S/WPGR/M/41

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/52
7 September 2005 (05-3887) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 20 June 2005

Note by the Secretariat


The meeting of the Working Party on GATS Rules was opened by Ms. Clare Kelly, from New Zealand. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/2595, included the following items: election of the new chairperson, emergency safeguard measures, government procurement, subsidies, date of the next meeting, and other business. To assist delegations in the preparation of the meeting, the Chairperson had prepared an annotated agenda, contained in JOB(05)/115. The agenda was adopted.
The Chairperson recalled that at the last meeting she had asked delegations to reflect on what should be priorities for this year and how to implement them. In the annotated agenda circulated in preparation for the informal meeting of 13 June, she had shared her personal assessment of the situation in the light of con

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/35
7 December 2001 (01-6241) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 28 NOVEMBER 2001

Note by the Secretariat

The Working Party on GATS Rules held its thirty-fifth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr.
It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under GATS Article X; negotiations on subsidies under GATS Article XV; negotiations on government procurement under GATS Article XIII; date of the next meeting; and other business.
However, in view of the difficulty of implementing and withdrawing compensation, a short period of time should be determined during which no compensation was required.
In fact, the link between an ESM and increased liberalization worked the other way round: Members would feel comfortable having an ESM before making additional specific commitments.
Mexico's reading of the US contribution was that an ESM would be less undesirable if it were scheduled, but not that it was desirable per se.
It might then be better to develop a horizontal mechanism and let Members decide – if and when a safeguard action took place – whether such action was justified given the circumstances, without predefining in great detail what was justifiable, what were the right circumstances, etc.
He informed that, on 19 and 20 November, he had held informal consultations, which had allowed him to hear some thirty delegations on this issue, including on the question of whether or not work should start on a draft text.
On 23 November, he had made two suggestions that delegations could take into account in the preparation of future meetings: (i) with respect to the different elements contained in the Synopsis, delegations might want to examine where, in their views, there was possible common ground and where positions differed; (ii) delegations might also want to consider which elements might be common to both an horizontal and a scheduled safeguard.
At the very least, the Working Group should start examining areas of common ground, which would facilitate a platform for subsequent drafting.
negotiations on subsidies under article xv of the gats
The Chairperson said that, in the absence of new contributions, delegations were invited to address the issue of subsidies on the basis of the Chairperson's Checklist contained in Job No.
Members, especially those who had raised subsidy-related issues in their sectoral proposals, should share their experience in this field.
negotiations on government procurement under article xiii of the gats
The Chairperson proposed that delegations should continue their general exchange of views on any aspect of government procurement of services.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/53
30 September 2005
(05-4371) Working Party on GATS Rules



REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 21 SEPTEMBER 2005

Note by the Secretariat


Due to the absence of the Chairperson, the Working Party elected Ms. Clare Kelly, from New Zealand, to preside over this meeting. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/2649, included the following items: adoption of the annual report to the Council for Trade in Services, emergency safeguard measures, subsidies, government procurement, date of the next meeting, and other business. To assist delegations in the preparation of the meeting, the Chairperson had prepared an annotated agenda, contained in JOB(05)/189. The agenda was adopted.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2005)
The Chairperson invited the Working Party to adopt the draft annual report contained in document S/WPGR/W/53 and to transmit it to the Council for

S/WPGR/M/45

S/WPGR/M/47World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/47
22 April 2004 (04-1806) Working Party on GATS Rules



Report of the meeting of 24 March 2004

Note by the Secretariat


The Working Party on GATS Rules held this meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Santiago Urbina, from Nicaragua. The agenda for the meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/2271. It included the following items: emergency safeguard measures, government procurement, subsidies, date of the next meeting, other business, and election of the new chairperson. To assist delegations in the preparation of the meeting, the Chairperson had prepared an annotated agenda contained in JOB(04)/11. The agenda for the meeting was adopted.
NEGOTIATIONS ON EMERGENCY SAFEGUARD MEASURES (ARTICLE X)
The Chairperson recalled that the decision taken by the Council for Trade in Services on the extension of the negotiating mandate, pursuant to a recommendation from the Chairperson of the Working Party on GATS

S/WPGR/M/44

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/50
17 January 2005 (05-0194) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 24 NOVEMBER 2004

Note by the Secretariat


The meeting of the Working Party on GATS Rules was chaired by Ms. Clare Kelly, from New Zealand. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/2443, included the following items: adoption of the annual report to the Council for Trade in Services, subsidies, emergency safeguard measures, government procurement, date of the next meeting and other business. To assist delegations in the preparation of the meeting, the Chairperson had prepared an annotated agenda, contained in JOB(04)/167. The agenda was adopted.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2004)
The Chairperson invited the Working Party to adopt the draft annual report contained in document S/WPGR/W/50 and transmit it to the Council for Trade in Services. It covered the meetings

