RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/M/32 
6 November 2009 
 (09-5541) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9 OCTOBER 2009 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
 
1. The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services held a formal meeting on 9 October 
2009, chaired by Ambassador Fernando de Mateo of Mexico.  The agenda for the meeting, contained 
in document WTO/AIR/3439, was adopted. 
A. REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS , INCLUDING PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE 
GUIDELINES FOR NEGOTIATIONS ; AND ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK 
2. The Chair  recalled his remarks at the informal meetin g of the Special Session held the previous 
week, where he had underlined the significant achieveme nts in services at the July Ministerial, and the 
frustrating course Members had navigated since that hi gh-water mark.  At the July Ministerial, he had 
set out principles to guide future negotiations in  the Annex to his Report, while Ministers had 
signalled possible liberalization that had surpassed most  observers' expectations.  Since then however, 
and despite repeated assurances at  Ministerial meetings of the importance of concluding the Round, 
there had been little apparent movement across th e negotiating areas, including in services.  Of 
course, services delegates had remained engaged.  On the market access side, negotiators had sought 
to advance the negotiations throug h bilateral and plurilateral talks aimed at clarifying ministerial 
signals, requests and offers.  On the rules side, the su bsidiary bodies continued to meet in an effort to 
push forward their work.  On LDC modalities, the negotiations appeared to be advancing among a 
small group of delegations, although Me mbers had yet to receive an input to the mainstream process 
in the Special Session.  Overall it remained true, however, that the failure to achieve agreement on 
modalities in Ag/NAMA had increasingly affected the service negotiations. 
3. The Chair said that he had d escribed these stark realities on the services front to ministers 
meeting in Delhi in early September.  Followi ng the meeting, he had conducted an Enchilada 
consultation at which the services negotiations we re discussed in further detail among visiting senior 
officials.  In Pittsburgh, G-20 ministers reaffirmed  the importance of completing the Round in 2010, 
and accepted a work plan carrying us to the end of the year which included the regular monthly 
presence of senior officials. 
4. During the discussion at the informal meeting the previous week, the Chair had heard from 
many delegations on the need to "re-energize", "re-activate" and "re-engage" in the services 
negotiations both in market access and in rules, and to accelerate the negotiating process on LDC modalities. Now, as Members were completing the fi rst cluster since the summer break, there was a 
need to agree on how in practical terms these goals  could be achieved.  There appeared to be a 
consensus on a further two-week cluster during the weeks of the 2nd and the 9th of November.  The 
first week would be focused mainly on regular  business, and the second on the DDA negotiations.  
                                                     
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. TN/S/M/32 
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  Other formal or informal meetings  would naturally be needed after that, perhaps coinciding with the 
visits from senior officials. 
5. The Chair wished to hear, at th is point, the assessment by delegations of the progress made in 
the negotiations, and how in practical terms future work should be organized over the coming months. 
6. The European Communities
 said that the meeting was very welcome and useful in order to take 
a snapshot of the circumstances after a week of m eetings. In addition to the usual work, the EC had 
been able to meet a number of partners and ha ve informal meetings, which had allowed them to 
determine the availability and the motivation of thei r partners and their will to restart market access 
negotiations bilaterally.  The EC had the impression that some Members agreed to re-commit to the 
negotiations.  As the Chair had said in his opening rema rks, there was a need to "re-energize", the EC 
certainly wished to do so.  It appeared however that  bilateral negotiations were the best instrument to 
resume these negotiations on market access.  The EC had a single goal and that was to achieve a break through, which it hoped would occur as quickly as possible in order to conclude the Round in 2010.   
7. The EC confirmed that it intended to organize bilateral meetings during the service cluster in 
November.  The resumption of negotiations was to  be understood as a systematic exercise to be 
undertaken on all fronts.  The EC intended however to  resume its market access bilateral negotiations 
without neglecting discussion on domestic regulations and GATS rules. The EC bilateral planned for 
the beginning of November would allow the resu mption of negotiations on market access based, on 
the signals received in July 2008.  The EC did not wish these signals to fade away, but hoped rather 
that they would be strengthened and improved. The goal  of future negotiations was not to step back to 
unravel what had already been done, but rather to  confirm and as far as possible improve conditions 
for market access.  The same goal was equally valid for delegations' work in the area of rules and 
regulations.  In the course of the meetings during th e current cluster, the EC had made a number of 
proposals, had heard other proposals, among them that  the results of bilatera l negotiation be submitted 
in writing in order to make mutual understanding easier.  This would be an "intermediate product" 
that would allow delegations to have an idea of th e contents of offers before these were formally 
submitted.  It would give understa nding of the situation, in the interests of clarity, and make an 
agreement on modalities easier. At present this was just an idea, but one that merited consideration.  It 
would of course require the agreement of negotiating partners, and this matter would be discussed by 
them in November.   
8. On the issue of the process of negotiation, and mo re particularly on the issue of sequencing, and 
the date for the tabling of revised offers, the EC wished to refrain from any comment at present, since 
it was a matter that depended upon the evolution of  negotiations in Agriculture and NAMA.  The EC 
was determined however to have sufficient cl arity on services when it came to these two other 
negotiating areas.  Senior officials would certainly di scuss this issue at the appropriate time.  On LDC 
Modalities, this was set for discussion in another part  of the agenda and the EC would have comments 
at that point. As to the timetable for the deadlines that the Chair mentioned in his introduction, the EC 
could accept the emerging consensus as to the dates of  the next clusters, with regular meetings during 
the week of 2 November and DDA discussions in the subsequent week. 
9. The delegation of Brazil
 reiterated that it fully recognized the role of the services negotiations 
within the overall balance of the Doha single unde rtaking.  For that reason, they had engaged 
constructively in all phases of the negotiating pr ocess through two rounds of  offers, and further 
indications of possible movement in the plurila teral stage and on the occasion of the Signalling 
Conference in July 2008.  
10. The services negotiations never constituted, in Br azil's view, an obstacle to the conclusion of 
the Round, notwithstanding the insufficiency and lack of progress in terms of indications of commitments in sectors and modes of supply of interest to developing countries. It was a well-known  TN/S/M/32 
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  fact that the central areas of the Doha Round were  agriculture and NAMA, and that an agreement on 
those topics would allow Members to finalize the overall process.  
