RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/45 
17 June 2005 
 
 (05- 2567) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  Original:  Spanish 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM CUBA 
 
Review of Progress in the Negotiations, Including the Application of  
Paragraph 15 of the Guidelines for the Negotiations1 
 
Construction and Related Engineering Services  
   The following communication from the delegatio n of Cuba, dated 7 June 2005, is being 
circulated to the Members of th e Council for Trade in Services. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the review being conducted in the Services 
Council with a view to better application of  paragraph 15 of the negotiating guidelines. 
2. Cuba addressed requests for market openings to several Members of the WTO.  Construction 
and related engineering services, the primary target of those requests, are still beset by limitations that 
are preventing Cuba's access to markets of interest to it. 
3. The construction and related engineering services sector has close links with public works and 
a country's industrial and social development.  Acco rdingly, it has always been deemed a sector of 
strategic importance for job creation and sustainabl e growth.  As noted in document S/C/W/38, the 
construction sector is of particular importance fo r developing economies because of its link to the 
development of infrastructure, the training of local personnel, transfers of technology, and investment 
for the development of new productive capacities and services.
2 
4. The very nature of the sector means that th e international supply of construction services 
involves large scale movements of workers, speci alists and professionals at every skill level. 
II. TRADE RESTRICTIONS STILL MAINTAINED IN THE OFFERS OF SOME 
MEMBERS 
5. The construction and related engineering servi ces sector is linked closely to the various 
aspects of domestic regulation including technical re quirements, construction regulations and permits, 
registration and environmental re gulation.  Countries apply such measures both nationally and at 
provincial or regional level. 
                                                      
1 This communication does not prejudge Cuba's future position in the negotiations. 
2Construction and Related Engineering Services, Background Note by the Secretariat 
(document S/C/W/38 of 8 June 1998). TN/S/W/45 
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 6. Restrictions on the number of natural persons  that may be employed are still common.  
Indeed, some Members maintain na tionwide measures that are inconsistent or conflict with provincial 
and/or regional measures applied in the same count ry.  Licensing, standards and qualifications for 
mode 4 continue to be the main focus of such restrictions. 
7. There should be no discrepancy between nati onal and regional rules on quotas of natural 
persons already agreed on and/or hired.  Once a given number of workers h as been accepted in a 
region of a Member, it must not be revoked at nationa l level, particularly where it has no incidence on 
the country's employment rate.  Members need to be coherent when it com es to setting annual ceilings 
for participation of foreign professionals , technical staff and skilled workers. 
8. Some initial offers from developed countries ha ve stepped up restric tions on recognition of 
the professional qualifications of nationals of other Members.  This perpetuates limitations on market 
access and in many cases means that in comparison to  the professionals of the country, the foreign 
professional receives less remuneration for equal quali fications and provision of the same service. 
9. Difficulties also persist in the processing and approval of visas and work permits, which can 
take as long as six months.  For skilled workers and t echnical staff, they are issued for a very short 
maximum initial period, and are not granted at a ll for highly qualified prof essionals.  Cuba is in 
favour of the principle that, if the requirements set  by the receiving country are met, the work permit 
or visa should ordinarily be based on the contract and issued for the duration of the works or service in question. 
10. In view of the importance of mode 3 in this  sector, the restrictions frequently imposed on 
commercial presence relating to foreign management staff, professionals and labour, should be made 
more flexible.  Nationality and residence requireme nts, like other requirements for persons employed 
by foreign companies, in fact amount to restricti ons and are still to be foun d in some initial offers, 
mainly from developed Members. 
11. These obstacles, which have direct repercussions  for foreign professionals and labour because 
of the close link between mode 4 and mode 3, a ffect both the movement of natural persons and 
commercial presence itself.  Thus, the entry "N one" under mode 3 does not mean unqualified access 
and freedom for operations by co mpanies hiring foreign personnel. 
III. AN EVALUATION OF WHAT HAS BEEN OFFERED SO FAR 
12. In our view, there has been no very significant change in some of the offers that are of 
commercial interest to Cuba.  In some cases, the access guaranteed already existed.  We note that, 
initial or otherwise, the offers so far do not on the whole measure up to the requests of some 
underdeveloped countries as regards either the inclus ion of wider scope for mode 4 commitments or 
commercial presence.  There is also some backtracking on pre-existing commitments. 
13. Our evaluation of the negotiations is not po sitive, given the limitations and conditions 
maintained in some of the initial offers submitted so  far, in terms of the level of liberalization and 
market access of interest to unde rdeveloped countries such as Cuba. 
14. Once again, the present status of many offers is  still short of the goal in Article IV of the 
GATS, namely, to increase the participation of develo ping countries in world trade in services.  In the 
end, this will affect the level of reciprocity that some developing countries partaking in these 
negotiations can offer.  TN/S/W/45 
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 15. In the negotiations on construc tion and related engineering services, Cuba maintains the 
objectives set forth in its negotiating proposal of 22 March 2002 (S/CSS/W/145). 
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