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/28
4 August 2000 (00-3240) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 7 JULY 2000

Note by the Secretariat


The Working Party on GATS Rules held is twenty-eighth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Tony Sims, from the United Kingdom. The agenda for the meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/1343. It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under GATS Article X; negotiation on subsidies under GATS Article XV; negotiations on government procurement under GATS Article XIII; date of the next meeting; and other business. The agenda for the meeting was adopted.
The Chairperson drew attention to an informal Note (Job No. 4058, 27 June 2000), he had circulated to assist delegations in their preparation for the meeting.
negotiations on safeguards under article x of the gats
The Chairperson said that good progress had been made since the beginning of this year on the question of an emergency safeg

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/26
20 April 2000 (00-1623) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 24 MARCH 2000

Note by the Secretariat



The Working Party on GATS Rules held its twenty-sixth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Siva Somasundram of Singapore. The agenda for the meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/1242. It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under Article X of the GATS; negotiations on subsidies under Article XV of the GATS; negotiations on government procurement under Article XIII of the GATS; date of the next meeting; and other business. The agenda for the meeting was adopted.
The Chairman drew attention to an informal Note (Job No. 782, 11 February 2000) he had circulated to assist delegations in their preparation for the meeting.
negotiations on safeguards under article x of the gats
The Chairman thanked the ASEAN delegations for the effort they had made in tabling a so-called "Concept

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/27
6 June 2000 (00-2222) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 4 - 5 MAY 2000

Note by the Secretariat


The twenty-seventh meeting of the Working Party on GATS Rules was opened by Mr. Siva Somasundram, of Singapore, Chairperson of the Working Party. The agenda for the meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/1288. It consisted of six items: appointment of a new chairperson; negotiations on safeguards under Article X of the GATS; negotiations on subsidies under Article XV of the GATS; negotiations on government procurement under Article XIII of the GATS; date of the next meeting; and other business. The agenda for the meeting was adopted.
The Chairperson drew attention to an informal Note (Job No. 2598, 28 April 2000) he had prepared in cooperation with Mr. Tony Sims, designated new Chairperson, to assist delegations in their preparation for the meeting.
appointment of the new chairperson
The Cha

S/WPGR/M/40

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/51
18 March 2005 (05-1118) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 7 FEBRUARY 2005

Note by the Secretariat


The meeting of the Working Party on GATS Rules was chaired by Ms. Clare Kelly, from New Zealand. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/2485, included the following items: subsidies, government procurement, emergency safeguard measures, date of the next meeting and other business. To assist delegations in the preparation of the meeting, the Chairperson had prepared an annotated agenda, contained in JOB(05)/7. The agenda was adopted.
NEGOTIATIONS ON SUBSIDIES (ARTICLE XV)
The Chairperson called attention to the three documents circulated since the last meeting. First, the Secretariat had prepared a synthesis Note on the definition of subsidies, contained in JOB(05)/4. Further, the delegation of Singapore had circulated an informal communication (JOB(04/180), which enumerated a nu

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/30
22 December 2000 (00-5643) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 30 NOVEMBER 2000