11. Brazil did recognize that it was important to intensif y work in the field of services, especially if 
one took into consideration that so much remained  to be done in domestic regulation, rules and LDC 
modalities. Members needed to avoid, however, dive rting the focus of the Round from its main areas 
and seek progress in services as a compensation for the lack of progress in agriculture and NAMA. 
12. Brazil and many other developing countries had already made a huge effort to improve their 
initial commitments, and this needed  to be acknowledged.  Brazil ofte n stressed that its final offer 
would take into consideration the overall results of the negotiating process, and that the Hong Kong 
sequencing should be observed.  Currently there was a rather unclear scenario without indication of a 
breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA in the comi ng months, despite the wholehearted engagement 
of Brazil and many other Members. 
13. There was also the issue of fu ture work in the services negotia tions, and more specifically the 
November cluster. A number of delegations had been referring to  the November cluster as a 
negotiating week for market access.  However, in li ght of the state of play of the negotiating process 
as a whole, it was highly premature, to say the leas t, to engage again in such negotiations in the 
absence of a clear indication of a breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA.  Moreover, Brazil was not in a position to agree with the EC proposal to put things in writing following bilateral or plurilateral 
talks. 
14. In awaiting a breakthrough, Brazil was of the opi nion that delegations' time should be devoted 
to intensified work with a view to concluding LDC modalities, and to achieve more progress in the 
disciplines of domestic regulation and rules, with a pa rticular emphasis on subsidies, in the light of the 
international economic crisis and the bail-out packages. Furthermore,  delegations should continue the 
extremely helpful technical discussion on specific sectors and modes of supply, which, in Brazil's view, might even encourage more ambitious commit ments as they provided a clearer understanding of 
what was at stake. 
15. Brazil wished to reiterate that it was not in a position to agree with the proposals from the EC 
delegation concerning putting things in writing, nor the more detailed points that had been mentioned.  
For the calendar of the cluster in November, Brazil had no problem with the Chair's proposal, 
although it would be difficult to have experts from cap ital for two weeks.  If it were possible to bring 
capital-based experts, they would probably come during the second week. 
16.  The delegation of India
 agreed on the need to successfully conclude the Doha Round (in 
agriculture, NAMA, services, rules, TRIPS, etc.) in  a manner that was satisfactory, balanced and 
beneficial for its domestic stakeholders. 
17. While there had been much talk about a balanced  deal, there had been little  action. The time had 
now come to 'walk the talk'.  India had been con tinually disappointed at the responses to its requests, 
particularly in Mode 4, in the initial and revi sed offers, in the plurilaterals, in the Signalling 
Conference and in the current week's meetings.  So me  of the Members in fact had not responded at 
all.  In other cases, response were  at levels greatly below the autonomous regime, which itself was at 
very conservative levels. India urged Members to ta ke up their requests with their domestic principals 
with more intensity, and wished to remind Members that the negotiations were not a one-way street. 
India was always willing to engage meani ngfully and substantially in all areas. 
18. In the informal Special Session held on 1 Octobe r, India had suggested that a future work 
program needed to focus in equal measure on market access, domestic regulation and rule making for 
services.  In market access, India had proposed the intensification of the process through bilateral and TN/S/M/32 
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  plurilateral engagement.  Throug h means of plurilateral engagement, India endorsed the commonly-
shared understanding as it had evolved since the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  
19. For India, completion of negotiations in market access, domestic regulation and the 
implementation of LDC modalities was required to br ing the Round to a satisfactory and a balanced 
closure. This was in accordance with the mandate  of Doha Development Agenda and the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference. Therefore, certainty in all areas of negotiations (market access, domestic 
regulation and the LDC modalities) was necessary in e qual measure.  In market access, this certainty 
could be achieved through more in tense bilateral and plurilaterals. At the same time, India also 
wanted the same certainty in Domestic Regul ation and the LDC modalities, through intensified 
negotiations according to an agreed roadmap.  The m eetings earlier in the week had been useful, and 
India had renewed its contacts with many of its tr ading partners. It looked forward to advancing its 
discussions in all areas relevant to the comp letion of the Doha Round during and after the 
forthcoming November cluster.  
20. The delegation of Hong Kong, China
 agreed with the Chair on the need for more intensity and 
urgency in the services negotiations.  The renewed promises by world leaders at recent important 
gatherings, notably in New Delhi and Pittsburgh the pr evious month, to work for an early conclusion 
to the long-running Doha round of trade negotiations , were not enough.  The most important task for 
all was to re-energize the process, and put word s into action.  Hong Kong, China welcomed the 
renewed engagement among Members in the current cluster of meetings, and was glad to see that 
discussions on various fronts were moving forward,  even though the level of progress achieved had 
varied.  The negotiations, whether structured or info rmal, multilateral, plurilateral or bilateral, all 
needed to be intensified and made sustainable in  the months ahead. In particular, Hong Kong China 
looked forward to seeing further definite progress in the November cluster and the senior officials' 
week that would follow.  The objective should be to achieve a high level of clarity and certainty in the 
services package around the time of agriculture a nd NAMA modalities.  Building on progress already 
made, senior officials and negotiators now needed to agree on a path towards achieving that goal. 
21. The Signalling Conference and the Chair's report in July 2008 had provided the basis for 
moving on.  But Members needed to deepen th eir understanding and increase the clarity of the 
improvements in market access that Members w ould be putting on the table as and when modalities 
for agriculture and NAMA were in sight.  There were a number of possible ways to do this and 
Members needed to take advantage of every opport unity to engage.  Bilate ral consultations were a 
well-established mode of operation for services and de legations needed to make full use of these to 
push the process forward.  In addition to bilatera ls, Hong Kong, China was open to exploring other 
means such as plurilaterals, as the pace of the negotia tions picked up.  Also to be considered was 
shortening the time for the submission of revised  offers and draft final schedules in tandem with 
developments in other areas of the negotiations , if that would help the final outcome.  
