera tes the provisions of the GATS Annex on 
Telecommunications and of the WTO Referenc e Paper on regulatory principles.     
89. In addition, Chapter 12 provides greater specif icity to, or broadens the applicability of, a 
number of GATS obligations and commitments.  For example, Chapter 12 states that services suppliers are permitted to provide services to indi vidual or multiple end-users over any leased or 
owned circuit(s), and perform switc hing, signalling, processing, and c onversion functions.  Each Party 
must ensure that major suppliers must provide access to those poles, ducts, and conduits under their 
control on terms and conditions that are not only re asonable, non-discriminatory and transparent, but 
also cost-oriented. The Agreement permits parties to decide which structures are required for the 
purposes of this provision, based on a finding that such structures cannot feasibly be economically 
substituted by a supplier seeking to provide a compe ting service.  Chapter 12 also contains provisions 
on number portability, submarine cable landing stations, and co-location obligations.   
90. Under the Agreement, Panama takes reserva tions with respect to foreign government 
shareholding in enterprises that operate tel ecommunications services, cellular mobile telephone 
services (which are reserved for a duopoly of Telefóni ca de España and Cable & Wireless for a period 
of 20 years), and cross-border trade in telecommunications services which requires local presence.
24  
Singapore takes reservations with regard to faciliti es-based and service-based operators and registrars 
of .sg domain names which must be locally incorpor ated.  Singapore also restricts foreign ownership 
in telecommunications services suppliers to a cumu lative total of 73.99% foreign shareholding, based 
on 49% direct and 24.99% indirect investment. 
91. Chapter 12 does not apply to measures that a Pa rty adopts or maintains relating to broadcast 
or cable distribution of radio or television programming, except to ensure that enterprises providing 
these services have  continued access to and use of public telecommunications services. 
                                                      
24 According to Panama, the basic telecommunications market was liber alized on 1 January 2003.  For 
mobile phone services a numerical quot a of two operators is in place.  In 2008, a bidding process will begin to 
grant two new concessions to operate mobile phone services.     WT/REG227/1 
 Page 27 
 
 
 (b) Audiovisual services 
92. Panama, which has GATS commitments in audiovisual services for motion picture and video 
tape production and wholesale distribution services, for motion picture projection services and radio and television services,
25 as well as for sound recordings, has scheduled a number of reservations in 
this sector in the Agreement.  With regard to  services of transmission of radio and television 
programs, Panama reserves concessions to operate ra dio or television stations, in the case of natural 
persons, to Panamanian citizens;  in the case of ju ridical persons, not less than 65% of their effective 
shareholding must be held by Panamanian nationals.26  Additional restrictions in terms of nationality, 
licensing requirements, and reciprocity agreements apply in this subsector.  With respect to broadcasting services, Panama reserves the right to  maintain or adopt any measure relating to the 
creative arts, cultural heritage and other cultural industries, including entertainment services and other 
cultural services; and to broadcasting services, in cluding measures relating to planning, licensing and 
spectrum management, and including services offered in Panama and international services originating from Panama.    
93. Under the GATS, Singapore has scheduled co mmitments in the following audiovisual 
services:  production, distribution and public displa y of motion pictures, video recordings, sound 
recordings, with the exception of all broadcasti ng and audiovisual services and materials that are 
broadcasting-related such as free-to-air, broadcasting cable and pay television, direct broadcasting by 
satellite and teletext.  Under the Agreement, Singa pore reserves the right to maintain or adopt any 
measure affecting broadcasting services receivable by its domestic audience and to the allocation of 
spectrum in relation to broadcasting services.  In add ition, Singapore reserves the right to maintain or 
adopt any measure relating to the creative arts, cultural heritage and other cultural industries, 
including entertainment services and other cultural services, and to broadcasting services, including 
measures relating to planning, licensing and spectru m management, and including services offered in, 
and international services orig inating from, Singapore.   
4. Financial Services 
94. Chapter 11 on financial services governs all aspects of  trade in financial services.  It applies to 
(a) financial institutions of the other party;  (b) i nvestors of the other Party, and investments by such 
investors, in financial institutions in the Party’ s territory; and (c) cross-border trade in financial 
services. Apart from the traditional disciplines on MF N, market access, and national treatment, the 
Agreement contains obligations with regard to new financial services; treatment of certain financial 
information; and nationality of senior management a nd members of boards of directors.  In addition, 
the obligations on regulatory tran sparency (Article 11.12) include inter alia  the requirement for each 
Party to publish draft regulations of general applicat ion in advance, and to provide interested persons 
and the other party a reasonable opportunity to comment on such proposed regulations. 
95. Like in the GATS, the Parties have exclude d from the disciplines of the Agreement those 
activities or services forming part of a public retirement plan or statutory system of social security; or 
activities or services conducted for the account, or w ith the guarantee, or using the financial resources, 
of the Party, including its public entities (Article 11.1:3); as well as non-discriminatory measures of general application taken by any public entity in pu rsuit of monetary and related credit policies or 
exchange rate policies (Article 11.11:2). Additi onally, the Agreement contains an exception for 
                                                     
