RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/M/23 
5 April 2007 
 
 (07-1401) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2 MARCH 2007 
 
Note by the Secretariat1 
 
 
1. The Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services held a formal meeting on 
2 March 2007, chaired by Ambassa dor Fernando de Mateo of Mexico.  The agenda for the meeting, 
contained in document WTO/AIR/2967, was adopted. 
A. R EVIEW OF PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS , INCLUDING PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE 
GUIDELINES FOR NEGOTIATIONS AND ORGANIZATION OF FUTURE WORK   
2. The Chair  noted that this agenda item was normally placed toward the end of meetings.  It 
was up front for this meeting in order to focus Memb ers' attention urgently on finding ways to achieve 
substantive results in the services negotiations, on a time-scale that made sense for the overall 
negotiations.   
3. He recalled that last month, full negotiations had been resumed across the board.  Statements 
in the TNC had emphasized the essential role of services in achieving a successful outcome to the 
Round and, in particular, the importance for services  negotiations being sufficiently advanced when 
there was a breakthrough in the ta lks in agriculture and NAMA.  It had been recognized that, to 
ensure satisfactory progress, Members had to be more  precise about the form and content of progress 
in services that they were willing to make. 
4. He reminded Members that last year, until th e suspension of the negotiations, Members had 
made some progress in achieving goals set by Minist ers in Hong Kong.  Plurilateral negotiations had 
been launched and produced better than expected re sults.  However, grave concerns had continued to 
be expressed by many about the quality of offers on the table.   
5. Since the full resumption of talks, Members had intensified negotiating activities in services.  
The Council had met informally in early February, a nd delegations had already held bilateral talks, 
and planed others over the coming weeks.  The subsidiary bodies had also met, and their Chairs would 
report later on progress made.  The Chair himsel f had also conducted consultations, at the 
ambassadorial level, to focus nego tiations on substance, in preparation for a breakthrough occurring in 
the other main negotiating areas. 
6. Members recognized the particular difficulties in  services negotiations.  They were resource 
and labour-intensive, due to the wide range of sect ors and the complexity of services regulations.  
They typically involved multiple government minist ries.  Lead-times were therefore much longer than 
in other types of negotiations.  At the Council's info rmal meeting in February delegations had stressed 
the urgency of intensifying cons ultations with their domestic authorities on services offers.  In 
                                                      
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/23 
Page 2  
 
  addition, however, Members had to factor in the need  to coordinate their efforts with negotiations in 
other areas – without knowing precisely when key ev ents in those other ne gotiations would take 
place. 
7. The Chair invited Members to express views on the following questions:  how best to move 
forward;  what optimal outcomes each Member e xpected from the services negotiations;  how best to 
ensure such an outcome within th e services area;  with respect to the other main negotiating areas, 
agriculture and NAMA, what role the plurilateral pro cess was to play;  what sorts of meetings should 
be convened and when to have them , end of March or end of April;  and how a future cluster should 
be structured.  He stressed that at this stage of the negotiations, Members were resolutely to focus 
their efforts on obtaining significant advances in subs tance that were required to successfully close the 
overall negotiations. 
8. The representative of Japan
 wished to make three points.  First, services was an integral part 
of the single undertaking; no services, no round.  Second, in the absence of a formula approach in services, it was the duty of each demandeur to reveal  its bottom line which requested Members had to 
take fully into consideration and make necessary adju stments or narrow the gaps, if any.  Delegations 
would then engage in pledging at as high level as pos sible, including ministers.  Third,  Japan agreed 
that the bilateral and plurilateral talks should ta ke place during the second half of April and that 
indicative timelines were needed for the second revised offers.   On the latter, one option was to have 
an exact date; another option was to have a "breakth rough + x weeks" timeline.  While flexible on this 
issue, Japan thought that certain indicative timelin es were needed which should not be too far apart 
from the breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA.    
9. The representative of the United States
 stated that it was absolutely essential to have a strong 
market access component in services if Members want ed to have a successful overall Doha package.  
In the case of the United States, for the governme nt to be able to sell a package domestically, 
especially a package that had important reforms in agriculture, it had to have a strong market access 
component in services.  He noted that the two r ounds of services offers submitted to date by some 70 
plus Members made minimal improvements over Ur uguay Round commitments.  They were mostly 
concentrated in the least valuable services sectors.  What was currently on the table was insufficient as 
a final package, even insufficien t for an immediate breakthrough p ackage.  Most countries had not 
even come close to binding their current level of market access.  While a lock-in at current market 
access would be useful in some sectors, for some countries it would not go far enough since it would not remove remaining foreign equity restrictions and other key barriers in important sectors such as 
financial services and telecommunications.   
10. For the United States, the next offers should c over bindings in key sectors such as:  financial 
services, telecommunications, computer and related services, energy services, express delivery services, distribution services, environmental services and audiovisual services.  The offers were to 
include minimum bindings on: 1) removal or substan tial liberalization of foreign equity restrictions; 
2) removal of restrictions on the form of establis hment (e.g. prohibition on branching); 3) removal of 
prohibitions on supplying services cross-border (e.g. via the Internet); 4) removal of nationality requirements; 5) ensuring no competitive advant ages provided to government entities operating in 
competitive market environments; and 6) expanding coverage in key sectors.   
11. On the issue of development, he noted that not just developed countries were demandeurs in 
the services negotiations.  In plurilateral requests,  many developing countries were seeking better 
market access to both developed and developing co untries.  Services market access negotiations were 
not a North-South issue.  The evidence for servi ces market access as an important development 
component was overwhelming.  Core services incl uding financial services, telecommunications, and 
distribution services underpinned the competitivene ss of national economies, whether developed or 
developing.   Developing countries were behind in having services that were efficient, economical and  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 3 
 
 
  innovative.  The best way to bring developing countries forward in these essential elements and 
competitiveness was to open their ma rket in services, not just in the developed world, but in the 
developing world as well.  There was no single mode l of import substitution that had made a country 
have a more efficient, more effective and more competitive services regime as a result of protecting 
and not opening up.  If Members were serious about having a development round, they needed to go 
much further in liberalization of services. 
12. The representative of Norway  stated that it was important to  ensure parallelism to the other 
market access negotiations.  As soon as agriculture  and NAMA entered into mo re detailed discussions 
and negotiations, it was an imperative that Members do the same in services.  In this regard, Norway 
supported the Chair's ongoing efforts to keep services  on par with the other negotiation areas.  It was 
high time that Members move into more substance on services.   
13. Norway's key objectives in the services negotiati ons were to elaborate and develop the GATS 
as an effective tool in the multilateral trading system  and to ensure that the trading system through the 
GATS reflected the massive increase of a more open trade in services.   There were clearly large 
economic benefits to be reaped for all Members,  developing as well as developed countries, in 
opening up the services markets and making comm itments under the GATS.  The case for more open 
and predictable trade was particularly strong w ith respect to services which were providing the 
infrastructure for business and economic activity.  The end result of these negotiations was therefore to ensure high quality commitments on infrastructure services.   
14. Norway attached special importance to mariti me transport, energy, telecommunications and 
financial services.  Norway's aim in these sector s was clear from its bilateral requests and the 
collective requests it had co-sponsored.  He noted that both developing and developed countries had 
put their names behind the collective requests.  With  regard to further directions, Norway sought the 
most crucial improvements in the above-mentioned four sectors as followed: on maritime transport, the sector was to be put in line with other sect ors with new and improved commitments provided, 
especially on Mode 1 for international maritime tran sport;  on energy services, the focus was on those 
related to petroleum activities offshore; on teleco mmunications, as presented in the collective request; 
on financial services, the focus was on non-life insurance related to marine and energy activities.   
15. On the process ahead, Norway supported the propos al that the next cluster take place during 
the second half of April so as to allow for suffi cient preparations in capital to get a productive 
gathering.  Noting that most of the co-ordinator s had already sent out reminders of the collective 
requests, Norway believed that the plurilateral pro cess was to be utilized to their full potential.  
Entering into the final stages of the negotiations, No rway supported all the Chair's efforts to ensure 
that services were on par with agriculture and NAMA, be it through "Enchilada" talks at 
ambassadorial level or more senior involvements dur ing clusters.  Although it was too early to set a 
date for the next offers, Norway was sympathetic to the idea of linking it to the developments in other 
market access areas.  The services negotiations were  not only about market access.  Sufficient time 
was needed to advance negotiations on domestic regul ation and rules.  In addition, Norway welcomed 
the Chair's continued consultations on the LDC modalities and the S&D proposals.   
16. The representative of th e European Communities
 stated that it was worth underlining that 
services represented a huge part of the EC GDP and employment, about 80%.  Therefore, the services component was the essential element for the EC in th e Doha Round.  To ensure the overall balance of 
negotiations, a focus on services was also necessary in parallel with developments in agriculture and 
NAMA.  The EC had a wide range of services inte rests which reflected its economic significance as 
well as the priorities across its 27 Member States.  Without attempting to identify all the sectors in 
which the EC had interest, he indicated the mo re important ones as follows: financial services, 
telecommunications, computer and related services, maritime transport, distribution, postal and 
courier services, construction services, environmental services, energy services, and legal services.  It TN/S/M/23 
Page 4  
 