22. Apart from market access, delegations needed to  have equal clarity and certainty over the 
outcome of the domestic regulation track of negotia tions.  As all knew, the mandate was to develop 
and adopt the domestic regulation text before the en d of the negotiations.  To this end, Hong Kong 
China, together with Australia, New Zealand, Co lombia, South Africa, Barbados, Egypt, India, 
Singapore and Malaysia, had recently asked that work  on domestic regulation be expedited and that 
the Chair issue a work programme.  In the time available, delegations needed to intensify the 
negotiations so as to ensure that the outcome of the negotiations would be something meaningful, and 
not run the risk of becoming counterproductive and unde rmine Article VI:4 of the GATS.  Above all, 
the true value of market access commitments must  not be hampered by cumbersome rules and 
administrative measures.  Members were not seeking to  infringe on the right of regulators to do their 
job to ensure the proper functioning of the sectors they were charged with regulating but saw the 
need, in line with Article VI.4, to ensure that such measures di d not constitute unnecessary barriers to 
trade in services.  TN/S/M/32 
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  23. On GATS rules, Hong Kong China noted that ther e had been useful technical discussions on the 
three elements of government procurement, emer gency safeguard measures and subsidies.  Hong 
Kong China fully appreciated the sensitivity and co mplexity of the subjects involved, but urged 
Members to keep up the momentum in order to ta ke the negotiations forward.  Hong Kong China was 
fully committed to a successful conclusion of the Doha Developmen t Round.  Early conclusion of the 
Round would not only contribute to economic recove ry, but also reinforce the benefits of the 
multilateral trading system.  Reforms resulting from the Round would also provide valuable insurance 
against the growing threat of protectionism.  It was important that delegations continued their work at 
various levels as the end-game approached. 
24. The delegation of Egypt  said that delegations had been wo rking on the premise of an agreed 
work program, paralleled by renewed political co mmitment and furthered by attempts by some to 
minimize the negative impacts of domestic policies on trade given the current economic environment .  
During the course of the preceding week Egypt ha d observed how Members had interpreted these 
parameters. For some it entailed setting dates for s ubmitting revised offers, and for others it meant the 
resumption of market access negotiations.  While many  refuted the idea of reverting to market access 
indications made during the Signalling Conference, a majority considered it prudent to focus on 
concluding horizontal domestic regulation discipl ines as mandated, and different opinions evolved as 
to how to move forward on rules. 
25. For Egypt, the need to preserve and uphold the sequencing and comparability of market access 
negotiations could not be over-emphasized. This w ould prove crucial to any constructive market 
access negotiations to be held over the months to come.  The African group had at several junctures 
accentuated that the services negotiations should no t proceed in a vacuum, nor should pursuing 
market access negotiations in any form or form at undermine the rationale behind the development 
agenda. 
26. Egypt believed it premature to establish specified time frames for revised offer submissions. 
The market access indications made during the Si gnalling Conference were conditional upon reaching 
an agreement in 2008 on NAMA and agriculture moda lities, and were made in a different negotiating 
context altogether.  The signals were also contingent  on the reaffirmation of benefits to be bestowed 
on developing countries in services and the other negotiating tracks. 
27. Egypt was also committed to achieving progr ess in developing the necessary horizontal 
disciplines for domestic regulations, while taking in to consideration the developmental aspects for 
which compromises would ultimately be needed.  On rules, discussions had indicated that subsidies 
could have an effect  on how services were to be traded in the future, and how a level playing field in 
services could be established.  In the same vein, Members expressed the need to move into more 
focussed discussions on the issue of emergency safeguard  measures.  In periods of uncertainty, it was 
important to reflect on market access negotiations from a broader perspective. Hence, issues relating to 
emergency safeguard measures and subsidies took on a different perspective, and were of importance 
for developing countries competitiveness. 
28. Egypt remained adamant on the priority to sw iftly develop full and effective LDC Modalities, 
in order to integrate LDCs beneficially and mean ingfully into the multilateral trading system.  It 
supported the convening of a workshop allowing for technical discussions on the regulatory jurisprudence governing Islamic Banking.  Egypt al so looked forward to hear more creative ideas on 
monitoring the impact of the financial crises on various financial services.  This would permit the full 
understanding of the implications of the crisis and enhance developing countries' aptitude to deal with 
its adverse ramifications. TN/S/M/32 
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  29. All these issues would be discussed at an African ministerial meeting hosted by Egypt later in 
the month, where an appraisal of the state of th e DDA negotiations, including in trade in services, 
would be undertaken. 
30. The delegation of Australia
 welcomed the opportunity to engage with other Members on the 
services negotiations and technical issues during the week of meetings.  Useful progress had been 
made in a number of areas, and it was positive to  have the chance to reconnect with Members on 
issues of interest.  Australia continued to be guided by leaders' statements arising out of the G20 in Pittsburgh, and those of trade ministers calling for the conclusion of the round in  2010.  In the current 
economic climate, a strong Doha round outcome on services was even more important – opening services markets conferred wide benefits and were a key factor in economic recovery.  This had to be 
front and centre as delegations concl uded the Doha round services negotiations. 
31. While the political will was there, it had not tran slated into recognition among all Members that 
they were in the end game of negotiations.  Aust ralia acknowledge Members' concerns that a suitable 
package did not exist for other Doha pillars.  However, engagement on substantive market access 
negotiations needed to recommence so that Member s could ensure a commensurate level of certainty 
for services as compared to agriculture and NAMA wh en modalities are agreed.  Delegations needed 
sufficient time to agree on a subs tantive package on services, not onl y in market access but also in 
domestic regulations and a waiver  mechanism to benefit LDCs.  
32. Members had not tabled services offers since 2005, and only 30 some Members had tabled 
revised services offers. What was on the table was th erefore nearly five years old.  Australia was 
comforted by the success of the Signalling Conference (well over a year ago) and wanted to ensure 
that the signals were translated into a package suitable for the endgame environment.  But Australia 
expected more – the locking in of existing aut onomous liberalisation across most sectors, and new 
liberalisation in sectors where significant barriers remained would be a good start. 
33. On the way forward, Australia could make the following observations.  Senior officials would 
meet later in the month, and services needed to be  on their agenda to ensure that delegations had 
achieved a comfortable degree of certainty in the services negotiations.  A two-week round of services 
negotiations would start in early November, the last before Ministers met later that month.  Australia wanted to secure a commitment from Members that th ey would be prepared to engage in substantive 
bilateral market access negotiations in the November r ound.  It was important to be sure that sufficient 
time was allocated to domestic regulation negotiations during the two weeks.  It was also useful to 
remind Members that the work plan included a CTS Special Session, Enchilada meetings, and 
meetings of the WPDR and WPGR,  which would provi de an important opportuni ty to take stock on 
services at year's end. 