 
25 Exclusively:  arrangements for the showing and screening of foreign audiovisual services, provided 
that the medium for showing these services is limited to Panamanians.  Panama has also taken two audiovisual 
MFN exemptions, for the Ibero-American Cinematograp hic Integration Agreement and the Latin American 
Cinematographic Integration Agreement. 
26 This requirement does not apply to public radio and television services where more than 50% of the 
capital may be foreign owned. WT/REG227/1 
Page 28  
 
  measures taken for prudential reasons (Article 11.11 :1), which has also been modelled on the same 
provision contained in the GATS Annex on Financial Services.  
(a) Cross border trade in financial services 
96. In accordance with Article 11.6, the cross-borde r supply of financial services applies only to 
those commitments made by the Parties in thei r GATS schedules, including any changes to their 
Schedules made after the entry into force of th e Agreement pursuant to the Doha Development 
Agenda or any other negotiations under the GATS.   
(b) Banking and other non-insurance financial services 
97. Under its GATS commitments in banking and othe r financial services, Panama has liberalized 
a number of subsectors in modes 1-3 as follows:  acceptance of deposits;  lending of all types 
including mortgage credit;  financial leasing (mova ble goods only);  payment and money transmission 
services, including credit, charge and debit cards, tr avellers cheques and bankers' drafts;  guarantees 
and commitments;  trading for own account or for account of customers, whether on an exchange, in an over-the counter market or otherwise;  particip ation in issues of all kinds of securities including 
underwriting;  money broking;  asset management;  pr ovision and transfer of financial information;  
and advisory and other auxiliary financial services.   
98. Under its GATS commitments, Singapore has libera lized modes 1 and 2 for financial leasing.  
Other subsectors, such as acceptance of deposits, le nding of all types including mortgage credit 
(market access only);  payment and money transmission services, money broking, and asset management are unbound for mode 1, while for guara ntees and commitments, participation in issues 
of all kinds of securities, trading for own account, settlement and clearing services for financial assets, 
advisory and other auxiliary financial services, and provision and transfer of financial information, 
some limitations on market access have been scheduled.    
(c) Investment in financial services 
99. Article 11.5 contains a provision on market access for financial services modelled on GATS 
Article XVI.
27  However, it only applies to investors in financial institutions and hence to the supply 
of financial services through commercial presence (m ode 3 in the GATS). The liberalization of 
investment in the financial services sector is subject  to a negative list approach.  Reservations can be 
entered with regard to the obligations of MF N, market access, national treatment, and senior 
management and boards of directors. 
100. Non-conforming measures maintained by a Party at the central level of government are set 
out in Annex III.  There is no provision in Chapter 11 to automatically bind the liberalization of any 
existing non-conforming measures under the FTA.  Pa nama has taken two rese rvations in its Annex 
III under the Agreement:  a national treatment a nd senior management and board of directors 
reservation with regard to the constitution of the branches of foreign banks,  and of the board of 
directors of the Caja de Ahorros, respectively.  
 
 
   
                                                     
 
 27 Article 11.5 does not specify a limitation on the par ticipation of foreign capital in terms of maximum 
percentage limit on foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 29 
 
 
 Table IV.5 
Non conforming measures (Financial Services) listed by Panama in Annex III  
Sector Obligations Description 
Section A:  Existing Measures 
Banking services and othe r financial services 
(excluding insurance)  
NT  
Nationality requirement for general proxies 
Banking services and othe r financial services 
(excluding insurance) SMBD Nationality requirement for General Manager (GM), assistant 
GM and Director or Deputy Director of Board of Directors. 
Insurance companies, Admi nistrators of insurance 
enterprises, Insurance brokers or adjustors NT/CBTS/SMB
D Residency/nationality requirement  
Insurance CBTS Registration requirement for provision of surety bonds or 
banking guarantees. 
Reinsurance or underwriters entities, 
Administrators of reinsurance, Reinsurance brokers NT Nationality requirement for general proxies in reinsurance 
business 
Section B:  Future Measures 
Pension fund services  
NT/MFN,MA/C
BTS/ SMBD  
Any measure dealing with pension fund services. 
All sub-sectors MFN Any measure according preferential treatment as a result of a 
prior or future international agreement 
Notes:  CBTS: Cross-border trade in servi ces;  I: Investment;  LP: Local presence requirements;  MA: Market access restriction;   MFN: 
Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restriction;   PR: Performance requirements;  SMBD: Restrictions affecting  senior 
management and board of directors.  
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between Panama and Singapore, Annex III. 
 