  was important for Members to undertake commitme nts across all modes of supply in the services 
negotiations.  While noting that in practice the comb ination of modes of supply was often involved in 
the effective delivery of services, he wished to hi ghlight Mode 3 which was particularly important for 
the EC.  Within Mode 3, foreign ownership caps were  regarded as the major barrier to trade.  As a 
demandeur in this area, the EC had already proven its readiness to contribute a fair share to the GATS 
negotiations.  In addition to its very signifi cant existing Uruguay Round commitments, the EC had 
already put two ambitious offers on the table.  Recogni zing developing countries' interest in Mode 4, 
the EC had made substantial efforts to offe r new and improved commitments in this mode, 
particularly with regard to categories delinked from commercial presence.   The EC was ready to go 
further, but it needed other Members to show a si milar level of ambition so that the services results 
would be commensurate to those undertaken in other areas of market access negotiations.   Like the 
United States, the EC was disappointed about the offe rs tabled, which did not match the present level 
of liberalization and did not go beyond what the EC expected from the negotiations.  The next round of offers needed to be qualitatively acceptable to the EC.   That meant the final package would have to 
contain not only binding existing liberalization, bu t creation in many industries and across different 
sectors of new market access opportunities.   
17. On the process, the next round of offers woul d be essential from the EC perspective.  These 
offers should be based on the plurilateral requ ests and meet the agreed objectives contained in 
Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarati on.  Any breakthrough in the coming weeks or 
months would need to include developments in services.   It would be important to use the 
opportunity of the breakthrough to reaffirm Members' commitments to services liberalization.   
Taking into account that major decisions would have to be taken in other areas of negotiations, more 
progress would have to be achieved in services as well.   The EC therefore saw the need at the time of 
breakthrough for future offers to be discussed among senior officials, and the right moment, at the 
level of ministers in green room format:  the gr een room discussion could eventually be held in 
parallel with that for agriculture and NAMA.  This was a pledging exercise where Members would 
indicate the broad lines of commitments they envisag ed in their future offers, and thus allowing a 
timely assessment by Members of the level of ambition emerging in the services area.   
18. The representative of Chile
 stated that it was timely to  convene this meeting because 
Members had to reconfirm the core role of services in the market access negotiations in the Doha Round.  He echoed the statement made by Japan: no  services, no round.   For a developing country 
like Chile, the increase of commitments by Memb ers, both in terms of extension and depth, 
represented a vital element.   As Chile's economy  was more dependent on services than ever with 
services representing 60% of GDP, it needed export markets offering legal certainty, openness and transparency.  Chile took this opportunity to reiterate the areas of interest to it in the negotiations.  
Mode 4 was an area where Chile hoped to obtain results which would facilitate the temporary 
presence of its services providers.  Achieving results in this area was intimately linked to the 
development objectives of the Round and would estab lish the overall balance of the outcome of the 
negotiations.  In terms of specific commitments , Chile's priority areas included business services 
(especially professional, architecture, engineering and computer services),  construction services, logistics and transport services (including maritime, ai r and land).  With respect to the process, Chile 
urged Members to return rapidly to the preparator y work for the new offers .  The work ahead was 
long and hard and therefore Members needed to m ove quickly to the next stages of negotiations.  
Chile was in favour of continuing plurilateral meeti ngs as an effective complement to the bilateral 
process.  For this, Chile agreed that the next ser vices cluster should take place during the second half 
of April.  In addition to the services market acce ss negotiations, Chile was also interested in the 
establishment of disciplines on domestic regulation.  This was needed because the private sector was 
often facing burdensome regulations  which were clearly unjustifie d and prevented it from having 
access to markets outside Chile.   Chile's priority was to agree on disciplines which could be based on 
what already existed in Article VI:4 of the GATS.  Chile did not want to move backward or along the  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 5 
 
 
  wrong path in this area.  Chile wanted princi ples and disciplines which would enable services 
providers to effectively take advantage of market access commitments achieved. 
19. The representative of Australia  welcomed this early opportunity to meet formally following 
the formal resumption of the Round, and thanked Aust ralia's partners for their participation in late 
January in the first substantive round of bilatera l market access discussions since the suspension.  
While having a good understanding of what was curre ntly in prospect for future revised offers, 
Australia regretted that there had been little if any improvement during the suspension, and that 
services ambition was too low to provide ba lance across the Doha package.    
20. When Australia expressed its concern that  services was lagging behind agriculture and 
NAMA, it was not concerned that services offers would only be tabled after an agriculture/NAMA 
breakthrough – it was concerned that its ambition in  agriculture and NAMA was not being mirrored in 
services.  Australia expected the outcome on ag riculture and NAMA to require tough policy and 
legislative changes which would go beyond removing water from schedules and deliver new market 
access.  Australia expected nothing less of services.   
21. If a breakthrough happened, Members would need  to move quickly to match the level of 
ambition identified for agriculture and NAMA in that  breakthrough.  It would not be sufficient to 
simply submit offers Members had prepared for su bmission last July – the Round had moved beyond 
that point.  All Members would need to put best offe rs on the table to ensure that they contributed to 
the momentum and that no blame could be put on se rvices as a sticking point or poor relation in the 
Round.  This meant leaving nothing in back pockets.   
22. For Australia, priorities included improved co mmitments on commercial presence (Mode 3) 
especially where foreign equity bindings were currently less than 50%.  Improved business mobility 
(Mode 4) was also important for Australia.  Aust ralia would be seeking improvements from its trading 
partners in this area that matched its ambitious revised  Mode 4 offer.  Australia 's revised Mode 4 offer  
was partly framed to respond directly to the dema nds of LDCs and developing countries.  Priority 
sectors for Australia remained financial services, telecommunications, professional services, 
education, mining-related services and environmental services.  Australia saw no basis for Members 
not committing long-standing liberalisation in these s ectors as part of the Doha Round, particularly 
when this long-standing liberalisation was alread y bound internationally through, for example, IMF 
loan conditionality.   
23. Recognizing that a shift in the level of ambition in services would require political 
engagement, Australia stood ready to engage in high level meetings over coming weeks and months 
to elevate services ambitions and ensure that it c ontributed to momentum towards a breakthrough.  
Australia intended to request bila teral request-offer negotiations at the ambassadorial level with its 
major trading partners over the next two months.  The achievement of efficient competitive services 
supporting and enabling international trade and investment would be critical to unlocking the full 
development potential of the Round, a goal Members all shared.      
24. The representative of Korea  noted that one month had passed since the formal resumption of 
the DDA negotiations.  It was opportune that the Spec ial Session of the CTS met today.  The meeting 
would serve as an opportunity to reaffirm that a meaningful outcome in the services negotiations was 
an essential component in achieving a balanced DDA package.  For all Memb ers, it was essential to 
achieve a substantial outcome in services.  More im portantly, the services sector would be the engine 
of sustained economic growth in the years to come.  The successful outcome of the services 
negotiations would make this engine more efficient and strong.   
25. Korea sought expansion of covera ge and improvement of quality in commitments as specified 
in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  In pa rticular, Korea placed great importance in the TN/S/M/23 
Page 6  
 