34. The delegation of Japan
 said that Members needed to reac tivate their negotiations in order to 
conclude the DDA in 2010.  During the week, Japan had held bilateral meetings with key trading 
partners, and organized friends' meetings on the construction sector.  Japan sensed small positive 
signs from its trading partners that they were in the process of preparing for the real market access 
negotiations in November.  All dele gations needed to raise their le vels of ambition and achievement 
through intensive negotiations during and after No vember.  Japan put an emphasis on the market 
access negotiations, but this did not mean that it negl ected the importance of negotiations in domestic 
regulations and the LDC modalities.  A balan ce among negotiations in market access, domestic 
regulation and LDC modalities was needed.  More i nvolvement of senior officials in the services 
negotiations with suitable timing and in  a suitable way was also important. 
35. The delegation of Canada  said that, in addition to the meetings of the subsidiary bodies that it 
had participated in during the week , Canada had also had the opportuni ty to meet bilaterally with a 
number of key trading partners.  It was a fairly productive week, in which there had been a genuine  TN/S/M/32 
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  willingness to engage in bilateral market access disc ussions.  However, at the same time, it was also 
clear that much work still remained, in par ticular in terms of market access and rules. 
36. On the market access side, delegations had set the stage reasonably well for a re-engagement of 
the bilateral process beginning in November.  Canada  had had two key objectives.  First, to confirm 
the signals that Members had sent either in the form  of the plurilateral Ministerial Conference in July 
2008, or in the form of more informal signals th at had been sent in the context of bilateral and 
plurilateral discussions to date.  Second, Canada had also been focusing on how best to negotiate 
further improvements to the market access package that Members had signalled so far.  Although 
developments on agriculture and NAMA would undoubtedly impact on how much delegations 
achieved in the short term, particularly in terms of the second item of negotiating beyond the signals 
that so far had been made, Canada viewed November  as the opportunity really to begin the process.  
Canada intended to bring capital-based experts in order to be able to re-engage in subs tantive bilateral 
market access discussions.  It was also useful in th e context of those discussions to think creatively 
about potential mechanisms or devices, to potentiall y look at how best delegations could clarify what 
was actually on the table in terms of services market access.  From Canada's point of view, one could 
not afford to wait until modalities on agriculture and NAMA were agreed – there was simply too 
much work to be done.  But perhaps more important ly, services was also part of the agreement of 
senior officials for "no surprises".  Or perhaps a better term, derived from the popular Christmas carol, 
was "comfort and joy", which had been employed at  the recent senior officials' meeting.  What 
delegations needed to know was what was on th e table before modalities on agriculture and NAMA 
were agreed. 
37. Although market access comprised a significant part  of what the services package would entail, 
delegations also needed to consider how to advan ce discussions of the subsidiary bodies, in particular 
those that formed part of the mandate of the H ong Kong Ministerial declaration.  From Canada's 
perspective, those discussions needed  to progress in parallel with mark et access.  Canada also looked 
forward to further reports on the progress of the LDC modalities, which would also be needed for 
conclusion of the Round.  In order to make N ovember productive, Canada  believed strongly that 
capital experts needed to be in Geneva.  There needed to be a willingness for Members to clarify 
signals, and to be in a process of looking at furthe r improvements to existing offers and signals.  In 
closing, Canada looked forward to these discussi ons, to further advancement of the services 
negotiations, and to conclusion of  the Doha Development Round. 
38. The delegation of the United States  shared the views of most who had spoken so far in 
welcoming the call for re-engagement on services by senio r officials.  It was important to re-start the 
machinery.  A year had passed since any serious e ngagement.  Memories were rusty and capital-based 
officials, certainly those outside of trade minist ries, had forgotten what was being done.  Members 
needed to get back to work.  The logical next step  was to re-convene the technical experts, and revisit 
respective positions.  The proposed November cluster,  which seemed to be wining consensus, was an 
excellent opportunity to do that.  What the United States would propose to do in that time period on 
the market access side was to discuss what had been  requested, what had been signalled thus far by 
way of offers, whether positions ha d changed over the past year, and what to do about the gaps that 
remained between expectations and offers that we re anticipated.  The same process needed to take 
place in the other negotiating areas of domestic regula tion, rules and LDC modalities.  They needed to 
take place in equal measure, and appropriate pacing would be necessary as it was with the agriculture 
and NAMA negotiating groups.   
39. The November cluster would provide a useful  opportunity for engagement, and the United 
States hoped that other Members would be able to send capital-based experts to participate in those 
discussions.  On substance, the United States associated  itself in particular with the remarks of India 
and Australia – that Members were on a path to  deliver only incremental progress, and incremental 
progress was not much of an achievement.  It was not  going to win any votes, certainly not when you TN/S/M/32 
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  farmers may be protesting in the street.  More had to be done.  Ways had to be found to enhance the 
outcome if there was any hope to build the politi cal support necessary to conclude the negotiations.  
The United States was actively considering options to produce a stronger outcome, but could not do this alone.  It hoped that other Members would join in working to find creative ways to make a clear 
and compelling case that Members were achieving so mething commercially meaningful in areas that 
mattered in the current global economy. 
40. The delegation of Chinese Tapei
, speaking on behalf of the group of Recently-Acceded 
Members (RAMs) , believed that the Chair's compromise text attached to document TN/S/34, 
containing the "elements required for the comple tion of the services negotiations" still remained 
relevant as the basis of the negotiating roadmap.  Nevertheless, in paragraphs 7 and 8, decisions had 
yet to be made on the specific deadlines for revised offers and final draft schedules of commitments.  Members all agreed that the deadlines should ta ke into account the progress made in the other 
negotiating areas, especially agriculture and NAMA modalities, and that the services negotiations 
should proceed at the same pace as the others. 
41. While continuing to look forward to a breakthrough on agriculture and NAMA modalities, the 
RAMs encouraged Members to keep  up the technical work being done within the Council.  This work 
would not only help to maintain the momentum of the services negotiations, but would also make 
Members better prepared for the end-game of th e DDA negotiations, when the full force of political 
will finally arrived.  The RAMs group remained to tally committed to working together with other 
Members towards an early, ambitious and balanced outcome for the Doha round. 