101. Under its GATS commitments, Singapore retains a number of restrictions on banking and 
other financial services, particularly with regard  to mode 3 market access and national treatment 
limitations.  For instance, new foreign comme rcial banks may only establish as offshore bank 
branches or representative offices which cannot conduct business or act as agents;  foreign 
commercial banks can operate from only one office  (excluding back-office operations), and cannot 
establish off-premise ATMs and ATM networking and new sub-branches;  each offshore bank's 
lending in Singapore dollars to residents should not exceed S$200m in aggregate;   remittance shops 
are required to be majority owned by Singapore citizens;  and asset management companies, custodial depositories and trust services companies can establish as branches or subsidiaries. 
102. Singapore has taken a number of reservations for both existing and future measures in its 
Annex III which essentially limit the commitments u ndertaken by Singapore under the Agreement to 
the commitments contained in its GATS schedule (see Table IV.6).   
Table IV.6  
Non conforming measures listed by Singapore in Annex III  
Sector Obligations Description 
Section A:  Existing Measures   
Banking MA Only institutions li censed or approved as banks and merchant banks can accept 
deposits.  Restrictions on the functio ns of wholesale and offshore banks. 
Banking MA/NT No new finance company licenses w ill be granted.  Limits on establishment of 
finance companies and their ATM services. 
Banking MA Establishment conditions for merchant banks. 
Banking MA/NT/SMB
D Shareholder/residency requirements. 
 
Settlement and clearing svcs for 
financial assets MA/NT Only a clearing house established under the Banking Act may provide clearing 
svcs for cheques and other credit instru ments drawn on a bank in Singapore, and 
services for interba nk GIRO transfers. 
Financial services MA/NT Authorization conditions for establishment or operation of securities and futures 
markets as exchanges, exempt exchanges or recognized trading system providers. 
Financial services MA Banks and merchant banks are re quired to establish separate subsidiaries to trade 
financial futures for customers. 
Financial services:  Asset Management MA/NT Admission criteria, guidelines, applica tion conditions for fund management and 
insurance companies included under Centra l Provident Fund Investment Scheme 
Financial services: Participation 
in securities including underwriting, placement as agent  MA/NT Banks' and merchant banks' membership  on any securities or futures exchange 
established in Singapore must be held through subsidiaries. 
Table IV.6 (Cont'd)  WT/REG227/1 
Page 30  
 
  Sector Obligations Description 
Financial svcs: Management of 
assets, collective investments,  pension funds, custodial, 
depository and trust services MA/NT/ Only the Central Depository Pte Ltd and/or its successor body is authorised to 
provide securities custodial serv ices for boon-entry securities. 
Securities MA/NT Holders of a cap ital markets services licence may only establish as Singapore-
incorporated companies or Singapore branch offices of a corporation. 
Financial services:  payment and 
non-money transmission services MA/NT Remittance shops and money-changing businesses, except when conducted by 
banks, merchant banks and finance comp anies, must be majority-owned by 
Singapore citizens. 
Financial services:  insurance MA/NT Admission criteria for in surance (including reinsurance) and pension fund services 
except compulsory social security services 
Financial services:  insurance  MA/NT All insurance brokers (including reinsura nce brokers) must be established as 
Singapore incorporated companies. 
Financial services:  insurance MA/NT Establishment require ments for direct life insurers , reinsurers, non-life direct 
insurers, and captive insurers. 
Financial services:  insurance MA/NT/CBT
S Compulsory insurance of Motor Th ird Party Liability and Workmen's 
Compensation can only be purchased directly or through an intermediary from 
licensed insurers in Singapore. 
Financial services:  insurance NT/CBTS Conditions relating to  the placement of domestic risk outside Singapore by brokers 
Financial services:  insurance NT Admission criteria for product filing for life insuran ce business, product approval 
for Central Provident Fund-related produc ts, investment-linked products and 
insurance products new to the Singapore market. 
Financial services:  all sectors MA/NT Restrictions on provi sion of clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded 
securities and financial future s and inter-bank transfers. 
Financial services:  all sectors MA/NT Extension of S$ credit facilities (>$5m) by financial institutions. 
Future Measures 
Financial services:  banking  
MA/NT  
Any measure relating to institutions accepting deposits; full bank licences, and qualifying full bank privileges. 
Financial services:  banking NT/MA Extension of S$ loans to, or arrangements of S$ equity or bond issues for non-
resident financial institutions. 
Financial services:  banking MA/NT Any measure in relation to use, including via investment, of monies from any 
social security, public retirement or statutory savings scheme. 
Financial services:  banking MA/NT Any measure which may include limitations on juridical form, with regard to 
safeguarding the interest of depositors of the Singapore branch. 
Financial services:  banking MA/NT Any measure in relation to foreign ownership of a finance company incorporated 
in Singapore. 
All Financial services MA/NT/CBT
S Any measure relating to cross-border supply of all financial services, securities, 
direct insurance, insura nce/reinsurance intermedia tion, except reinsurance/ 
retrocession and services auxiliary to  insurance comprising actuarial, lost 
adjustors, average adjustor s and consultancy services. 
Financial services:  settlement/ 
clearing svcs for financial assets MA/NT Any measure affecting supply of clear ing and settlement services for exchange 
traded securities and financial futures a nd S$ cheques and in terbank transfers. 
Financial services:  insurance MA/NT Any measure in relation to using CPF monies for the purchase of health insurance 
schemes and annuities. 
Financial services:  insurance CBTS/NT Any measure affecting su pply of services for placement of domestic risks outside 
Singapore, with the exception of reinsuran ce risks and insurance risks relating to 
maritime liabilities of ship owners insu red by protection and indemnity clubs. 
Financial services:  insurance SMBD/NT Any measure relating to the composition and residency of the board of directors of 
Singapore incorporated insurers and reinsurers. 
Financial svcs:  information 
provision, data processing MA/NT Transmission and processing of financial data/information. 
Financial services:  all sub-
sectors MFN Any measure according preferential treatment  as a result of a prior or future 
international agreement 
Notes:  CBTS: Cross-border trade in servi ces;  I: Investment;  LP: Local presence requirements;  MA: Market access restriction;   
MFN: Restriction to MFN treatment;  NT: National treatment restri ction;  PR: Performance requireme nts;  SMBD: Restrictions affe cting 
senior management and board of directors. 
Source: The Free Trade Agreement between  Panama and Singapore, Annex III 
 