  liberalization of infrastructure services.  Sectors of interests to Korea included maritime services, 
construction services, telecommunications, distribution services, and financial services.  In the plurilateral process, Korea was a demandeur in 8 areas and a recipient in 7.  These sectors were vital 
in enhancing the competitiveness of both manufact uring and other services.  Korea believed that 
liberalization would help make these sectors effici ent, which was essential for economic growth in all 
Members.   
26. Elimination and reduction of MFN exemptions was another important issue for Korea. Korea 
was gravely concerned that more than 400 MFN ex emptions still remained while Annex on Article II 
Exemptions to the GATS stipulated that such exemptions should not exceed 10 years.  Korea urged Members to make greater efforts in addressing this issue.   
27. Members also needed to keep in mind th e importance of the disciplines on domestic 
regulation, other rules and the development aspect of services. 
28. While Members might have to wait longer to see a breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA, 
Korea noted that such a breakthrough was extremely important as it served as a real start-off in other negotiating areas.  However, it was also important that the services negotiations generate their own 
momentum to the extent possible, given the importa nce of the services sector and the nature of the 
services negotiations.  This could be achieved by engaging in substantive discussions both at expert 
and higher levels.   
29. Korea had engaged in several useful meetings during the past few months, such as bilateral 
meetings, sector-specific friends  group meetings, meetings on dom estic regulation and GATS rules, 
and discussions in an ambassadorial "Enchilada" mee ting.  Reminders of collective requests had been 
sent and received.  This momentum needed to be kept  up.  A point at issue was when the next cluster 
would take place.  While understanding that it woul d be more useful to hold a cluster after a 
breakthrough, Korea noted that Members could not wait too long.  Dates needed to be fixed for the next cluster during which Members could conduct bi lateral and plurilateral negotiations.  The April 
option seemed to be more appropriate.  In prepara tion for these meetings, experts and senior officials 
in capital could step up substantive domestic work.  Korea believed that this would be a wise way to 
use time before a breakthrough so that Members co uld proceed quickly to table a meaningful offer 
when the breakthrough emerged in th e areas of agriculture and NAMA.   
30. Lastly, Korea reiterated the view that Members had to develop and share a clearer sense of a 
roadmap which would include a new date for the s econd revised offer.  Th e time-frame would allow 
sufficient time to ensure that high quality offers would be put on the table.      
31. The representative of Chinese Taipei
 stated that services was one of the three key market 
access negotiations of the DDA.  This meeting was important in order to keep up the momentum.  However, stronger political will was needed behind  the services negotiations.  Higher level officials 
should be involved in the process as early as possi ble.  In-depth consultations and dialogues with 
domestic stakeholders also needed to be strengthe ned for the purpose of preparing the revised offer 
which would be tabled in due course.  His dele gation saw further services liberalization as a key 
driving force in the economic growth and employment, a major contributor to lowering cost.  His delegation wished to see further liberalization in this round in those services with a development 
dimension, such as computer services, telecommunications, logistics, maritime services, and environmental services.  Members' current levels of  market opening in these sectors should be bound 
in their coming revised offers.  The plurilateral requests had already reflected what his delegation 
wished to see in the final commitments.  Furtherm ore, his delegation sought more transparency in 
Members' schedules of commitments, for example, in criteria used in ENTs and in terms of 
substantial reduction in the number of MFN exempti ons.  In addition, his delegation wished to see 
further reduction of prohibitions on the cross-border supply of services.  In view of the request-offer  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 7 
 
 
  approach used in the services nego tiations, more dialogue with interest ed Members was needed in this 
respect.   His delegation supported the proposal that the next services cluster take place in April. 
32. The representative of Canada  said that Canada and Canadian service providers considered it 
vital that services be a part of the overall outcome of the DDA.  Services was the third pillar of the 
core market access negotiations.  Se rvice sectors were important in their own right as critical engines 
of growth, employment and technology transfer.  Ho wever, this was a messag e that needed to be 
better understood by all.  Services were also impor tant facilitators of manufactured and agricultural 
exports.  Expanding services trade offered a significant  scope for large development benefits in this 
round.   
33. The representative of Canada wished to provid e an indication of what Canada would be 
looking for in a services outcome.  He thought it was a bit like going to an optometrist for new eye 
glasses, where one needed to look through several le nses before the doctor could give the prescription.  
The first lens was the most important.  It set the basis for all the other fine tuning.  In a services context he was referring to market access requests,  the bilateral ones, and more importantly the 
plurilateral requests where much work had gone into refining and prioritizing issues.  He noted that 
these requests had recently been re-circulated by co-sponsors and that Canada looked forward to 
working with other Members on the basis of these requ ests in the near future.  In particular, Canada 
urged other Members to be prepared to address the level of ambition that had been expressed in the 
plurilateral requests in the areas of financial services, telecommunications, computer and related 
services, energy services, environmental services, architecture and engineering services, construction services and Mode 4.   
34. But as always, eye doctors needed to do some fine tuning addi ng additional lenses before he 
was prepared to write the prescription.   An impor tant further considerati on through which Canada 
would be viewing the negotiations, was the general exhortations in Annex C to work at improving the 
trade commitments in the four modes of supply and MFN exemptions.  General guidance had been 
provided that Members all needed to take to heart,  including taking commitments at existing levels of 
market access, enhancing foreign equity par ticipation and expanding the ability of important 
categories of services providers to work on a temporary basis in other markets.   
35. A further lens through which Canada would be viewing services outcomes related to what a 
large number of Members had been doing in the d ecade since the end of the Uruguay Round, namely 
undertaking regulatory reform of services industr ies and also concluding preferential trade 
agreements.  Canada was of the view that it would be  important in this round to ensure that some of 
the results of this work be brought into multilatera l arena.  And in fact this would be relatively 
straightforward to do.  Political decisions about agreeing to implement regulatory reform initiatives or 
about making FTA trade commitments had already b een taken.  All that was needed now was to 
understand that greater benefits would accrue if ser vices providers from all trading partners received 
the advantages of these enhanced services frameworks.   
36. Further important issues for Canada included th e need to see greater levels of regulatory 
transparency in the markets, and generally impr oving the regulatory framework within which small 
and medium sized enterprises traded.   
37. These elements would guide Canada in an assessment of the outcome.  On the issue of 
process, Canada supported the proposal that the ne xt services cluster take place during the second half 
of April where, in Canada's view, plurilateral meet ings would be vital.  Canada looked forward to 
working with other Members across various configura tions at ambassador or senior official levels to 
take the process forward.    TN/S/M/23 
Page 8  
 
  38. The representative of Uruguay
 noted that delegations were emphasizing two things: the single 
undertaking and market access negotiations.  Se rvices was very important for Uruguay, which 
accounted for two-thirds of employment, and nearly 60% of GDP.  In the last ten years, services had been the driving force of Uruguay's economic growth and accounted for 34% of the overall 
aggregated exports.  Uruguay had been participating in  the negotiations constructively.  It was one of 
the first developing countries that had submitte d initial and revised services offers.  Given the 
importance of coordination at the domestic level, Members had to m ove quickly instead of waiting for 
progress in other areas.  Uruguay had already begun working on this and would be able to submit the 
second revised offer with concrete co mmercial components.  Uruguay wish ed to reiterate its requests.  
In bilateral negotiations, its requests included professional services, especially architecture and 
engineering services, construction services, research  and development, computer and related services, 
distribution services, and tourism.  In plurilatera l negotiations, Uruguay co-sponsored the requests on 
Mode 4 and services related to agriculture.  Having noted positive responses to its requests, especially 
those from developed Members, Uruguay would conti nue to work in a positive and active fashion.  
While wondering about the meaning of breakthrough, Uruguay thought that progress in other areas, 
particularly in agriculture would be helpfu l for it to present its second revised offer. 
39. The representative of China
 state that his delegation welcomed the formal resumption of the 
Doha Round Negotiations.  While admitting that a lo t of difficulties remained and that there was a 
long way to go to achieve objectives, China was encouraged by the new momentum  of negotiations 
generated by Members.  From the end of January to early February, his delegation composed of 
capital-based sectoral experts had held bilateral c onsultations with some Members, including the 
United States, the EC and Japan.  These consultati ons were positive, which enabled China to know 
whether progress was possible in some key sectors, and would facilitate China's preparation of the next revised offer.  China believed that a br eakthrough was desirable so that the DDA would be 
concluded with a single undertaking accomplished.  China shared the view  that the negotiation 
process in agriculture and NAMA was significant fo r pushing forward the services negotiations.   
40. On the current services negotiations and the future  work, China wished to make four points.  
First, China attached importance to the services ne gotiations and had made great efforts to address 
difficulties which arose in them.  So far China had tabled two rounds of offe rs with new and improved 
commitments made in some sectors.  It was quite  difficult for China to pr esent these offers because it 
had made substantial and comprehensive commitments in the accession process.  China's accession commitments covered about 100 sectors and sub-sectors .  In most sectors, full foreign ownership or 
foreign majority ownership was permitted except in the sectors of telecom, life insurance and 
securities services.  As a newly acceded Member, Ch ina had made a great contribution to the new 
round of services negotiations.  Second, China was disappointed at the services schedules of the main 
players.  After a careful comparison, China noted that the quality of China’s schedule was far better 
than that of these Members.  China urged these Me mbers to improve the quality of schedules in their 
new revised offers.  Third, cons ideration of further liberalization was to be based on Members’ 
specific level of development.  For China, the servic es liberalization was expected to take place in line 
with the principles of good regulation and progressi veness.  Members had to recognize each other's 
development level before making requests.  De veloped Members were not to impose extremely 
ambitious and unrealistic request s on developing Members.  Fourth, China expected developed 
Members to take the lead and set good examples  in the services negotiations.   If they made 
meaningful commitments in modes and sectors of inte rests to developing Members, such as Mode 4, 
construction services, maritime transportation services,  and medical and health services, there would 
be more momentums in the services negotiations.   China also wished to see Members make progress 
as soon as possible in the areas of LDC Modalities, domestic regulation, GATS rules, and S&D treatment.   
41. The representative of New Zealand
 urged Members to try to get out of the formula approach 
and think what really mattered, rather than talk ab out where they were in relation to agriculture and  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 9 
 