42. The delegation of Chinese Taipei
, on its own behalf , said that as one of the three pillars of 
market access, it was essential that the services nego tiations continue to progr ess and develop at a rate 
commensurate with that of agriculture and NAMA. It was apparent that there was still quite some 
work ahead, such as in LDC moda lities. This was an important issue, and Members should be 
encouraged to continue their consultations.  Domestic regulation was also important, as was 
emphasized by the recent Secretariat background not e on Construction services, in which it was said 
that "some substantial trade barriers may be addresse d in market access negotiations, while others are 
more closely related to the on-going rule-making agenda ."  As it currently stood, the Chair's text was 
far from satisfactory, and Chinese Taipei wished to  continue discussions with Members in order to 
arrive at a text that met the mandate of GATS Article VI:4.  With respect to GATS rules, some 
support had emerged from Members for engaging in technical discussions in those areas, and 
Members needed to continue to focus their discussions on Members' proposals.  Last, but not least, 
were the market access negotiations.  Here, the serv ices negotiations had to proceed in parallel with 
those in agriculture and NAMA.  Members needed  to seek more progress and/or clarity through 
bilateral negotiations during the fort hcoming clusters, and plurilateral negotiations also needed to be 
considered.  With respect to the cluster meetings in November, Chinese Taipei agreed with colleagues 
that capital experts should actively participate.  In  concluding, it was impor tant that delegations 
should continue to work closely with the Chair to en sure that every effort was made to complete the 
negotiating mandate within a suitable time period. 
43. The delegation of Switzerland  confirmed that the work during the week had been both useful 
and necessary.  Switzerland had held a dozen or so b ilateral meetings with its partners, and these were 
extremely constructive.  During the meetings, core  issues were discussed.  Switzerland was concerned 
not only with market access, but al so all the other subjects that were  being discussed in various fora, 
particularly domestic regulation.  A very open a ttitude from other partners had been encouraging.  
However, Switzerland did have a concern about the gap between negotiations on services and other 
negotiations, particularly on agriculture, and this ha d been the case for some time.  The expectation of 
Members was to liberalize beyond the level of current legislation, implying that legislation might have 
to be dismantled that served significant policy purposes.  There were Members, such as Switzerland, who had accepted to play this game.  On the other hand, offers that went further than the level of  TN/S/M/32 
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  current legislation were rare.  If nothing change d, the results of the negotiations would produce 
nothing concrete.  Schedules would be more precise and contain more  detail, but there would be no 
new opportunities for access. 
44. Switzerland was trying to anticipate the critical  phase that would follow the conclusion of the 
Round, which it hoped would happen next year.  This  raised a few concerns for a country such as 
Switzerland, which did not have many export opportunities in the agricultural sector, and was more 
interested in the goods, and particularly the services,  sector.  Switzerland was concerned that it would 
have to give up a great deal in one sector but , if nothing changed, there would be no actual 
improvement in access in other sectors.  It was im portant that this attitude changed, and that the 
negotiations were seen to be balanced. 
45. Balance was also a key word within the servi ces negotiations.  Switzerland needed significant 
improvements in market access, which was an essential item.  Its minimum objective was access corresponding to current legislation.  Services disci plines were not limited to Articles XVI and XVII, 
and a balanced result within GATS was needed.  It  was essential to improve the level of commitment 
in the areas of domestic regulation and rules.  What  was currently on the table was not nearly enough. 
Without significant progress in these two areas, it would be difficult to explain the relevance of the 
results in the negotiations on services. 
46. With respect to the future stages of the nego tiations, Switzerland was very satisfied with the 
way in which things have been organized during th e week.  There had been much time dedicated to 
bilateral meetings, which was very useful.  The b ilateral format was ideal for continuing discussions, 
and would remain so for some time into the future .  It was probably important to increase the level of 
discussion – direct discussions under the Chair, but  also through the enchilada meetings and senior 
officials – preferably during November.  Switzerland  supported the suggestion of a services cluster in 
November, and was flexible as to the dates. 
47. The delegation of China
 welcomed the resumption of service negotiations, and reiterated that it 
was fully committed to a rapid conclusion of th e Doha Round with an ambitious, balanced and 
comprehensive outcome. China had made great e fforts to contribute to the success of service 
negotiations by successive revised and signalled offers , even though its starting point of commitments 
was very high as the result of recent accession negotia tion.  China agreed that negotiations be resumed 
on the bases of existing offers and signals, even though they were conditional. But like other 
Members, China was also concerned about the un balanced outcome of the Signalling Conference. 
China hoped its trading partners could give a more positive consideration to its key export interests. 
48.  In evaluating the services negotiation, it was im portant to remember that the their success 
would be defined not only by market access but also the rules negotiatio ns. China encouraged 
Members to intensify their work to prepare for a breakthrough in the area of domestic regulation and 
LDC modalities. China believed that the current exer cise of bilateral negotiations could be used to 
clarify requests and offers as Members wished. With  respect to the proposal by some Members to 
exchange written offers, China believed that nego tiations should proceed according to the existing 
mandate and agreed procedures.  China looked forw ard to the service cluster in November, and would 
be fully prepared to engage in intensified negotiations. 
49. The delegation of Pakistan  encouraged Members to engage in meaningful discussions, but was 
concerned with lack of real engagement in the services areas since the Signaling Conference in July 
2008.  It was to be hoped that Members we come out  of the selective amnesia in services, and that the 
status quo would be broken due to an inte nsive phase during the forthcoming clusters. 
50. Pakistan urged Members to engage in all areas of the services negotiations.  There was currently 
a lack of balance between market access and ot her pillars of GATS nego tiations, which could be TN/S/M/32 
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  equalized through enhanced particip ation of all Members in the process at formal and informal level. 
Pakistan wished to draw Members' attention to the fact that any improvement in market access would not be effective in the absence of well-defined out comes in domestic regula tions and GATS rules. For 
developing countries like Pakistan, rules and regulati ons posed higher barriers to its services exports 
than lack of market access opportunities. Therefore an ambitious outcome in these areas was crucial.  
Pakistan also urged Members engaged in work on LDC modalities to come up with some form of 
submission to the Special Session so that every dele gation could contribute to this important issue.  
51. All avenues needed to be explored to progress the services negotiations, be they multilateral or 
plurilateral.  Pakistan understood that in order to  have substantive plurila teral rounds, delegations 
needed to have the broader picture defined, and tim e line of revised offers in place. There was a need 
to preserve the Hong Kong sequencing. Pakistan l ooked forward to achieving meaningful progress 
during the November cluster and to speed up in the work of subsidiary bodies.  
