RESTRICTED  
S/C/M/71 
8 April 2004 WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
 (04-1611) 
Council for Trade in Services  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 15 MARCH 2004 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
 
1. The Council for Trade in Services held a special meeting on 15 March 2004 chaired by 
Ambassador Ousmane Camara (Senegal).  The age nda for this meeting is  contained in document 
WTO/AIR/2263. 
2. The Chairman  suggested that the agenda be adopted as circulated. 
3. The Council so agreed . 
NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SAFEGUARD MEASURES UNDER ARTICLE X 
OF THE GATS - DEADLINE FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS 
4. The Chairman  recalled that the Working Party on GATS Rules had discussed the question of 
the deadline for the negotiations on emergency safe guard measures under Article X of the GATS. He 
drew the Council's attention to the communication (S/C/W/236) from the Chairman of the Working 
Party on GATS Rules, which included a draft decision to be adopted by the Council.  Noting that the 
Working Party on GATS Rules had reached an agre ement on the text of the draft decision, the 
Chairman proposed that the Council adopt the draf t decision as attached to document S/C/W/236.  
5. The representative of the Philippines  sought clarification from the Secretariat on an 
expression in paragraph 2 of the draft decision circulat ed at this meeting, which read as "the mandate 
in paragraph 1" instead of "the mandate under para graph 1" as originally agreed upon by the Working 
Party on GATS Rules.  
6. A representative of the Secretariat  explained that this editorial change had been made only for 
a linguistic reason.  He recalled that the sentenc e mentioned above previously had included two 
bracketed terms read as "the [mandate] [negotiations ] under paragraph 1", when the text of the draft 
decision was discussed in the Working Party on GATS Rul es.  Since the text agreed to had referred to 
"mandate" instead of "negotiations", he thought the expression "in paragraph 1" would be more 
appropriate than " under paragraph 1" from a lingui stic perspective. He said, however, that the 
wording might be reverted to "under paragraph 1" if Members so wished. 
7. The representative of the Philippines  thanked the Secretariat for its clarification.  Having no 
intention to pose any objection to the draft decision,  he indicated that his understanding was that the 
change was strictly grammatical and did not in any way modify the meaning of the text that the Working Party of GATS Rules had agreed upon. 
                                                     
 
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. S/C/M/71 
Page 2  
 
8. On behalf of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesi a, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and his 
delegation, the representative of the Philippines
 wished to comment on the substance of the draft 
decision prior to its adoption by the Council.  He indicated that the negotiations on the draft decision had become less of a good faith exercise to exte nd the mandate for negotiations under Article X, but 
more of an effort to remove the nuances in the prev ious decisions.  He thought this situation tended to 
dilute the presumption that there would be results ca pable of entering into effect and to weaken an 
agreement captured in the previous decisions that such  results were to enter into force at the end of the 
current round of services negotiations.  He felt th is was an unfortunate twist which made the 
negotiations on the issue of extension more difficult than they should have been.  Noting that all the 
delegations were comfortable with the language of th e previous decisions, with which they could face 
their respective domestic constituents with some cred ibility, he thought there was no reason to change 
this situation.  He further noted that each delegati on had a certain margin to interpret the text of the 
decision in a way that was convenient for it to  face its various constituents.  Recognizing that 
interpretations would have various degrees of credibility depending on wh o were speakers and 
listeners and on what was said,  he stated that th e delegations for which he was speaking wished to 
reserve their own right of interpretation of the d ecision, and were continuing to undertake their work 
on emergency safeguard measures.  In their view, no twithstanding the changes introduced to the draft 
decision in comparison with the previous decision s and the original text of the draft decision 
presented to the Working Party on GATS Rules,  th ere was a mandate to continue negotiations under 
Article X and they agreed to do so.  The exerci se was not an academic one in discussing issues and 
elements of a possible emergency safeguard mech anism (ESM), but an inspiring work towards a 
concrete objective of having an ESM. These delegati ons looked forward to an ESM agreement which 
would enter into force at the end of the current  services negotiations.  The representative of the 
Philippines indicated that the new decision would allow Members to focus on the substance of the 
issue with a view to having an outcome of establishing an ESM by the end of the current round.  He noted that the wording chosen in the draft decision, i.e. "mandate in paragrap h 1", was intended to 
afford certain additional comfort, which did not substantially deviate from the understanding of the 
delegations he was speaking for.  In view of th e foregoing, he said that these delegations would accept 
the draft decision presented at the meeting, believi ng that the decision would not be interpreted as a 
step back but a step forward. 
9. With the intention to clarify certain nuances in  the draft decision, the representative of the 
United States  said that in the view of her delegation, the mandate was indicated in Article X:1 of the 
GATS and that the outcome referred to in paragr aph 2 of the draft decision did not prejudge the 
timing or the substance of the negotiations which, pursuant to Article X:1, were on the question of 
emergency safeguard measures.  She stated that he r delegation wished to discuss some issues it had 
raised in the past couple of years, such as modal application, until there was an outcome, if any.  
Looking forward to substantive discussions on these i ssues, her delegation would like to join other 
delegations in accepting the draft decision. 
10. The representative of Japan  said that his delegation was en couraged to see common language 
emerge from divergent views, and thought this would promote the current round of services 
negotiations. He stated that his delegation would support the draft decision on the understanding that 
it did not prejudge the nature and the timing of the out come of the negotiations.  He explained that the 
outcome might be positive or negative as to its natu re, and that in terms of timing, the outcome might 
come up prior to or after the end of the current round.  In the latter case, the outcome would not 
prevent the results of the current round from entering into force.  
11. The representative of Switzerland  thanked the Chairman of the Working Party on GATS 
Rules for his contribution in facilitating the negotiations  on the draft decision.  He also thanked all the 
other delegations for their active participation in consultations.  He noted that the result had been 
achieved  in a constructive spirit  and that the gap between Members had narrowed. Regarding the 
text of the draft decision, his delegation was pleased with the progress which had been made in two aspects. First, the extension was open-ended as indicat ed in paragraph 1 of the draft decision. Second, S/C/M/71 
 Page 3 
 