(d) Insurance services 
103. Under its GATS commitments, Panama has liberalized mode 3 for life insurance services, 
non-life insurance services, transport insurance, a nd reinsurance and retrocession.  Modes 1 and 2 in 
these subsectors are either unbound or partially libera lized (except that mode 2 for reinsurance and 
retrocession has no restrictions).  Under its Annex III, Panama has listed a national treatment, cross-
border and senior management and board of director s reservation with regard to insurance companies, 
administrators of insurance enterprises and insuran ce brokers or adjustors which impose conditions of  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 31 
 
 
 nationality, residency and licensing.  Cross-borde r trade in insurance is limited to insurance 
companies and banks registered to operate in Pa nama with economic solvency.  Reinsurance or 
underwriters entities, administrators of reinsurance and reinsurance brokers must designate at least 
two general proxies who are both natural persons resi ding in Panama, one of whom is a Panamanian 
citizen. 
104. Under its GATS commitments, Singapore has liber alized services auxiliary to insurance, 
comprising actuarial, loss adjustors, average adju stors and consultancy services.  Other subsectors 
remain subject to restrictions.  Singapore reta ins a foreign equity limit and a restriction on the 
issuance of new insurance licences and the estab lishment of new representative offices on life 
insurance and non-life insurance services in mode 3;  mode 1 in these two subsectors is unbound.  
Reinsurance and retrocession are subject to establishm ent as branches or subsidiaries, while insurance 
intermediation is unbound for modes 1 and 3 (except for admission of reinsurance brokers as locally 
incorporated subsidiaries).   Under the Agreement,  Singapore lists the admission criteria which apply 
to insurers wishing to offer new investment-linke d insurance products and manage such sub-funds.  
Singapore reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure relating to the cross-border supply of 
all financial services, securities, direct insurance,  insurance and reinsurance intermediation, except 
reinsurance/retrocession and services auxiliary to in surance comprising actuarial, lost adjustors, 
average adjustors and consultancy services. 
V. PROVISIONS AFFECTING TRADE IN GOODS, SERVICES AND INVESTMENT 
A. COMPETITION POLICY  
105. Chapter 7 aims at the promotion of fair competition between the Parties and include 
provisions relating to confidentiality (Article 7. 2), cooperation (Article 7.3), transparency and 
information requests (Article 7.4), and consultations (Article 7.5).  No recourse to dispute settlement 
is permitted for any matter related to  this chapter (Article 7.6).   
B. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT  
106. Chapter 8 of the Agreement on Government Procur ement consists of 22 articles and an annex. 
 The Chapter's core principles are national treatme nt, non-discrimination and transparency in the 
conduct of government procurement.   Other general principles include the prohibition of offsets and 
non-disclosure of information.  Parties undertake to treat suppliers, goods and services of the other 
Party in the same way as their own domestic suppliers, goods and services.  Annex 8A sets out the government entities that are covered by the Chapter, the thresholds that are applied, and the specific 
types of procurements and procurement arrange ments that each Party has exempted from the 
application of the Chapter.  A Party may make tech nical rectifications or minor amendments to the 
coverage in its schedules subject to notification a nd acceptance by the other Party.  No compensatory 
adjustments need to be provided  in such cases. (Article 8.15). 
107. In addition to the general principles, the Chapte r contains a number of disciplines with respect 
to transparency and procurement procedures;  th ese include provisions on publ ication of procurement 
information (Article 8.7) and of notices of inte nded procurement (Article 8.8);  time-limits for 
tendering (Article 8.9);  publicati on of notice of intended procuremen t (Article 8.8);  limited tendering 
procedures (Article 8.13);  and treatment of tender s and awarding of contracts (Article 8.14).  The 
Chapter also sets basic procedures for dealing with supplier challenges to the conduct or outcome of a 
procurement (Article 8.18). 
108. The Chapter applies only to procurements by en tities listed in the annexes with a value equal 
to or above certain thresholds.  Panama's sche dule in Annex 8A lists 12 central level government 
entities.  Singapore's schedule contains 23 central le vel government entities.  In addition, both Panama WT/REG227/1 
Page 32  
 