 
  NAMA.  In fact, as Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, he himself was even unclear where 
Members stood in agriculture and NAMA.  He noted that in NAMA, there was some concrete debate 
on what the demandeurs wanted and what those non-demandeurs found difficult to give.  But in services, Members had not yet had any such discussi on.   Presuming that Members needed to find a 
way to enter into such discussion, he thought that it would be more useful if Members could have 
some idea of the magnitude of what was to be done .   While having some questions about the meaning 
of a breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA, he ur ged Members to think what really mattered in 
services if there were such a breakthrough.  If th ere had to be something on services that would 
facilitate the process, and Members needed to artic ulate what would make a difference.  In the 
absence of anything more specific, the only conclusion he could come to was that revised offers were 
to be tabled once there was a breakthrough in Agri culture and NAMA.  He stressed that if Members 
believed there had to be something more than the promi se,  they had to define quickly what that was.   
Having listened to the discussion at the meeting, he thought that Members were still a long way from 
away.  As to the idea of "pledging conference", he ad mitted that he had an inhe rent distaste for taking 
the pledge, which was an Anglo-Saxon term for givi ng up drink.  If Members did not know what they 
really wanted and what more tangibly could be achie ved, he was not entirely convinced that a great 
deal could be achieved.  On the Chair's proposal, he thought that another round of discussion in the second half of April was needed in order to keep up the momentum.  He suggested that it might be 
more helpful to the process if the plurilateral request s were made more widely available to people.   
The most important point he wished to make was that it was not clear whether the process would be 
helped by the presumption that there was some ki nd of mathematical equation between what was done 
in services and what was done in NAMA and agriculture .  He pointed out that there was no paragraph 
24 for services like for agriculture and NAMA in the Hong Kong Declaration.  He understood that the 
reason for this was that the single undertaking allowe d for a degree of sequencing, which was healthy 
and had never been fundamentally questioned, and that a way had to be found to increase people's 
level of confidence that something tangible was goi ng to be achieved.  Urging Members to clarify 
their collective thinking in the coming weeks, he warned  that a big shift of the goal posts very late in 
the round would be more disruptive than  the confusion or vagueness right now. 
42. The representative of India
 noted that negotiations were entering into a crucial stage and  
Members were facing a peculiar situation wher e they did not know when there would be a 
breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA and what the breakthrough would be.  At the same time, 
Members had to start thinking of finishing th e race along with agriculture and NAMA when the 
breakthrough came.  It was important to continue to remain engaged, and particularly for services, 
because the services negotiations were much more time and resources intensive, very different from 
formula approach in agriculture and NAMA.   Memb ers needed to remain engaged at negotiators and 
senior officials levels so that th ere was a greater appreciation of the services negotiations.   He noted 
that trade and domestic economy scenarios were cha nging with new elements emerging, such as new 
comparative advantages, new competitive markets, new property rights, and new technologies.  All 
these had changed the services scenario.  Yesterday' s importers would become today's exporters or 
vise versa.  He agreed that services offers had left much to be desired, particularly in terms of the 
coverage of sectors and modes of interests to deve loping countries, especially Mode 4 and to some 
extent, Mode 1.   He particularly noted the asymmetr y in Mode 4 offers.   He stressed that negotiation 
meant "give and take".  In response to trading pa rtners' requests, his dele gation had made tremendous 
improvements in its offers, both in terms of quan tity and quality.  His delegation hoped to receive 
responses from its trading partners to its requests.  He noted that this had not been forthcoming from 
some trading partners.   While understanding there were domestic sensitivities, he pointed out that 
these sensitivities existed in most Members and that  the challenge was to continue discussion and 
remain engaged to overcome those sensitivities.  Na tional treatment was a cornerstone of the GATS.  
Better national treatment offers would improve or complement market access.  On the issue of 
timeline, he suggested that the date for the submissi on of revised offers could be six weeks after the 
breakthrough in agriculture and NAMA, which was a broad timeframe where Members would end up 
finishing work in services along with negotiations in other areas.   This was to push back the timeline TN/S/M/23 
Page 10  
 
  agreed upon in Hong Kong for one year.   It was premature to talk about a pledging conference, 
because there was still a lot of work to be done bot h in Geneva and in capitals.  The proposal for the 
services cluster in April was acceptable to his dele gation.  He reiterated that the outcome of the 
negotiations on domestic regulation was to be part  of the overall services package.  Market access 
commitments would be meaningless if there was no effective market access.   
43. The representative of Hong Kong China
 recalled that at the CTSS informal meeting held on 2 
February 2007 shortly after the full resumption had been announced, his de legation had stressed the 
importance of having a common resolve to make sure  that services would be ready to go in tandem 
with any progress made in the other two market acce ss pillars.  The resolve to make concrete progress 
in services was more important now.  While noting mixed messages and views in the Chair's 
consultations during the past few weeks as to how  to proceed with the services negotiations, Hong 
Kong China considered such consultation process usef ul since more deliberation was helpful to the 
eventual emergence over a clear way ahead to follo w.  Also such consultations would raise the 
memberships' awareness of the remaining work on the services front as well as the urgency for such 
work, having regard to the lead-time needed for th e preparation of final offers.  While recognizing the 
frigidity of the current situation, Hong Kong China thought such a situation was not the justification 
for non-action in the services negotiations.   Hong K ong China was pleased to see that Members were 
more vocal in setting out their priorities for this round,  either in the previous consultations or at this 
meeting.  Work on the various rules items had also  been intensified.  This meant gradual steps 
towards satisfactory delivery of a balanced and meaningful outcome for this round.   
44. Noting that this was the first formal CTSS m eeting since the suspension, for the purposes of 
transparency he wished to put on the record th e priorities and objectives of Hong Kong China for the 
services negotiations.  Hong Kong China had the world's most open trade regime.  It expected for services the greatest gain in the entire Doha Round given that over 90% of its GDP was services.  
Citing the words of the global services coalition, he noted that services represented the dominant 
share of the world economy, accounting for 40-50% of the global economic activities in most 
developing countries and 70% or more in developed c ountries.  The services sector also created jobs.  
From 1995 to 2005, worldwide employment in services increased from 34% to 39% of the global workforce.  Therefore it was important to demonstr ate that the services negotiations were delivering a 
balanced and meaningful outcome in itself for many  delegations to sell the round back home.  For 
Hong Kong China, the essential elements of an  acceptable deal included: new market access 
opportunities in maritime and logistics servi ces, telecommunications, financial services, and 
audiovisual services, particularly with regard to  foreign ownership ceiling; disciplines on domestic 
regulation; and removal of MFN exemptions.  Hong  Kong China, in its role as coordinator and co-
sponsor of collective requests in logistics services and removal of MFN exemptions, had re-circulated 
the collective requests to interested Members to si gnify its continued interest in progress in these 
areas.   Hong Kong China looked forward to more consultations conducted by the Chair and would 
work closely with other Members to identify ways  to bring together a good round of offers which 
would address the needs of and benefit the entire Me mbership.   It also hoped that work on the LDC 
Modalities and S&D treatment would reach a satisfactory conclusion.   
45. On the process, Hong Kong China supported havi ng the next services cluster in the second 
half of April to send a signal that the services ne gotiations were on the right track for progress.  On 
the idea of having a services ministerial green room meeting, while agreeing that it was worth 
considering, Hong Kong China thought it would serve a more meaningful purpose if it were to take 
place after the next cluster.  Capitals would then  have a better idea of each other's must-haves and 
could come to a better view on where the balance would lie.    
46. The representative of Switzerland
 stated that his delegation, like many other delegations, was 
expecting much more from the services negotiati ons.  In particular, his delegation was quite 
concerned that services was lagging behind other areas of negotiations.  Noting that a breakthrough in  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 11 
 
