. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/15 
14 April 2004 
 (04-1660) 
Council for Trade in Services 
Special Session  
 
 
 
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES  
 
Report by the Chairman to th e Trade Negotiations Committee  
  
The Council for Trade in Services in Special Session met on 2 April 2004.  
I. STATUS OF WORK 
1. Overall there is a desire for the pace of work to  be stepped up.  Members indicated that they 
wished to intensify work on the assessment for trade in services, technical issues, rules and market 
access wherever possible. 
2. With respect to the Assessment for Trade in Services, the Council had a lengthy discussion on 
the basis of two informative presentations:  th e first on the experience of Chinese Taipei in 
liberalising its telecommunications markets, and the second by the authors of an OECD study entitled 
"Services Trade Liberalisation:  Identifying Oppor tunities and Gains" (this was a follow-up to a 
presentation given at the meeting in October).  In  the numerous interventions made, many Members 
underscored the useful lessons contained in Chinese Taipei's assessment.  On e such lesson was that 
reform, particularly in infrastructural services such as telecommunications, had to be carefully 
planned so that the appropriate regulatory frame work for a competitive market was in place as 
liberalization proceeded.  Anther lesson pointed to  by many delegations was that Chinese Taipei's 
experience had produced substantial economic and soci al welfare "spillovers" in other areas.  With 
respect to the OECD paper, all Members expressed inte rest in the findings of the research, which gave 
concrete examples of services trade success stories, particularly those from developing countries.  A 
few delegations sought supplementary informati on from the OECD representatives on the patterns 
that led to the successful development of Members' trade, particularly in terms of cross-border trade 
and commercial presence.  Norway indicated that it would prepare a paper on its experience with the 
liberalization of energy services, and the Council agreed  to invite the International Trade Centre for a 
follow-up presentation on its work on trade-related technical assistance.  There was a renewed sense 
of the importance of the assessment exercise in assisti ng Members in the context of the negotiations.    
3. Under the item "Proposals Relating to the Nego tiations under Article XIX" the Council held a 
preliminary discussion based on a non-paper on logistics services presented by four Members.  The statements by the proponents invited other Memb ers to consider joining the sponsorship of a 
negotiating proposal when it would be formally subm itted in advance of the Council's next meeting.  
Many Members underscored the economic importance of these services both in terms of promoting 
growth in trade in goods and services that rely on logi stics services, as well as in their own right.  In 
this regard, most Members indicated that they would consider the proponents' non-paper positively, 
although a few expressed reservations on the scope of services and some of the issues identified in the 
non-paper.  Due to a lack of time, Members agreed that continued discussion on a formal document TN/S/15 
Page 2  
 
on the proposed liberalization of trade in the moveme nt of natural persons w ould be taken up at the 
next meeting.   
4. With respect to the item "Review of Progress in Negotiations, Including Pursuant to 
Paragraph 15 of the Guidelines for Negotiations", I w ould first point out that the title of this agenda 
item has been modified to include what was prev iously a standing sub-item on the agenda.  With 
respect to paragraph 15 of the Guidelines for Negotiations (S/L/93), which inter alia  calls on 
Members when reviewing progress to consider the extent to which GATS Article IV (on the increasing participation of developed countries) is  being implemented, a formal document from 18 
developing country Members was presented.  This  communication proposes that the Council begin a 
"systemic and careful review" of the commitments  being offered to developing countries, and 
proposes to begin this review with the moveme nt of natural persons.  A number of Members 
supported the thrust of the proposal and the need for further work along the lines it proposed in order 
to ensure that the objectives outlined in Article IV  are addressed in the negotiations.  The views of 
least-developed country Members were recalled in this regard.  A few Members expressed various 
concerns about the Council being able to review  only some sectors or one mode of supply.  
Developing Members were also encouraged to in dicate in their requests and offers the areas of 
negotiating interest to them.  
5. On the review of progress itself, there was a feeling among Members that, in light of the 
passage of one year since the benchmark date for ci rculation of initial offers, far too few offers had 
been submitted and that the minimalist character of many of these was disappointing.  While recognising the complexity of preparing an offer, most Members encouraged their partners not having 
done so to table an initial offer.  A few delegations  reiterated that offers we re conditional and did not 
prejudge an outcome.  The Secretariat was also called upon, through its technical assistance, to provide support in this regard.  A few Members noted that the circulation of offers at this stage should 
not be tied to other areas and that a greater number  of offers on the table could advance the process 
overall.  Members also felt that work on a number of technical issues (such as on rules, classification 
and clarity in scheduling) should be pursued more  intensively in subsidiary bodies and so-called 
friends groups, and that better information flow from such groups to the Council would be helpful.  In 
order to have a better understanding of the reasons  for which some Members have not been in a 
position to table initial offers or any problems they may be facing in this regard, and, if appropriate, to 
secure the necessary assistance, I in formed Members of my intenti on to consult individually the 
concerned delegations.  Of course, I will also be  available to meet with any other interested 
delegation.   
6. Finally, a few delegations indicated that the co ming months would be the right time to begin 
to seek appropriate language with respect to di rection and timeframes. One delegation felt that 
intermediary goals should be iden tified in the coming months.   
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES 
7. I have no points to report at this time under this item. 
III. FUTURE WORK 
8. With respect to the three agenda items referred to  in Part I of this report, Members expressed 
a desire for work to be intensified and appropri ately structured.  I will of course be engaging in 
consultations in order to fulfil these requests. The Council agreed to hold the next cluster of services 
meetings from 23 June to 2 July. 
__________