52. The delegation of New Zealand
 said that the week had been useful to re-establish contact with 
key partners and signal an intensifi cation of engagement – in market access but also in rules and, in 
particular, domestic regulation.  New Zealand was ready to continue this, and intensify work in 
November.  The week commencing 9 November (in addition to relevant Committee meetings) would 
be the best opportunity for DDA-related activity, bi lateral or plurilateral as appropriate.  These grand 
plans could not be made in isolation, however, and progress elsewhere – specifically in agriculture 
and NAMA – was essential to give an impetus to th e services process.  A timetable of meetings in 
itself was insufficient to guarantee progress.  There were however outstanding issues which could be considered as a group.  Specifically what was the "d evice" that was needed in  services, that could be 
contributed at the point of agreement on agriculture and NAMA modalities, that would provide 
sufficient comfort or clarity on the services outcome?  New Zealand supported the suggestion of the EC and others that some "intermediate product" – tangible and in written form, so that it could be 
exchanged among Members – would be appropriate, a nd an improvement over the previous year's 
successful yet somewhat nebulous Signalling Conf erence.  New Zealand looked forward to more 
engagement with trading partners, and discussion on these issues at the upcoming senior official 
meetings and services clusters. 
53. The delegation of Chile
 hoped that the machinery of the ser vices negotiations had become rusty, 
despite the fact that it had been lying idle for some time.  In general terms, there had been a 
reasonable level of commitment on the part of the Me mbers, particularly in the context of bilateral 
meetings organized during the week.  It was a good om en that during the November cluster this work 
would be consolidated, and there would be an inten se period of work through bilateral and plurilateral 
meetings, which would allow delegati ons to make up for lost time.  A great deal of work was needed. 
What was on the table as offers or simple signa ls had been around for some time, and there was a 
need to revisit them particularly, where market access was concerned.  The delegation of Chile was 
available to participate fully in the process, and in  future phases, particularly the November cluster. 
54. Chile hoped that the same degree of intensity wo uld be apparent in the negotiations on domestic 
regulation.  There needed to be sufficient time in the coming months to review the Chairman's 
working paper and all its elements.  On sequencing and future offers, Chile agreed that these were 
closely linked to the general evolution of negotiations.  However, it was important to work in a pragmatic manner which would most likely allo w Members to achieve a positive result in the 
negotiations. 
55. The delegation of Singapore
 said there was much to be done in the lead up to the end-game 
scenario.  For Singapore, services were an integral part of the DDA package in terms of both market 
access and rules.  It was eager to see progress in the services negotiations, and keen to support 
momentum there.  On market access, it was useful  to discuss further what could be expected from 
each others' offers.  The bilateral and plurilateral av enues in the November cluster could be used for  TN/S/M/32 
 Page 11 
 
 
  this.  In rules, there was a need to step up the work in domestic regulation and GATS rules, as well as 
in LDC modalities.  Finally, Singapore reiterated its support for the services negotiations.  Much 
flexibility was needed for positive movement in th e negotiations. Singapore ur ged Members to engage 
in this spirit so that when the moment w as right, political decisions could be taken. 
56. The delegation of Argentina  stated that the week's meetings  had been useful, and discussions 
held bilaterally and with all Members had proved to be fruitful.  With respect to next steps, some 
delegations had spoken of the need to speed up the negotiating process through bilateral and 
multilateral meetings.  Nevertheless, Argentina believe d that, in view of the stage at which the Round 
was, it was time to involve itself in market access.   Argentina was ready to speak with any and all 
partners, but could not go beyond the signals given in 2008.  However, like Brazil, Argentina was not 
in a position to exchange written agreements, but wa s ready to speak about rules, domestic regulation 
and the modalities for LDCs. 
57. The delegation of Korea  welcomed the revival of the DDA negotiations in all areas, with the 
aim of concluding it by 2010, as confirmed by leaders of the G20 in September.  Korea thus looked forward to substantial engagement in market acces s negotiations on services in the coming months.  
The delegation had held bilateral consultations with several Member s during this cluster, which was 
quite useful as a warm up for the real play in Nove mber.  Korea welcomed the arrangement of the full 
services cluster in November for bilateral and plurila teral meetings or other possible mechanisms, and 
urged Members to be fully prepared.  Services experts and related ministries and industries might need a loud wake-up call and dust off their old fi les to check requests that they had received and 
offers they would be willing to make.  Korea ther efore hoped to hear Members' intentions for the 
improvement of their offers when the time was right .  The involvement of senior level officials in the 
services negotiations was very important at this stage.  At the same time, Korea welcomed the intensification of the negotiations to develop th e horizontal disciplines on domestic regulation, and 
looked forward to the development of  the LDC modalities so that they could be shared by Members at 
an early stage.  Korea expected an overall balan ced and high level outcome as the end product in the 
services negotiations. 
58. The delegation of Norway
 said that at the July General Council there had been a broad 
recognition of the need to intensify and advance wo rk right across the scope of the negotiations.  The 
calendar discussed in the TNC held in September, with later modifications, provided Members with a 
working schedule for the rest of the year.  The ch allenge was now to fill this working schedule with 
negotiations on substance.  The Chair's report on el ements required for the completion of the services 
negotiations  from July 2008 remained a valid roadmap, with an inventory of the issues that would 
need to be dealt with.  Discussions had demonstrated  that Members had interests in different parts of 
the roadmap – this indicated that there should be an effort to move the different elements forward in 
parallel. 
59. In July, the General Council had taken note of a "no surprises" principle.  It was maybe no 
longer fashionable to talk about "no surprises", but  the underlying implications remained – in the 
market access negotiations in services there needed to be a good sense of the outcome in order to sign 
on to agriculture and NAMA modalities.  Norway had listened carefully to colleagues and had noted a 
number of ideas as to how such clarity could be brought about.  The request-offer approach was an 
established method in market access negotiations in services, and Members had conducted such 
negotiations bilaterally and plurila terally. While there was certainly scope for restarting bilateral 
negotiations in earnest, there was a need also to  assess how continued plurila teral negotiations could 
be a vehicle for providing enhanced clarity.  In line w ith the need to move the various elements of the 
services negotiations forward in parallel, there was al so a need to find ways to achieve the required 
clarity as to the outcome in key areas such as GATS rules, domestic regulation and LDC modalities. TN/S/M/32 
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  60. The delegation of Colombia
 said that progress during the week had been as satisfactory as 
possible.  Nonetheless, Members had not really be gun negotiating services, and there was a lack of 
balance between the various pillars of the negotiati on.  It was therefore we lcome to hear the need 
expressed to re-energize and revitalize the negotiations.  Many delegations had stated that they wanted 
more precise understanding of the offers.  Colombia thought that a review of these intentions should 
not be selective, but rather should consider the interests of all Members, including those from 
developing countries.  Some Members, like Colomb ia, were of relatively small economic size or 
degree of development, and were not in a positio n to sit down on equal terms with many larger 
Members.  Colombia wanted a multilateral approach  that would allow it to receive the appropriate 
signals.  During the week, Colombia had been gui ded only by what was going on in the multilateral 
area and, based on this, was disappointed because of th e very negative signals in services of particular 
interest to it.  For this reason,  there was a need to use multilatera l procedures to a greater degree so 
that these issues could be discussed more openly. 