  and Singapore have submitted a number of other gove rnment entities to the disciplines of Chapter 8.  
Thresholds vary for different groups of entities and according to the nature of purchases (goods, 
services, or construction services).
28  Annex 8A applies to all goods procured by the central and other 
government entities listed by the Parties.  For services, Annex 8A contains a positive list for each Party of the services covered by the Annex.   
C. E
LECTRONIC COMMERCE  
109. Chapter 13 sets out the provisions regarding electronic commerce.  The Parties affirm in 
Article 13.3 that they do not apply customs or other duties, fees, or charges on or in connection with 
the import or export of digital products by electronic transmission.  It also requires the Parties to afford non-discriminatory treatment to digital pro ducts, including computer programs, text, video, 
images, sound recordings and other products that are digitally encoded, regardless of whether they are 
fixed on a carrier medium or transmitted electroni cally. In Article 13.4 the Parties affirm the 
importance of cooperation on matters re lating to electronic commerce.   
D. I
NSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS  
1. General provisions and exceptions 
110. General provisions and exceptions are laid  down in Chapter 18 of the Agreement.  
Article 18.1:1 stipulates that for the trade in goods  aspects of the Agreement Article XX (general 
exceptions) of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of the Agreement mutatis mutandis ;  
for services related issues Article 18.1:2 stipulates th at Article XIV of the GATS is incorporated into 
and made part of the Agreement mutatis mutandis .  Article 18.2 addresses "Essential Security" and 
partially incorporates into the Agreement Article  XXI (security exceptions) of the GATT 1994.  The 
Chapter also includes exceptions for Taxation (Artic le 18.3) and general provisions for Disclosure of 
Information (Article 18.5). 
2. Accession 
111. The Agreement is open to accession by any count ry or group of countries on terms to be 
agreed between the Parties and the countries concerned (Article 18.6). 
3. Institutional framework 
112. Chapter 14 addresses the transparent administration of laws, regulations, procedures and 
administrative actions of general application to th e Agreement.  Provisions under this Chapter include 
the designation of contact points (Article 14.1) ;  the publication of laws, regulations, and 
administrative rulings relating to matters covered by  the Agreement (Article 14.2);  notification and 
provision of information (Article 14.3);  administra tive proceedings (Article  14.4);  and review and 
appeal (Article 14.5).  
113. Chapter 17 of the Agreement establishes an Administrative Commission and stipulates its 
mandate (Article 17.1.2), which includes, among ot hers, reviewing the gene ral functioning of the 
Agreement;  facilitating the avoidance and settlement of disputes;  and the consideration and adoption 
of amendments to the Agreement.  Article 17.1.3 provides for the timing and location of the meetings 
of the Administrative Commission. 
                                                      
 28 The threshold values listed by Singapore in Annex 8A are the same as those it scheduled under the 
WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).  As of November 2007, Panama is not a member of the 
GPA, but is negotiating its accession.  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 33 
 
 
 4. Dispute settlement 
114. Chapter 15 sets out the institutional arrangements that apply to the avoidance and settlement 
of disputes between the Parties regarding questi ons of interpretation or application of the 
Agreement.29  The dispute settlement processes of the Agre ement are limited to the Parties, whereas 
private parties (such as investors) have no direct  right of action under the Agreement to challenge 
government actions.  Article 15.5 provides a forum election clause for matters falling under both the 
Agreement and the WTO Agreement to which both Pa rties are party; however, once the complaining 
Party has chosen the forum to settle the dispute, that forum shall be used to the exclusion of the others 
(exclusive forum clause).   
115. The Agreement provides for detailed steps in the process for dispute resolution, the most 
salient of which are synoptically described below.  It also requires the Parties to establish model rules 
of procedure, which shall ensure that the Parties ha ve the right of a hearing before the arbitral panel 
and the opportunity to present allega tions and rebuttals in writing.  The hearings before the arbitral 
panel, the deliberations and preliminary report,  as well as all the writings and communications 
presented are confidential (see Table V.1).   
                                                      
 29 Chapter 15 does not apply to matters arising under Chapter 7 dealing with Competition.   WT/REG227/1 
Page 34  
 
  Table V.1 
Synopsis of PSFTA's Dispute Settlement Provisions 
 
 
5. Relationship with other agreements concluded by the Parties 
116. The Agreement's relationship with other agreemen ts concluded by the Parties is defined in 
Article 1.2:2, where the Parties affirm their existi ng rights and obligations with respect to each other 
under existing bilateral and multila teral agreements to which both are parties, including the 
WTO Agreement.  Article 1.2:3 states that the Agre ement shall not be constr ued to derogate from any 
international legal obligation between the Parties that entitles treatment in goods and services more 
favourable than that accorded unde r the Agreement.  Table V.2 lists the FTAs to which Panama and 
Singapore are parties (in addition to the Agreemen t) which have been notified to the GATT/WTO, 
and are in force. 
 