 
  Agriculture and NAMA would involve the actual disman tling of trade barriers, he was concerned that  
so far there was nothing like this in services.   Sw itzerland in its first and second offers had proposed 
commitments that went beyond its law in force and th us would improve market access.  Unfortunately 
his delegation, after bilateral cons ultations, noted that its trading pa rtners had not done so.  This 
situation needed to be changed.   
47. Regarding the improvements his delegation expected from the services negotiations, he 
referred to paragraph 1 of Annex C of the Hong K ong Declaration.   He noted that paragraph 2 of 
Annex C had made reference to an important doc ument TN/S/23 which was a list of sectoral and 
modal objectives of the services negotiations identi fied by Members.  Switzerland had four top 
priorities.  First, it expected Mode 4 commitments  to specify the duration of ICTs and extend the 
duration up to 5 years.   Switzerland had ma de corresponding improvement s in its own offers.  
Second, it expected Mode 4 commitments on insta llers and maintainers delinked from Mode 3.  
Noting that many Members' regulations had alrea dy foreseen or facilitated entry conditions for this 
category of natural persons, at least in the industry of machinery, Switzerland wished this to be bound 
in GATS commitments.  Third, in financial services, Switzerland focused on two global businesses: 
asset management and security services, where foreign providers were accepted in most countries, 
including providing services on a cross-border basis.    Switzerland expected commitments to be 
improved in this regard, at least to reflect the state of play.   The fourth priority was logistics services, 
especially the core freight logistics services c overed by chapter 11.h of W/120 including, inter alia , 
ground handling, freight forw arding, and agency services.   He stressed that all these priorities directly 
or indirectly related to ongoing globalization and re presented the key aspect of the business world.   
This was one of the reasons why Switzerland was requesting commitments on them, not just because 
Switzerland was competitive in these sectors.   In addition to market access, Switzerland also saw 
some crucial issues on rules.  In particular, Switzerland expected that disciplines on domestic regulation would go beyond what Members had at the moment under the GATS.  Referring to TN/S/23 again, he noted that a revision of this document had been contemplated.  He suggested 
Members to think of it in the coming weeks.   
48. On the process, he agreed that a services cl uster in April was needed, including a formal 
CTSS meeting and bilateral/plurilate ral negotiations.  He saw the mer its of having active involvement 
at ambassadorial or senior officials levels.  He al so concurred with the proposal to have a services 
ministerial green room meeting in conjunction with green room meetings in other areas.   
49. The representative of Turkey
 stated that more steps had to be taken in order to conclude the 
negotiations.  First of all, those Members who did not table their revised offers needed to do so as 
soon as possible.  This would effect the negotiations  positively.  Second, as mentioned in Annex C, an 
effective timeline was necessary in order to achieve a successful conclusion of the negotiations.   It 
would help expedite the services negotiation process.   Third, regarding negotiations on GATS rules 
and domestic regulation, efforts needed  to be intensified to fulfil the mandates.  Finally, the provisions 
in the Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiati on on Trade in Services concerning flexibility to 
developing countries had to be respected.  
50. The representative of Pakistan  stated that her delegation was preparing its revised offer and 
found it difficult to start pledging at the moment.  She thought that when something was pledged in agriculture and NAMA, Members might be in a positi on to make pledges in services.  In terms of 
negotiating position, first, her delegation was requesting Mode 4 commitments from its trading 
partners.  She recognized that some developed count ries had made conscious efforts in fulfilling the 
Mode 4 plurilateral request which, she thought, was a moderate one, co-sponsored by about 15 
Members.  She hoped that this request would be ta ken into account in the coming offers.   She thought 
that Mode 4 also needed transparency and predic tability as given to other modes of supply.  The 
Annex on Mode 4 allowed Members to introduce regul ations on temporary movement.  Second, her 
delegation was seeking the removal of MFN exempt ions.  Referring to the Annex on Article II (MFN) TN/S/M/23 
Page 12  
 
  Exemptions, she stressed that MFN exemptions were  not to be maintained forever.  Third, her 
delegation wished to see horizontal residency requir ements removed in some offers.  Fourth, she 
emphasized that market access could not be separated from domestic regulation and that domestic regulation could undermine market access commitm ents.  Her delegation was seeking disciplines on 
domestic regulation that would provide both level playing field to services providers and certain 
autonomy to regulators.  By joining the WTO, Memb ers had sacrificed certain regulatory autonomy to 
get some returns in the form of trade rules which th ey all subscribed to.  On the issue of process, her 
delegation supported having the services cluster in late April.  
51. The representative of Antigua and Barbuda
 thanked Members for their statements, especially 
the United States for sharing their thoughts on how important services liberalisation could be for 
promoting growth and development in developing countries.  His delegation was particularly pleased 
that the United States understood the opportunities th at Mode 1 liberalisation could offer developing 
countries.  Certainly, Antigua and Barbuda's experien ce in diversifying its economy, through the 
utilisation of modern technology and its partners ' Mode 1 commitments, had offered development 
opportunities that had been of tremendous value in  reducing its dependence on one or two sectors.  
Yet there were challenges as the goal posts in mark et access changed.  His delegation fully supported 
stability and certainly with sound commitments in  Mode 1 and compliance with all commitments. 
52. Speaking on behalf of CARICOM countries (A ntigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, 
Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia,  St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and 
Tobago), the representative of Antigua and Barbuda st ated that these countries took this opportunity 
to remind their trading partners of the high importance that the region placed on the services 
negotiations as part of an overall package in the Doha Round.  CARICOM countries wished to 
reiterate that the objective of progressive liberali sation within their understanding took into account 
the principles of Articles IV and XIX:2 of th e GATS, as fundamental to making this round 
worthwhile towards their development.  CARICOM countries encouraged their trading partners to 
negotiate in the spirit that they had agr eed to in these provisions of the GATS.   
53. CARICOM looked forward to an appropriate deve lopment outcome in the negotiations in all 
areas of their interests.  For real progress in this  round, there would need to be visible balance of 
treatment among all areas of importance currently u nder negotiations such as services, agriculture and 
NAMA.   
54. Within the services negotiations, progress for CARICOM countries meant maintaining a 
balance between market access and rules negotiations.  It was in this regard that CARICOM countries 
reminded Members that in both the rules and mark et access negotiations, Members were to ensure 
that the resulting trade rules ac counted for appropriate flexibility for individual developing countries 
in a way that was operational.  Members could not pr oceed in this round with the shortcomings of the 
Uruguay Round which reflected mostly best endeavour flexibilities for developing countries.  Members had the opportunity to now give greater credibility to the WTO and its principles for 
generations to come by making strong, ope rational, development-friendly rules.   
55. While understanding the need for objective timeli nes to be developed at the appropriate 
moment, CARICOM urged Members to maintain a sense of realism, recognizing the special 
dynamism of the services negotiations.  It could not be ignored that there rema ined a need for greater 
clarity in terms of substantive and progressive movements, and timelines in other areas of the 
negotiations, before Members advanced in the services negotiations.   
56. CARICOM looked forward to their trading part ners tabling improved revised offers with 
meaningful commitments in areas where they had pa rticular interests including Modes 1 and 4.  For 
the fuller integration of small developing economie s into the multilateral trading system, their major  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 13 
 
 
  trading partners were to offer re al market access in the competitive and potentially competitive sectors 
of the CARICOM countries.  
57. CARICOM countries remained fully committed and engaged to ensuring that in collaboration 
with Members, the outcome of this Round would be  successful, balanced and development oriented.  
WTO Members were to take this opportunity to bui ld trade rules that made a positive difference to 
them all. 
58. The representative of Uganda , speaking on behalf of the African Group, stated that this Group 
was ready to engage constructively in the services negotiations to achieve a successful conclusion of 
the round.  On the issue of process, the Group w as concerned that it had not been sufficiently 
represented in the "fireside chat", bilaterals and pl urilaterals.  It noted that the currently resumed 
negotiations seemed to be conducted mainly and exclusively at a bilateral level and by the major 
players leaving other Members to wait for the ou tcome before they could fully engage in the 
negotiations.  This was contradictory to the agreed  principles of being inclusive and transparent.  
Regarding the substance of negotiations, this Grou p believed that the negotiations in agriculture, 
NAMA and services held the key to unlocking the cu rrent negotiations.  The services component was 
important and was to be pursued in tandem.  This Group called upon the developed Members to give 
special consideration to sectors and modes of export interests to African countries, which 
corresponded to the development dimension of the Doha Round.  This Group called for maintaining 
the current flexibility under the GATS, and for A frican countries to liberal ize in line with their 
individual level of development.  In particular, LDCs emphasized that their strong economic interest 
lay in Mode 4, especially in the lower skilled and se mi-skilled categories, an issue that had not been 
addressed in the negotiations.  This Group wished to  reiterate that developed countries seemed to be 
asking developing countries for deeper market ac cess commitments in some major sectors, such as 
telecommunications, financial services, and a broad ra nge of business services.  Yet in turn they had 
not made substantial offers that addressed the in terest of African countries.  The Group called upon 
them to do so.  From African Group's assessment, what was lacking in the services negotiations was 
the requisite political will to make commitments.  This  was most true in sectors and modes of interest 
to developing countries, and Mode 4 in particular .  The Group wished to reiterate that its main 
objective was to achieve the development dimensi on of the Doha Round in services and would focus 
on its priority issues, particularly S&D treatment proposals and Mode 4 liberalization.  The African 
Group pledged to work with all Members to ensu re the successful conclusion of this round. 
59. The representative of the Philippines , speaking on behalf of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, 
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Tha iland and Vietnam, recalled that this group of 
Members had already outlined their views on the curr ent situation in the services negotiations, and the 
way ahead, during the informal consultations held on 2 February 2007.  In the interest of efficiency, 
they requested the Secretariat to incorporate those comments into the report of this meeting.2  The 
main points were reiterated as follows.  First, th eir leaders had reaffirmed ASEAN's commitment to 
the Doha Round and to attaining an  ambitious and balanced overall outcome.  Second, Members were 
to remain faithful to the principle of progressive liberalization and the shared  vision to facilitate the 
participation of developing countries in internatio nal trade in services, while taking account of their 
economic situation and level of de velopment.  Third, this group of Members recognized the political 
and economic importance attached by some Members to the services component of any possible end-game package in the DDA, and they would contin ue to be actively engage d and would submit their 
revised and or final offers at the appropriate time .  While they could go along with the proposal for 
another cluster in mid-April, this group of Member s wished to highlight two points: one, there had to 
be ideally early confirmation of this possible cluster for the benefit of logistical arrangements as well 
as scheduling of capital officials; two, there had to be a clear communication of what the cluster 
intended to achieve whether in the bilateral or plur ilateral or both formats.  Finally, Members needed 
                                                     