61. The delegation of the Bahamas  wished to play its part in the re-engagement efforts intended to 
re-invigorate and intensify the services negotiations, in  tandem with all other negotiating areas of the 
Round.  While not disputing that there was still a significant way to go to reach the final goal post, it 
was worth marking the achievements where a consid erable level of agreement had already been 
reached towards the elements for the completion of  the services negotiations.  A plurilateral signalling 
exercise had taken place, and the Bahamas expected  that further bilateral and/or plurilateral 
engagements would continue within a timeframe and context suitable to participants.  It was important 
that substantive progress also be attained in the ru le-making area, both in GATS rules and particularly 
in domestic regulation, where it would be appropria te to have a more formal recognition of the 
progress thus far achieved.  There was a need to tr ansform political will into substantive action.  The 
Bahamas continued to express support for advanc ing on LDC modalities and looked forward to 
reviewing the relevant proposal.  In closing, th e Bahamas wished to reiterate its commitment to 
moving forward, and substantively build on the solid schedule of work being proposed for a 
November cluster, both within the Counc il and the respective subsidiary bodies. 
62. The Chair  said that that it was difficult to summa rize the afternoon's discussions.  There had 
been a number of proposals – observations – many  of them expressing divergent views.  The only 
summary that he could present was that all seemed to agree that there should be a cluster during the 
week beginning 2 November.  In the first week the re gular meetings on services would be held.  In the 
following week, starting on 9 November, time would be  devoted to the Doha Round issues in the area 
of services.  The Chair and the Secretariat could do no more nor less than provide for the bilateral and 
multilateral meetings to which Members had agreed.  This was dependant on  delegations, not on the 
Secretariat or the Chair.  That said, the Chair wished to encourage delegations, during the second 
week, to have experts from capital present, and in  this way try to re-energize and speed up the 
negotiations in services, while being fully aware that these were not taking place in a vacuum. 
 
B. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MODALITIES FOR THE SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR LEAST -
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS IN THE TRADE IN SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS  
63. The Chair  said that the informal meeting of the Spec ial Session, held during the previous week, 
was told that the consultative group led by Norway w as continuing to consult on  this issue.  A number 
of delegations expressed the wish that the negotia ting process be accelerated.  For his part, the Chair 
emphasized his continuing availability, and that of the Secretariat on the technical side, in assisting to 
advance these discussions. 
64. The delegation of Norway  said that it had for some time be en involved in consultations with 
other interested Members on the issue of LDC modal ities.  The purpose of the consultations was to try 
to flesh out a draft waiver available to all Member s from the obligations of Article II:1 of the GATS  TN/S/M/32 
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  in respect of preferential treatment benefiting all LDC Members.  The waiver was identified in 
paragraph 9 of the Chair's roadmap of July 2008 as offering the most satisfactory way of fulfilling this 
part of the negotiations.  The consultations were still a work in progress, but it was to be hoped that 
drafts could be presented in the Special  Session in the relatively near future. 
65.  The European Communities  regretted the lack of transparency of the work on LDCs which was 
not conducive to finding a satisfactory solution for a ll Members.  The EC attached great importance to 
the development aspect of the Round in general, a nd establishing modalities for LDCs in particular, in 
accordance of course with the Hong Kong Minister ial Declaration and the July 2008 text.   
66. The problem was not the exclusion of the EC from the small group of discussions as such, but 
the exclusion of almost all WTO Members from th is group.  The longer LDCs waited before they 
opened up discussions with all Members, the longer wo rk on this subject would be delayed.  Work on 
LDC modalities had not even begun yet, and it had been over a year since th e issue arose in July 
2008.  The group had said that it was soon going to pr esent a proposal, but it was naïve to believe that 
Members would be able to accept the proposal without  discussing it.  As far as the EC was concerned, 
Members could count on its cooperation, but should not expect it to accept a fait accompli .  The  EC 
stressed that the tone and substance of its comment was intended to be positive.  There was a need to 
avoid Members feeling discouraged at the lack of progress on this issue because discussions were 
taking place within a small group. 
67. The delegation of Colombia  would have liked more information, but thanked the Norwegian 
delegation nonetheless for the information they had ju st given.  Colombia emphasized that any waiver 
that finally emerged would have to take account of  paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article IX of the WTO 
Agreement for the benefit of all Members, and particularly of developing countries. 
68. The delegation of Japan  stated that it also was disappointed by the lack of transparency in the 
small consultative group, and was interested in  actively participating in its discussions. 
C. WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES – REPORTS BY THE CHAIRPERSONS  
69. The Chair of the Committee on Specific Commitments  said that since his last report to the 
Special Session in June 2009, the Committee had met only once, on 8 October.  The discussion in the 
Committee continued to focus on the agenda item regarding the relationshi p between old and new 
commitments.  It had been agreed at the June meeting that the replacement method would be the 
working assumption to incorporate the results of the current market access negotiations into the 
GATS.  At the 8 October meeting, delegations a ddressed the issue of whether certain language was 
needed in the incorporation instrument in order to ensure that the level of treatment provided by pre-
existing commitments would not be undermined u nder the replacement method.  A number of 
delegations reiterated the necessity to include certa in language in the incorporation instrument to 
prevent rollback in the new schedules.  However,  some delegations were concerned that such 
language might generate uncertainty in the future.  The Chair expected the Committee to have a more 
concrete and more constructive discussion at the meeting in November, when the compilation by the 
Secretariat of past relevant practice had been circulated.  Delegations' submissions would also 
contribute to future discussion under this agenda ite m.  On scheduling issues,  it was agreed that the 
Secretariat would update the background note (S/CSS/W/118) on economic needs tests (ENTs) by examining the schedules of all those Members that had acceded to the WTO after the circulation of 
the document, in November 2001.  There was no discussion on classification issues.  