 
 
 
(Art. 1802)  
(Art. 1809.4)  -
If no notice of implementation or no  
satisfactory solution (Art. 1811)  
- 4) Consultations  (Art. 15.3) 
Referral to the Administrative Commission  
(Art. 15.4) 
Composition  (Art. 15.7) 
Rules of procedure  (Art. 15.9) 
Panel examination  (Art. 15.9) 
Panel final report  (Art. 15.13) 30 or 10 days (perishable goods) 
Written request for establishing a Panel 
(Art. 15.6) 60 or 15 days (perishable goods) 
Max 60 days for composition 
Panel initial report to be sent to 
the Parties   (Art. 15.12) 120 days 
45 days 
Report becomes public  (Art. 
15.13) 15 days from Parties' release Implementation  
In agreement by the Parties(Art 15.15) 
Non-implementation   
Negotiations on mutually acceptable 
compensation (Art. 15.16.2) 45 days from receipt of final report 
failure to reach agreement 
Notice of retaliation (Art. 15.16.2) 
− If no agreement on compensation (30days); or 
− failure by non conforming Party to observe 
agreed compensation or resolution  
Retaliation (Art. 15.16.2) 
− 30 days after retaliation notice; or 
− after Panel determination (See below) 
Panel reconvenes 
upon request from losing party  (Art. 15.16.3) 30 days from retaliation notice 
Panel determination  (Art. 15.16.3)  90 or 120 days from panel reconvention 
Suspension of benefits (Art. 15.16.4)  
− upon notice from the complaining Party No retaliation 
  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 35 
 
 
 Table V.2   
Panama and Singapore:  Participatio n in RTAs (notified and in force) 
GATT/WTO Notification Partner/ 
Agreement Date of 
entry  
into force Type of 
agreement Year WTO Provision 
PANAMA  
El Salvador 11-Apr-03 Goods and Services2005 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
SINGAPORE  
Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic 
Partnership 28-May-06 Goods and Services 2007 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV  
Republic of Korea 02-Mar-06 Goods and Services 2006 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
Jordan 22-Aug-05 Goods and Services 2006 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
India 01-Aug 05 Goods and Services 2007 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
United States 01-Jan-04 Goods and Servi ces 2003 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV  
Australia 28-Jul-03 Goods and Services 2003 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
EFTA 01-Jan-03 Goods and Services 2003 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
Japan 30-Nov-02 Goods and Services 2002 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
New Zealand 01-Jan-01 Goods and Servi ces 2001 GATT Art. V & GATT Art. XXIV 
AFTA 28-Jan-92 Goods  1992 GATT Art. XXIV 
GSTP 19-Apr-89 Partial Scope 1989 Enabling Clause 
 
Source: W TO Secretariat WT/REG227/1 
Page 36  
 
  ANNEX 
 
Indicators of trade liberalization under the PSFTA
 
 
117. A comparison between the scheduled elimination of tariffs applied to the Parties' mutual 
imports and the duty rates applied by Panama and Singapore to MFN imports is shown in Tables A.1 
(Panama) and A.2 (Singapore) below, broke n down by agricultural (WTO definition), 
non-agricultural and total products .  Applied MFN duty rates in 2005 serve as a basis for the 
comparison. 
118. Panama  has a variable MFN tariff structure.  Its (unweighted) average MFN rate (2006) is 
8.7% on all goods, with a higher average tariff app lied to agricultural goods than to non-agricultural 
products.  Over 29% of Panama's tariff lines are duty -free at an MFN level.  On entry into force, 
Singapore's exporters enjoyed a relative margin of  preference of 45% on non-agricultural products 
vis-à-vis  the prevailing average MFN tariff in 2006, and a relative margin of preference of 24.5% in 
agricultural goods.   
Table A.1  
Panama:  Indicators of MFN ta riff rates and preferential rate s for imports from Singapore 
ALL PRODUCTS Agricultural productsa Non Agricultural products 
Average applied 
tariff Average applied tariff Average applied tariff Origin 
of 
goods Year 
Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) 
MFN 2006 8.7 12.3 29.7 15.5 19.1 18.9 7.4 10.8 31.6 
Singapore 2006 5.3 13.5 60.7 11.7 21.0 44.3 4.1 11.3 63.7 
 2007 4.6 11.7 60.7 10.9 19.6 44.3 3.4 9.5 63.7 
 2008 3.9 10.0 60.7 10.1 18.2 44.3 2.8 7.7 63.7 
 2009 3.3 8.3 60.7 9.3 16.8 44.3 2.1 5.9 63.7 
 2010 2.6 10.9 76.2 8.5 19.8 56.8 1.5 7.3 79.7 
 2011 2.3 9.6 76.2 8.1 18.7 56.8 1.2 6.0 79.7 
 2012 2.0 8.3 76.2 7.7 17.7 56.8 0.9 4.6 79.7 
 2013 1.7 7.1 76.2 7.2 16.7 56.8 0.6 3.2 79.7 
 2014 1.4 5.8 76.2 6.8 15.7 56.8 0.4 1.8 79.7 
 2015 1.1 33.7 96.8 6.3 36.9 82.8 0.1 15.2 99.4 
 2016 1.0 36.5 97.3 6.2 36.9 83.3 0.0 10.0 100.0 
a  WTO definition. 
b "on dutiable" excludes duty-free tariff lines. 
Source:  Data provided by Panama. 
 