 
2 Please see the annex to this report. TN/S/M/23 
Page 14  
 
  to intensify their efforts in rules making and dom estic regulation in order for a DDA package to be 
acceptable to their constituencies.  This group of Members were prepared to make significant 
contributions to ensure that an outcome to the ne gotiations that would allow all economies to develop 
and prosper.   
60. The representative of Singapore
 associated his delegation to the references made by the 
Philippines to the ASEAN leaders' statement which reiterated their commitments to the Doha Round 
and to attaining an ambitious a nd balanced overall outcome.  The outcome on services was politically 
important.  Any final package would be difficult to  sell domestically if there was no meaningful 
outcome on services.  In that sense, services was an integral part of the overall DDA package.  But the 
problem lay in defining what exactly constituted a meaningful outcome in se rvices.  There was no 
common definition as to what constituted a breakthrough in services.  So Members had no choice but 
to build this breakthrough in a bottom-up way based  on expectations of each Member.  Singapore had 
received many requests from its trading partners, both bilaterally and plurilaterally.  It had responded 
positively to many of them in its offers.  It would be doing its part in its next revised offer by further 
looking into improving its offer.  However, the scope  of its offer would depend on the responses to its 
requests from its trading partners, both developed an d developing.  Its offer would also depend on the 
level of ambition in NAMA which was very important for Singapore since it did not stand to gain in 
agriculture.  With regard to its expectations fro m its trading partners, Singapore had forwarded both 
bilateral and plurilateral requests across various servi ces sectors.  Together with other Members, it 
had forwarded plurilateral requests in 8 areas, such  as: computer and related services, construction 
services, telecommunications, and cross-border supply .  Although some requests had been met by its 
trading partners, there remained gaps between it s requests and its trading partners' offers.  In 
construction and related engineering services, only 20% of requests had been met, and in distribution, 
only 8%.  Apart from market access, rules was another key component of the services negotiations.  Like other ASEAN States, Singapore was also prepar ed to make significant contributions to ensure 
that an outcome to the negotiations that woul d allow all economies to develop and prosper. 
61. The representative of Brazil
 noted that there was not much going on at the multilateral level 
since last July.  While trying not to repeat his statement made at the CTSS meeting last July, he 
wished to re-emphasize a few points.  First, services had not been lagging behind in this round. 
Members had met mandates and deadlines.  Some Me mbers' lack of satisfaction with the level of 
offers was attributable to problems outside the ser vices negotiations.  Second, Brazil continued to be 
fully engaged, interested, and ready to participate constructively in the round, particularly now with 
the full resumption to move towards the so-calle d breakthrough.  Brazil was ready to do this in 
formats and at levels agreed upon.  Partly respondi ng to the statement by New Zealand, he said what 
Members needed at this stage was not a greater precision in requests.  At least Brazil knew perfectly well what its trading partners were requesting from it.  And its trading partners knew, through the 
plurilateral process, where Brazil's limits were in me eting their requests.  The yardstick for progress in 
this round was not going to be those requests.  Wh at Brazil needed to know at this stage was what 
progress was going to be forthcoming in other ar eas of negotiations so that it could calibrate 
accordingly what it was going to put on the table on services.  Thinking of must-haves was difficult in 
services, which was very different from agriculture a nd NAMA.   It was easy to define a must-have at 
a general level of market opening in agriculture  and NAMA, taking into account certain sensitivities 
or flexibilities. This concept was difficult to be transl ate in services.  What had to be found was a way 
to define a must-have also in terms of improvement  at a general level, something that could broadly 
equate to the improvements to be achieved in agricu lture and NAMA.  Brazil also attached particular 
importance to progress in domestic regulation, not onl y because of its own merits, but also because of 
its tangible link to market access commitments.  Re ferring to some delegations' statements regarding 
the desirability of Members binding regulatory stat us quo, he said that it was not easy to do so, 
especially for developing countries.  In Brazil, some  sectors were suffering from a lack of regulation.  
Therefore, it would be difficult to bind them un til Brazil was assured that it would have a level of  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 15 
 
 
  possibilities in regulation that would allow it to re gulate these sectors.  Brazil supported the proposal 
for having the next cluster in late April.   
62. The representative of Colombia  stated that services accounted for a large share of her 
country's GDP and was an important sector for its  economic growth.  She noted that some Members 
had concerns about the services negotiations.  Sh e understood that the reasons for these concerns 
might lie with negotiating strategy, direct links to the negotiations in agriculture and NAMA, and a lot 
of  unknowns.  Members had to try to find a landing area in service as well as in other areas so that they could arrive at a positive result in this roun d.  The services negotiations might not move at the 
same speed as in other areas,  but at least they needed to move a bit faster.  She suggested having a 
cluster in late April and another one by the end of the year.  She also suggested that the plurilateral 
negotiations be resumed as soon as possible and be in tensified in April.  For Colombia, Mode 4 was 
an important area in services.   She noted that some Members had difficulty in making commitments 
on Mode 4 because of its impact on the labour market.  She pointed out that those markets that were opened to the movement of natural persons had seen the fastest growth, for example, within the EC.  
Apart from Mode 4, Colombia had also taken part in plurilateral negotiations in computer services, 
architecture and engineering services.  On domestic re gulation, she said that this round was to provide 
a framework of disciplines.  Member s also needed to continue negotia tions on subsidies.  Multilateral 
disciplines were necessary in order to avoid any di stortion effects subsidies might have on trade in 
services.  Recognizing that services were crucial in this  round, Colombia was ready to take part in all 
the negotiations throughout this y ear, believing that the negotiations could be moved into high gear. 
63. The Chair
 noted that Members had had a good exchange of views and that there was 
consensus on the need to achieve the goals of th e round.  He thought it was irrelevant whether 
services was lagging behind other areas.  What wa s relevant was when the time came, Members 
would be ready to reach the goal.  Members had to  bear in mind that the techniques used in the 
services negotiations were different when contempl ating the balance within the services areas as well 
as the balance between services and other areas.  On timelines, he noted that Members all had agreed 
that a services cluster take place in April.  He suggest ed that he continue to hold consultations at the 
ambassadorial level and that an informal meeti ng take place in March to discuss the implementation 
of the LDC Modalities and S&D treatment proposals.   
64. It was so agreed .  
B. PROPOSALS RELATING TO THE NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XIX  OF THE GATS 
65. The Chair  noted there was a new proposal under this  agenda item, entitled "Understanding on 
the Scope of Coverage of CPC 84 - Computer a nd Related Services" (TN/S/W/60), which had been 
circulated by a group of Members. 
66. The representative of the European Communities  stated that computer and related services 
were of key importance to overall economic development, providing the platform for a number of key 
economic activities.  During the last ten year s, following the unprecedented development of 
information technologies, a number of evolved com puted-related services started to emerge, such as 
data mining services, or the hosting of internet sites.  In order to increase the clarity of the commitments made under CPC 84, the functional scope  of CPC 84 required clarification, underlining 
that evolved computer services were actually comb inations of various services classified under the 
different subheadings of the chapter.  In this respect, in October 2002 the EC had presented a proposal 
for an understanding on the scope of CPC 84 which had been well received by Members and the 
industry.  Since October 2002, the understanding ha d been subject to exte nsive discussion in the 
WTO.  A broad agreement had been reached on the refi ned text by interested Members.  As a result, 
Albania, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cr oatia, the EC, Hong Kong China, Japan, Mexico, 
Norway, Peru, Chinese Taipei, Turkey and the Un ited States were glad to co-sponsor the joint TN/S/M/23 
Page 16  
 