70. The Chair of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services
 said that the Committee had held an 
informal meeting on 23 September, and a formal me eting on 8 October.  The purpose of the informal 
meeting was to discuss the proposals made by United States and by Argentina, India, and South Africa.  There were currently three proposals on th e table: a proposal by the United States for an TN/S/M/32 
Page 14  
 
  information exchange on trade in non-life insurance services;  a proposal by Argentina, India, and 
South Africa to consider the effects of the current fi nancial crisis on trade in  financial services; and a 
proposal by Pakistan to launch a discussion on trade-related aspects of e-finance. 
71. Despite the progress made in the consideration of  these proposals – particularly the ones by the 
United States and by Argentina, India, and South A frica – it was clear that further consultations were 
needed on the actual format and content of the work  envisaged.  As the Chair had indicated at the 
meeting, he would be holding consultations with  Members in the coming weeks.  Additionally, 
preparations were ongoing for the organization of  a dedicated discussion on Islamic finance at the 
next formal meeting, on 9 November.  Further co nsultations were still needed however to delineate 
the topics to be addressed in a dedicated discussion on microfinance.  Finally, the Chair wished to 
remind Members that the Committee would meet again in November.  The meeting would start on 2 
November, and would continue on 9 November. 
72. The Chair of the Working Pa rty on Domestic Regulation
 (WPDR) said that since her last report 
in June 2009, the Working Party had held one rou nd of informal consultations, on 24 September 2009, 
and one formal meeting, that morning on 9 October.   The substance of both meetings was devoted to 
technical discussions on the development of disciplines on domestic regulation pursuant to 
Article VI:4 of the GATS, and focussed on the disc ussion of two chapters of the former Chairman's 
revised draft text (Room Document, 20 March 2009). 
73. At the informal consultations on 24 Septembe r, delegations had e ngaged in a technical 
discussion of the chapter on "Definitions."  The di scussion was constructive, but revealed a degree of 
divergence in views both on (1) whether future disciplines should cover mandatory and voluntary technical standards, and (2) whether this was suffici ently clearly reflected in the current draft text.  
Further discussion on definitions appeared necessar y, possibly in conjunction with a discussion on 
individual obligations contained in the draft text. 
74. During the meeting on 9 October, the WPDR ha d focused on possible disciplines contained in 
the chapter on "Technical Standards." Two proposals for additional disciplines in this regard were 
received, one by a group of Members, and another by  an individual Member.  Also here, it was the 
Chair's sense that further discussion was needed to advance the negotiations.  
75. With regard to future work, the Chair believed that there was general agreement to complete a 
reading of all chapters of the Chairman's draft text by the end of the year.  To facilitate this, it was her 
intention to convene a full-day meeting of the Wo rking Party during the next cluster in November, 
and one meeting in mid-December, possibly during the week of the Senior Officials' meetings.  Given 
the amount of work ahead, it was the Chair's inten tion to review this meeting schedule during the 
November cluster.     
76. The Chair of the Working Party on GATS Rules
 said that since its last report to the Special 
Session, the Working Party had met in formal sessi on on 6 October.  The Chair had also conducted a 
first round of informal technical consultations on selected topics from the th ree GATS rules areas.  
These consultations had helped focus discussions on proposals from Members, as required by the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  The Chai r intended to launch a sec ond round of technical 
discussions in the near future.  However, while it was certainly important that Members were starting 
to debate the issues on the table, after a relatively l ong détente, it seemed that more effort was needed, 
if Members were to shift fully into "negotiating" mode.  At the meeting of 6 October, the Chair had 
provided an assessment of what he saw to be the current situation with emergency safeguard 
measures, subsidies and government procurement.  He  now wished to repeat the main points of his 
assessment, as it was widely shared by Members.  TN/S/M/32 
 Page 15 
 
 
  77.  On subsidies, it was fair to say that of all th e GATS rules subjects, this area had received the 
least negotiating attention from Members.  The discussion had been stuck on the formulation of a provisional definition of subsidies, and little progr ess had been made on the required exchange of 
information.  Nevertheless, very recently, sever al delegations had repeatedly called for the 
development of  disciplines to avoid the trade-distor tive effects of subsidies in services, and the Chair 
welcomed this renewed interest.  However, as the Ch air had said at the meeting of the Working Party, 
unless these negotiations received concrete inputs from delegations on the nature of the problem to be 
addressed and the means for doing so, li ttle progress could be expected.    
78. On emergency safeguard measures , the situation was qualitatively different.   Over the years, a 
group of Members had consistently provided inputs relevant to the consideration and formulation of 
an ESM.  Substantive and technical discussions on various aspects of these proposals had also been 
held.  Among the three subjects that the Working Pa rty was mandated to negotiate, ESM had been the 
item to which most time had been devoted.  Howe ver, this did not indicate that substantial progress 
had been achieved towards convergen ce on the various issues at stak e.  Members remained divergent 
on issues as fundamental as the desirability and feasi bility of an ESM.  Unlike subsidies, the ESM 
discussion had not suffered from a lack of substantive inputs.  Ultimately, the key to moving forward 
in these negotiations depended on wh ether Members had the political will to enable the negotiations 
to reach an outcome, irrespective of what that outcome might be.   
79. On government procurement, an elaborated pr oposal on government procurement in services 
had been on the table for some time.  Yet, Memb ers had shied away from engaging substantively on 
its content.  As with the other two GATS rules s ubjects, the Chair had launched informal technical 
discussions to provide Members the opportunity to go further into specific elements of the proposal, 
and he was certainly willing to continue with such consultations.  However, wh ile the consideration of 
technical elements was important and necessary, it would not be sufficient.  There remained a 
fundamental difference between Members on the ultimate objective of the negotiations mandated 
under Article XIII.  Thus, if these negotiations we re to move forward, Members would ultimately 
have to address whether there was the political  will to find a common basis for proceeding
.  In the 
immediate, the Chair would continue his technical  discussions, but would be urging Members to keep 
these issues in mind, and in particular urge them to redouble their efforts to find areas of convergence. 
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
80. Since there was no other business, the Chair  adjourned the meeting. 
__________