./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/WPDR/5
3 July 2003
(03-3560)
Working Party on Domestic Regulation
UPDATE TO THE ANNUAL REPORT OF 2002 OF THE WORKING PARTY ON
DOMESTIC REGULATION TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2003)
1. Since the 2002 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services, the Working Party on
Domestic Regulation (WPDR) held three formal meetings and two informal meetings. Minutes of theformal meetings are found in WTO documents S/WPDR/M/19 to M/21.  The next formal meeting is
scheduled for 1 July 2003.  Both formal and informal papers have been submitted to the Working
Party.  The formal papers were submitted by China; the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan,
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Canada; and the United States.
1  Informal papers were submitted by the
Chairperson,2 Members3 and the Secretariat.4
2. At the formal meeting on 15 May, Members approved the appointment of
Mr. Johannes Bernabe of the Philippines as the new WPDR Chairperson, replacing the previous
Chairperson, Mr. Sergio Santos of Brazil.
I. DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATORY DISCIPLINES UNDER GATS ARTICLE VI:4
3. With respect to the development of any necessary disciplines on domestic regulation,
discussions of the Working Party in the first half of 2003 continued to focus on the regulatory barriers
and issues that service suppliers actually faced.  This involved further engaging in a review of the
measures contained in the informal Secretariat paper Examples of Measures to be Addressed by
Disciplines under GATS Article VI:4  (latest version is JOB(02)/20/Rev.5, dated 29 April 2003).  No
conclusions have yet been reached on any of the issues raised.
4.  At the formal WPDR meetings on 24 February and 15 May 2003, as well as at the informal
meetings held on 28 January 2003 and 13 June 2003, Members discussed the informal Secretariatpaper, Proposed Workshop on Domestic Regulation , the latest version of which is JOB(02)/35/Rev.1,
dated 7 May 2003.
5. In March 2003, Japan submitted an informal paper, Draft Annex on Domestic Regulation ,
which was circulated as JOB/(03)/45, dated 3 March 2003.
5  Members welcomed Japan’s
contribution, and made extensive preliminary comments on the draft annex at the 24 February and 15May 2003 formal meetings.
                                                     
1 S/WPDR/W/20, dated 2  December 2003;  S/WPDR/W/21, date d 24 January 2003;  S/WPDR/W/22,
dated 10 February 2003;  and S/WPDR/W/23, dated 10 March 2003, respectively.
2 JOB/(02)/206, dated 3 December 2002.
3 JOB/(02)/203, dated 3 December 2002 (Communicatio n from China);  JOB/(03)/113, dated 11 June
2003 (Communication from Singapore).
4 JOB(02)/3/Rev.3, 2.12.02;  JOB/(02)/204, 2.12.03; JOB(02)/20/Rev.3, 3.12.02;  JOB/(03)/28,
13.02.03;  JOB/(02)/30/Rev.4, 19.02.03;  JOB/( 03)/35, 21.02.03;  JOB/(02)/204/Rev.1, 21.02.03;
JOB(02)/20/Rev.4, 21.02.03;  JOB(03)/45, 3.03.03;  JO B(02)/20/Rev.5, 29.04.03;  JOB(02)/3/Rev.5, 29.04.03;
JOB/(03)/45/Rev.1, 2.05.03;  JOB(03)/35/Rev.1, 7.05.03.
5 The latest version is JOB/(03)/45/Rev.1, dated 2 May 2003.S/WPDR/5
Page 2
6. At the formal meeting on 24 February, 2003, the OECD gave a brief presentation, on an
informal basis, regarding their recent paper on MRAs.6
II. DEVELOPMENT OF DISCIPLINES FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
7. Regarding the development of disciplines for professional services, the Working Party
continued to hold discussions on the informal Secretariat paper Synthesis of Results to Date of the
Domestic Consultations in Professional Services , the latest version of which was circulated as
(JOB(02)/204, dated 21 February 2003).
8. At the formal meetings on 24 February and 15 May 2003, the Secretariat updated Members
on the results to date of the consultations with international professional services organizations,
concerning the potential suitability of the Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy
Sector  (S/L/64, dated 17 December 1998) for other professions.
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6 The OECD paper was circulated as an informal paper, JOB/(03)/28, dated 13 February, 2003.