  communication TN/S/W/60 on an "Understanding on the scope of CPC 84 on computer and related 
services".  The Understanding did not in any wa y modify the scope of CPC 84 and of existing 
commitments.  It simply stated in clear terms what it covered, to provide Members and services suppliers with better clarity on the scope of commitm ents in the computer services sector, notably by 
listing some 60 different functions the provision of which, or the combination of which, constituted 
the services falling within the scope of CPC 84.  The Understanding also clar ified the border between 
computer and related services on the one hand, and te lecommunications or other services on the other.  
There was a distinction to be made between en abling computer services, e.g. web-hosting or 
application hosting, and the other services that were  enabled by such computer services.  In such 
cases, the other enabled services were covered by co mmitments made in the relevant services sectors, 
e.g. financial services.  By clarifying the scope of CPC 84, the Understanding was aimed at giving 
more confidence to Members to make commitments w ithin the sector.  It also provided the industry 
with a better clarity on the scope of GATS commitments already made by Members.  Members remained free to decide whether they attached the Understanding to their schedules, should they 
consider that would increase their level of comfort and the clarity of their commitments.  The 
Understanding was not part of the collective request on computer and related services.  It was only a 
technical clarification on the scope of the sector.  He noted that there were both co-sponsors and recipients of the collective request in the lis t of the co-sponsors of this communication on the 
Understanding.    
67. The representative of New Zealand
 stated that, in view of the major contribution made to 
clarification and certainty of the scope of CPC 84 and the significance of this sector, her delegation 
had decided to join in co-sponsorin g the Understanding.  Her delegation wished to be added to the list 
of co-sponsors.  
68. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation s upported this version of the 
Understanding, believing it reflected a more accurate picture of the scope of this sector.  Indeed, the 
trend was to make full commitments in this sector, given the importance of computer and related 
services to the overall development of one's ec onomy and competitiveness in the global economy, 
which was becoming increasingly reliant on innovative  and robust computer networks and services.  
69. The representative of Japan  noted that, through a series of bilateral negotiations, some 
requested Members had difficulty in drawing a bor der between computer and related services on the 
one hand, and telecommunications and other services on the other hand.  This prevented them from 
being more flexible or more ambitious in impr oving their offers.  He hoped that his Understanding 
would help requested Members overcome such difficulty.  
70. The Chair  suggested that the Council take note of the statements made and revert to this item 
at its next meeting. 
71. It was so agreed .  
C. I MPLEMENTATION OF THE MODALITIES FOR THE SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR LDC S IN THE 
TRADE IN SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS  
72. The Chair  stated that Annex C of the Hong Kong Declaration required Members to pursue 
full and effective implementation of the LDC Modalities with a view to the beneficial and meaningful 
integration of LDCs into the multilateral trade system.  He recalled that at the last formal meeting in 
July, the EC had presented a proposal which had form ed the basis of a lengthy discussion. Since July, 
further informal contacts had taken place between  the LDC Group and certain other Members in an 
attempt to bridge differences.  It appeared that so me progress had been made.  In view of the detailed 
and technical nature of the debate  at this point, he proposed that he conduct informal  consultations on 
this matter in order to advance this topic.    TN/S/M/23 
 Page 17 
 
 
  73. The representative of the Bangladesh , speaking on behalf of the LDC Group, noted that now 
that the negotiations had resumed, it was also ti me to address the LDC concerns in the area of 
services.  This was one of the very few areas of the negotiations where the LDCs had a direct interest and expected the membership to r espond to their trade needs.   
74. The key issues for LDCs remained uncha nged.  What was important was the 
operationalization of the flexibilities granted to LD Cs under Article IV:3 of GATS, and effective 
implementation of the LDC Modalities.  The LDC Group wanted enhanced and predictable market 
access in sectors and modes of export interests to LDCs to be included in the revised offers of 
Members.   
75. He recalled that at Hong Kong, the Ministers had come out categorically and in explicit 
language on the LDC issue in services.  Paragr aph 3 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration stated clearly that "Members shall pursue full and effective implementation of the 
Modalities for the Special Treatment  for Least-Developed Country Members in the Negotiations on 
Trade in Services (LDC Modalities) adopted by the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services on 3 September 2003, with a view to the bene ficial and meaningful integration of LDCs into 
the multilateral trading system".  Paragraph 9 of th e Annex C was devoted entirely to the LDCs.  Parts 
of this paragraph were devoted to the LDC Moda lities, while the rest concentrated on sectors of 
interest to LDCs.  The first bullet point require d Members to develop “appropriate mechanisms for 
according special priority including to sectors and mod es of supply of interest to LDCs in accordance 
with Article IV:3 of the GATS a nd paragraph 7 of the LDC Modalities".  In the timeline provided in 
paragraph 11(e), the Members were required to deve lop the mechanism by 31 July 2006.  Thereafter, 
Members were also required, under the last bulle t-point of paragraph 9, to develop “a reporting 
mechanism to facilitate the review requireme nt in paragraph 13 of the LDC Modalities". 
76. In order to be faithful to the agreement on the LDC Modalities and the mandate of the Hong 
Kong Ministerial, the LDC Group had made a s ubmission on 28 March 2006.  The objective was to 
initiate a discussion through which the Group could negotiate an agreement by 31 July 2006, as 
provided in paragraph 11(e) of Annex C of the H ong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  Sadly, the 
membership had not met the deadline. 
77. On 14 July 2006 there was a submission from so me Members.  This might be treated as a 
proposal for review, as contained in the last bullet poi nt of paragraph 9 of Anne x C.  This bullet point, 
as well as the LDC Modalities, referred to the revi ew.  However, the submission did not address the 
requirement an appropriate mechanism to accord sp ecial priority to sectors and modes of supply of 
export interests to LDCs.   The LDC Group had made this clear in its recent bilateral meetings with 
the EC.  
78. The LDC Group wished to remind delegations that, although the deadline might have passed, 
as in many other cases, without a positive outcome, this Group's interest in the subject had not waned.  
79. Paragraph 6 of the LDC Modalities required that Members give special priority to providing 
effective market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to LDCs through negotiated 
specific commitments.  LDCs were required to indi cate sectors and modes of supply that represented 
priority in their development policies.  Thereafter,  in paragraph 9, it was recognized that temporary 
movement of natural persons supplying services (Mod e 4) provided potential benefits to the sending 
and recipient Members.   
80. At Hong Kong, Ministers had agreed that Members undertake "commitments in sectors of 
export interests to LDCs as per paragraphs 6 and 9 of LDC Modaliti es" and that Members also assist 
LDCs "to enable them to identify sectors and modes of supply that represent their development TN/S/M/23 
Page 18  
 
  priorities".  Paragraphs 25-27 of the Hong Kong Mi nisterial Declaration required Members to pay 
particular attention to the export interest of the developing countries.   
81. The LDCs took these understandings seriously.  They had earlier, in June 2005, made a 
collective request in areas of interest to them.  After Hong Kong, this had been followed up with a 
revised Mode 4 collective request on 24 June 2006.   So far, the LDC Group had not received a 
response.  They had not seen anything in the offers on the table.  At this stage, the Group wished to 
draw Members' attention to the need for suitable a reflection, in their revised offers, to the LDC 
request on Mode 4.   
82. From the LDC Group's perspective, the negotia tion on services was an important fulcrum in 
the Round.  An outcome that did not address the LDC interests in the area of Mode 4 would not be 
developmental.  In continuing to pursue these aims, this Group believed that their concerns had to be 
addressed if the Round was to succeed.   
83. The representative of Australia
 stated that his delegation's revised Mode 4 offer covered 
around 500 occupations, including semi-skilled occupa tions and trades, a direct response to LDC 
concerns on Mode 4.   
84. The representative of th e European Communities  stated that his delegation had also made  
offers on Mode 4.  He reiterated his delegation' s full commitment to contribute to the discussion on 
the LDC Modalities.  His delegation had conducte d consultations with the LDC Group and would 
continue to do so.   Referring to the submission of July 2006 made by his delegation, the US, Japan 
and Canada, he said his delegati on would continue the discussion based on this submission.  He 
stressed that any discussion on this topic including  assessing the LDCs proposals had to be within the 
GATS framework. 
85. The Chair  suggested that the Council take note of the statements made and revert to this item 
at its next meeting.   
86. It was so agreed . 
D. C ONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS ON S&D  TREATMENT PROVISIONS  
87. The Chair  said that, in accordance with the H ong Kong Declaration, the Council was to 
complete expeditiously a consideration of propo sals on S&D treatment provisions, with a view to 
making clear recommendations for a decision to be ad opted by the General Council.  He recalled that 
at the Council's formal meeting in July, a repr esentative of the African Group had submitted its 
revised proposals, and had provided comments and an swers for the questions raised by Members. 
88. The representative of Kenya , speaking on behalf of the African Group, stated that this was an 
important issue for the Group.  He requested the Chair to hold consultations in the near future so as to 
conclude it as soon as possible.  
89. The Chair  confirmed that he would hold consultations  on this issue.  He suggested that the 
Council take note of the statement made and reve rt to this item at its next meeting.   
90. It was so agreed .   
E. ASSESSMENT OF TRADE IN SERVICES  
91. The Chair  recalled that at the last formal meeting in July 2006, UNCTAD had been invited to 
introduce a paper regarding development implications  of trade in services (TD/B/COM.1/77).  At that  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 19 
 