119. Singapore's  tariff structure is duty free on an MFN basis for all but six tariff lines.  These 
lines are liberalized upon entry into force of the Ag reement, resulting in complete duty-free treatment 
for Panama's exports to Singapore. 
Table A.2  
Singapore:  Indicators of MFN tariff rates a nd preferential rates for imports from Panama 
ALL PRODUCTS Agricultural productsa Non Agricultural products 
Average applied 
tariff Average applied tariff Average applied tariff Origin 
of 
goods Year 
Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) Overall 
(%) On 
dutiableb 
(%) Share of 
duty-free 
tariff lines
(%) 
MFN 2006 0.0 0.0 99.9 0.0 0.0 99.5 0.0 0.0 100.0 
Panama 2006 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 
a WTO definition. 
b "on dutiable" excludes duty-free tariff lines.  
Source:  Data provided by Singapore authorities. 
  WT/REG227/1 
 Page 37 
 
 
 120. Table A.3 shows the market access opportunities in Singapore for Panama's top 25 exports, 
which in 2003-2005 accounted on average for 81.6% of Panama's global exports.  The table shows at 
which year all HS 8-digit tariff lines corresponding to the product definition (i.e. applying to the 
6-digit HS code used to capture the volume of trade) will become duty-free in Singapore. 
121. Panama's top 25 exports cover a total of 40 HS 8-digit tariff lines.  All of these products were 
already subject to duty-free MFN rates. 
Table A.3 
Market access opportunities in Singapore und er the Agreement, for Panama's top 25 exports 
Source: WTO Secretariat, based on data provided by the Singapore authorities and UNSD, Comtrade data. 
 
122. Like Table A.3, Table A.4 shows the market  access opportunities in Panama for Singapore's 
top 25 exports (at the HS 6-digit level), which acc ounted on average for 59% of Singapore's exports to 
the world in 2003-05.  The table shows at which year all HS 8-digit tariff lines corresponding to the product definition (i.e. applying to the 6-digit HS code used to capture the volume of trade) will 
become duty-free in Panama.   
123. Singapore's top 25 exports cover a total of 55 HS 8-digit tariff lines.  Four of Singapore's top 
25 exports (which account for 15 HS 8-digit lines and 5% of Singapore's average global exports in the Access Conditions to Singapore's import markets 
Panama's top export products in 2003-05 
MFN 
Number of tariff lines 
HS number and description of the product Share in 
global 
exports 
(%) Average MFN 
applied rate 
(%) Duty-free Dutiable 
030342 Yellowfin tunas (Thunnus al bacares), frozen (excl. 
fillets/oth. fish meat  12.7 0.0 1 0 
080300 Bananas, incl. plantain s, fresh/dried 11.7 0.0 1 0 
030410 Fish fillets & oth. fish meat, whether or not minced 
(excl. of 03.02) 10.1 0.0 1 0 
030219 Salmonidae (excl. of 0302.11 & 0302.12; excl. 
fillets/oth. fish meat  7.6 0.0 1 0 
030613 Shrimps & prawns, whether or not in shell, frozen 6.4 0.0 1 0 
080719 Melons (excl. watermelons), fresh 5.9 0.0 1 0 
080711 Watermelons, fresh 3.1 0.0 1 0 
030559 Dried fish other than cod (Gadus 
morhua/ogac/macrocephalus) 2.6 0.0 2 0 
010210 Live bovine animals: pure-bred breeding animals 2.0 0.0 1 0 
170111 Cane sugar, raw, in solid form, not cont. added 
flavouring/colouring matter  1.8 0.0 1 0 
300390 Medicaments (excl. of 30.02/30.05/30.06) consisting 
of mixed/unmixed products 1.6 0.0 5 0 
160520 Shrimps & prawns, prepd./presvd. 1.6 0.0 2 0 
080430 Pineapples, fresh/dried 1.4 0.0 1 0 
090111 Coffee, not roasted, not  decaffeinated 1.4 0.0 2 0 
020130 Meat of bovine animals, fresh/chilled, bone less 1.4 0.0 1 0 
030269 Fish, n.e.s., fresh/chilled (exc l. fillets/oth. fish meat of 
03.04/livers  1.3 0.0 2 0 
030611 Rock lobster & oth. sea crawfish  1.3 0.0 1 0 
070990 Vegetables, n.e.s., fresh/chilled 1.2 0.0 1 0 
720410 Waste & scrap of cast iron 1.2 0.0 1 0 
220840 Rum & tafia 1.1 0.0 2 0 
030375 Dogfish & oth. sharks, fro zen (excl. fillets/oth. fish 
meat of 03.04/livers  0.9 0.0 1 0 
030623 Shrimps & prawns, whether or not in shell, other than 
frozen 0.9 0.0 5 0 
030232 Yellowfin tunas (Thunnus albacares), fresh/chilled 
(excl. fillets/oth. fish 0.8 0.0 1 0 
760200 Aluminium waste & scrap 0.8 0.0 1 0 
410419 Tanned/crust hides & skins of bovine (incl. 
buffalo)/equine animals 0.8 0.0 3 0 
Total of above 81.6  40 0 WT/REG227/1 
Page 38  
 