 
paragraphs 1 and 2 of the draft decision were de-li nked.  He believed that the progress would facilitate 
future work and help Members concentrate on more substantive issues.  With respect to paragraph 2 
of the draft decision, he said that his delegati on, like the United States and Japan, had its own 
understanding of the word "outcome" in terms of  substance and timing. Echoing the comments by 
Japan on the timing, he stated that in substance one  possible outcome was not to create an ESM.  He 
further stated that his delegation would accept the draft decision and look forward to substantive 
discussions in the future.  
12. The representative of Chinese Taipei  stated that emergency safeguard measures were 
important for developing countries.  Welcoming the statement made by the representative of the 
Philippines, he urged Members not to focus on the issues of feasibility and desirability, but to start 
substantive discussions on technical issu es so as to make concrete progress. 
13. The representative of Brazil   thanked the Chairman of the Working Party on GATS Rules and 
other delegations for their work on the text of th e draft decision.  He noted that regardless of 
Members' different understanding of the wording of th e decision, the concrete result was that the issue 
of emergency safeguard measures would be kept on the agenda of the Working Party on GATS Rules 
and that Members were provided with an opportunity to continue debates on the issue.  He reiterated 
his delegation's position on those entries in Members'  schedules that produced an effect equivalent to 
a safeguard mechanism.  He said that his delegation would support the adoption of the draft decision.  
14. The Chairman  proposed that the Council take note of the statements made and adopt the draft 
decision contained in document S/C/W/236. 
15. The Council so decided.  
16. The representatives of Canada ,  the United States , Mexico , Venezuela , and the Philippines  
thanked the Chairman of the Working Party on GATS Rules for his efforts in helping Members reach 
consensus on the decision.  The representative of Mexico  added that his delegation would endorse the 
interpretation expressed by the United States, Jap an and Switzerland regarding the decision.  
17. The representative of Nicaragua , as the Chairman of the Working Party on GATS Rules 
thanked all the Members for their efforts. He said  the decision was the best solution that could be 
achieved, if not satisfactory to everyone. 
18. The Chairman  proposed that the Council take note of the statement made.  
19. The Council so agreed.  
20. Noting that there was no objection to the result of informal consultations he had undertaken 
regarding the new Chairpersons of the Subsidiary Bodies, the Chairman  stated that he would propose 
a slate of names to the Subsidiary Bodies for adop tion: the Working Party on GATS Rules: Ms. Clare 
Kelly (New Zealand); the Committee on Trade in Fi nancial Services: Ms. Mi-yon Lee (Republic of 
Korea); the Committee on Specific Commitments: Mr . Roberto Bosch (Argentina); and the Working 
Party on Domestic Regulation: Mr. David Cairns (the United Kingdom). Before he adjourned the 
meeting, the Chairman suggested that the Council take note of the statements made.  
21. The Council so agreed.  
____________