 
  meeting the Secretariat had also presented an update  to a paper entitled "Review of Statistics on Trade 
Flows in Services" (S/C/W/27/Add.2).  Since there were no further comments made at this meeting,  
he suggested that the Council revert to this item at its next meeting. 
92. It was so agreed.  
F. WORK OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES – REPORTS BY THE CHAIRPERSONS  
93. The Chair of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation reported that since the Council's last 
meeting, the Working Party had held two informal  meetings, respectively on 14 December 2006 and 
24 January 2007.  At these meetings, he had made  a detailed report on the consultations he had 
undertaken since the soft resumption of the DDA.  These consultations had b een conducted in various 
formats and on a very broad, inclusive, transparen t and bottom-up basis.  Based on these consultations 
and discussions held at the meeti ng of December 2006, he had broadl y outlined what he, as Chair, had 
generally seen as what the general traffic could take in these negotiations, particularly on the 
threshold issues in the negotiations, such as: the issue of necessity; qualification requirements and 
procedures; technical standards; transparency and prior comments.  At the meeting on 14 December 
2006, Members had requested the Chair to circulate papers or work-in-progress texts on the various 
issues on domestic regulation for focused discussions . The work-in-progress texts had been prepared 
and consultations on them conducted with a useful exchange of vi ews.  Some drafting suggestions had 
been made.  While no formal compromise had been reached nor attempted on any of the domestic regulation elements under negotiation,  wide consultations had helped to get a broad sense of what the 
general traffic could take in these negotiations.  Mu ch work remained and details had to be worked 
out.  The collective wisdom of the Membership – particularly concrete ideas and suggestions from 
Members was what was going to help move forward in these negotiations.  Development was a key 
issue in the negotiations.  In this regard, at both of  the meetings Members had been invited to reflect 
upon some of the elements and questions.  Th e development dimension and the notion of the 
development filter had generally been discussed as  the Working Party took up each of the work-in-
progress texts.  In addition, the Chair had held cons ultations on this issue.  He would continue to 
consult on it. 
94. The Chair of the Working Party on GATS Rules
 reported that since last November, he had 
held a number of small-group consultations and co nvoked an open-ended informal consultation on 25 
January, to allow delegations to share their vi ews on emergency safeguard measures, government 
procurement and subsidies.  In these consultations , participants had been agreeable to pursuing 
substantive discussions on all the three issues under the responsibility of the Working Party.  On 
emergency safeguards, the ASEAN Members less Singa pore had indicated that they were finalizing a 
new contribution and that they were conducting thei r own consultations with other Members.  On 
government procurement, a number of delegati ons had exchanged comments and questions on the 
latest proposal from the European Communities, which had been introduced at the last formal meeting 
of 2006.  On subsidies, the Chair had informed  delegations of his ongoi ng consultations on the 
information exchange and the Secretariat had been asked to update its Note on subsidy information 
contained in Trade Policy Reviews.  A number of other suggestions had been made in relation to 
future work, and the Chair would continue his consulta tions.  In addition, the Secretariat had also been 
tasked with putting together summary information on the negotiations on the three items for the group 
of LDC Members, as well as with organizing appropr iate briefing sessions for LDC delegations, so as 
to help assist their participation to the discussions.   The Secretariat's non-paper had since then been 
circulated.  Overall, delegations appeared willing to have more focused discussions to flesh out the 
relevant technical and substantive aspects of these th ree topics.  At the same time, the Chair had not 
sensed an intention to move from well-known ne gotiating positions with a view to narrowing down 
divergences on issues of importance.  At the request of Members and after consultations, the Chair had convoked a meeting of the Working Party fo r 8 March so as to allow, among other things, 
ASEAN Members less Singapore to present a new contribution on emergency safeguard measures.
   TN/S/M/23 
Page 20  
 
  95. The Chair of the Committee on Specific Commitments
 reported that since the Council's last 
meeting in July, the Committee had had two formal meetings and one informal meeting.  The main 
issue under discussion at these meetings had been th e relationship between old and new commitments.  
A large number of Members had participated in the debate.   
96. The representative of Bangladesh , speaking on behalf the LDC Group, thanked the three 
Chairs of the Subsidiary Bodies for their reports a nd for their hard work.  He noted that Members had 
agreed to take into account the interests and difficulties of LDCs while developing any disciplines 
under GATS Article VI:4 (Domestic Regulation) vide paragraph 11 of the LDC Modalities.  This was 
the specific S&D treatment provision for LDCs and an  integral part of the development dimension, 
the key parameter of the Doha Round.  LDCs had weak infrastructure in regulatory capacity.  
Members needed to consider that LDCs were not required to implement any rules or disciplines 
developed under Article VI.4.  But LDCs did recognize the importance of targeted technical 
assistance and support for capacity building to de velop sector specific regulatory capacity.  LDCs 
stressed that targeted technical assistance and cap acity building was not to be linked to obligation for 
LDCs under Domestic Regulation.  LDCs were still working to find suitable language for paragraph 8 
of the WPDR Chair's latest consolidated work ing paper, as well as technical assistance and support 
for capacity building.  The LDC Group requested the Secretariat to prepare a summary of the ongoing 
discussions in the CSC with special reference to LDC issues.  This would enable this Group to 
understand and follow the discussions.  
G. OUTLINE OF THE CHAIRMAN 'S REPORT TO THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE  
97. The Chair  stated that he would report to the TNC based on what had been discussed at this 
meeting. 
98. It was so agreed . 
H. OTHER BUSINESS  
99. The Chair  suggested that the Council take note of all the statements made before he adjourned 
the meeting. 
100. It was so agreed . 
_______________  TN/S/M/23 
 Page 21 
 
 
  ANNEX 
 
Comments made at the informal meeting of the Sp ecial Session of the Council for Trade in Service 
held on 2 February 2007  
 
 
1. The representative of the Philippines , speaking on behalf of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, 
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, noted that at the 12th Summit 
in Mactan, leaders of these group of Members ha d reaffirmed ASEAN's commitment to the Doha 
Round and to attaining an ambiti ous and balanced overall outcome.  Therefore, these Members came 
to this meeting with the full political mandate fro m their leaders to make sure that the services 
negotiations would contribute to the successful and meaningful conclusion of the Doha Round.  He 
wished to outline ASEAN's perspective as Members entered what were hopefu lly the final stages of 
the DDA negotiations.    
2. First, Members were to remain faithful to th e principle of progressive liberalization and the 
shared vision to facilitate the participation of deve loping countries in international trade in services, 
while taking account of their economic situati on and level of development. These were the 
fundamental principles on which the negotiations rested.   3. Second, this group of Members underst ood the importance of having the kind of 
conversations Members had been having this past w eek, either in bilateral or plurilateral settings.  
They noted the political and economic importanc e attached by some Members to the services 
component of any possible end-game package in th e DDA.   On their part, with the exception of 
Members that had already made advanced commitm ents under their terms of accession, particularly 
Vietnam which had acceded most recently, this gro up had engaged in these discussions and had tried, 
to the extent possible, to provide an indication of their flexibilities for improving their initial or 
revised offers.  Their capitals had continued to  work despite the recent suspension, and they 
committed to submit their revised and /or final offers at the appropriate time. 
 4. Third, Members needed to intensify their efforts in rules making and domestic regulation 
pursuant to paragraphs 4 and 5 of Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  In order for a 
DDA package to be acceptable to thei r constituencies, there would have to be a credible outcome in 
the ESM negotiations, and disciplines on domestic regulation.   5. Fourth, on the question of process, these Memb ers reiterated their readiness to engage in 
discussing all possible options for making their wo rk in the services negotiations more dynamic, 
better managed, and more efficient.  With these para meters in mind, they believed that while informal 
contacts on market access issues needed to contin ue in Geneva and capitals , a formal cluster of 
services meetings might be more useful after Members had a clearer sense of the contours of an agriculture and NAMA package, i.e.  perhaps in late March or early April.  However, the ongoing 
technical work on rules and domestic regulation was to  continue in the immediate future in order to 
build on what had been achieved in the last couple of months.   
 
6. ASEAN States had been providing real, eff ective and operational market access through a 
combination of WTO commitments and unilateral market opening initiatives.  They had done so 
notwithstanding political or economic sensitivity in some  areas, or the need to pursue orderly growth 
and development in services sectors, upgrade th e capability of domestic suppliers, and develop 
regulatory or adjustment policies.   
 7. This group of Members was prepared to make significant contributions to ensure an outcome 
to the negotiations that would allow their economies to develop and prosper.  In the words of their 
leaders, the time had come for the major players in the Round – both developed and developing – to TN/S/M/23 
Page 22  
 
  show the requisite leadership and political will to create the basis for the successful conclusion of the 
DDA.  
 
__________