  period 2003-05) already benefit from zero MFN duti es in Panama's market, a further 19 products 
(accounting for 28 tariff lines and a further 43.9% of Singapore's average global exports) gain immediate duty-free access and one product is granted duty-free access in 2010.  The margin of preference granted to Singapore by Panama under th e PSFTA varies from 0 to ten percentage points. 
Table A.4 
Market access opportunities in Panama under the Agreement, for Singapore's top 25 exports  
Access Conditions to Panama's import markets 
Singapore's top export products in 2003-05 
MFN Duty-free in: 
Number of tariff lines 
2006 
2010 
HS number and description of the product Share 
in 
global 
exports 
(%) Average 
MFN 
applied 
rate 
(%) Duty-
free Dutiable Number of tariff lines 
854229 Monolithic integrated circuits, other than 
digital 12.2 10.0   1 1    
27119 Petroleum oils & oils obt. from bituminous 
mins. (excl. crude) & preps.  6.6 9.6 4 8 6 2  
84733 Parts & accessories (excl. covers, carrying 
cases and the like)  6.5 3.0   1 1    
84717 Storage units (of auto. data processing 
machines) 5.5 5.0   1 1    
854221 Monolithic integrated circuits , digital 5.4 10.0   1 1    
999999 Commodities not specified according to kind 3.4             
27111 Light petroleum oils & preps. 3.2 0.0 10        
85252 Transmission app. for radio-telephony/radio-
telegraphy/radio-broadcasting 2.9 6.3 1 3 3    
85426 Hybrid integrated circuits 2.0 10.0   1 1    
85429 Parts of the electronic integrated circuits & 
microassemblies of 85.42 1.4 10.0   1 1    
85299 Parts suit. for use solely/princ. with the app. of 
85.25-85.28 1.0 8.3   3 3    
84716 Input/output units (of auto. data processing 
machines) 1.0 5.0   1 1    
843143 Parts suit. for use solely/princ. with the 
boring/sinking mach. of 843.41 0.9 5.0   1 1    
84718 Automatic data processing machine units (excl. 
of 8471.5-5471.7) 0.9 5.0   1 1    
2939 Organo-sulphur comps. (excl. of 293.1-293.4) 0.7 0.0 1        
29225 Amino-alcohol-phenol s, amino-acid-phenols & 
oth. amino-comps. with oxygen  0.7 0.0 3        
85369 Electrical app. for switching/protecting 
electrical circuits 0.7 10.0   2 2    
852491 Recorded media for repr. phenomena other 
than sound/image, n.e.s. in 85.24   0.7 10.0   2 2    
854129 Transistors (excl. photosensitive transistors) 0.6 10.0   1 1    
8534 Printed circuits 0.5 3.0   1 1    
8833 Parts of aeroplanes/helicopters, other than 
propellers, rotors 0.5 10.0   1 1    
85419 Parts of the devices of 85.41 0.4 10.0   1 1    
85411 Diodes (excl. photosensitive/light emitting 
diodes) 0.4 10.0   1 1    
87899 Parts & accessories of the motor vehicles of 
87.1-87.5 0.4 3.3 1 2 2    
293329 Heterocyclic comps. cont. an unfused 
imidazole ring  0.4 0.0 1        
Total of above 59.0   21 34 32 2  
Source: WTO Secretariat, based on data provided by Pa nama's authorities and UNSD, Comtrade data. 
 
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