Note by the Secretariat

The Working Party on GATS Rules held its thirtieth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr.
It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under GATS Article X; negotiations on subsidies under GATS Article XV; negotiations on government procurement under GATS Article XIII; date of the next meeting; and other business.
negotiations on safeguards under article x of the gats
Discussion on substantive issues
The Chairperson recalled that, at the last formal meeting of the Working Party, most of the discussion on emergency safeguard measures had taken place in informal session (See Job No.
the records of the Working Party showed that a large majority of the Members were in favour of such a mechanism, as opposed to some kind of "automatic" mechanism, such as those existing in the areas of agriculture and textiles.
There was no "options" with regard to the definition of domestic industry because the progress achieved in the discussion has suggested that, first, the issue of domestic industry was closely linked to the question of acquired rights, and second, if "domestic industry" were to be defined only for injury determination purposes, the debate could now focus on how broad or how narrow these rights should be defined.
He stressed that, in preparing this Draft, ASEAN's objective was to strike a balance between, on the one hand, what they believed to be a legitimate right for Members to have recourse to emergency action in response to emergencies that resulted from specific commitments and, on the other, the need to ensure that there was no abuse in doing so.
The representative of Argentina said that his delegation remained flexible on the issue of emergency safeguard measures and was ready to examine any workable alternative which could be implemented within the current GATS framework.
Her delegation feared that an ESM would limit the growth of foreign participation (future foreign investments or the expansion of existing companies with additional foreign capital) in services activities in Colombia.
An ESM would create a favourable climate for developing countries to liberalise their services sectors, knowing that that they could rely on rules to protect themselves for a limited period and in a flexible manner.
The representative of Australia said her authorities were concerned about the definition of "domestic industry" proposed in the ASEAN Draft Agreement, particularly because it seemed to provide a narrow definition for the purpose of establishing injury and a broader one for applying the remedy.
The solution proposed by ASEAN was basically former Option 2 of the ASEAN Concept-paper, plus protection of acquired rights, or, said differently, former Option 1, minus injury caused by established foreign suppliers.
In his report, he indicated that, while all delegations seemed to feel that the deadline for safeguard negotiations should be extended and that work should be concluded some time before the end of the current round of negotiations, views regarding the length of the extension ranged from three months to the end of the services negotiations.
There was nothing in the GATS or in the WTO Agreement that would limit the power of the Council to take such decisions, except that in cases where formal interpretation or formal amendment of the GATS was in question, the formal procedures in the WTO Agreement might be invoked.
As regards the second point raised by the delegation of Pakistan, concerning the phrase in the Decision "having regard to the provisions of Article X" of the GATS, the representative of the Secretariat stated that this phrase did not contradict the essence of the Decision, which actually carried forward all the substantive elements of Article X.
His delegation was nevertheless still prepared to accept the text proposed by the Chairperson, on the understanding that there would be an opportunity to take stock of the progress made on the occasion of the next annual report of the Working Party.
With respect to data gathering, he recalled that, in their communication presented in March (S/WPGR/W/31, paragraph 9), Argentina and Hong Kong, China had made various suggestions to improve the data situation.
From an economic point of view, there should be no reason why a government practice which might distort trade in goods, would not distort services trade, if applied in the same manner.
For example, it was conceivable that subsidies for a very large aircraft or for building new headquarters could have a distortive effect on related trade in services.
The representative of Brazil said that his authorities were coordinating with the private sector and other pertinent government agencies in order to assess the types of subsidies having trade distortive effects.
The representative of the United States agreed with Argentina that, intuitively, there should be no economic reason why government action in the goods sector should be more likely to distort trade than the same type of action in services.
the effect of subsidies granted by the fifteen main exporters in the world, who captured 82 per cent of international trade in services, was different from a subsidy granted by a relatively marginal country.

The Chairperson said that the starting point for some delegations was that, in principle, government assistance for services should be no more trade-distortive than for goods.
Delegations were invited to address this Non-paper, as well as the Communication introduced by Hong Kong, China at the last meeting of the Working Party, Definition on subsidies in services (Job No.
For instance, a subsidy extended to a bank, in order to prevent it from going bankrupt and, thus, harming small-scale savers, could be said to be specific, but would in fact have wider economic policy implications.
Discussion of these issues should not be foreclosed, even though it might lead to the conclusion that these practices should be dealt with under Article VI:4 of the GATS.
Another issue was whether a subsidy in the area of goods could also affect services: if the good was not exported, it would probably be covered by GATT disciplines, but might nevertheless affect services trade.
The representative of the European Communities disagreed with the last sentence in paragraph 6 of the Argentinian paper because there were no disciplines yet on government procurement.
The representative of Argentina said that the distinction, in paragraph 6, between government procurement of goods and subsidy disciplines aimed at maintaining a distinction which already existed in goods trade, where it was recognized that public procurement as such did not fall under the ASCM.
negotiations on government procurement under article xiii of the gats
The Chairperson said that, as agreed at the July meeting, the Secretariat had circulated two documents under this agenda item: (i) a list of documents dealing with relevant activities in the Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement and the Committee on Government Procurement (Job No.

other business
The Chairperson recalled that, on 3 November 2000, the Secretariat had circulated draft annual reports from the Council for Trade in Services, the Special Session of the Council and the subsidiary bodies (see Job No.
In the absence of any comment, the report had been considered to be adopted on 17 November 2000; it had been issued in its final form on 23 November 2000 in document S/WPGR/5.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/49
27 October 2004 (04-4567) Working Party on GATS Rules


REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 20 SEPTEMBER 2004

Note by the Secretariat


The meeting of the Working Party on GATS Rules was chaired by Ms. Clare Kelly, from New Zealand. The agenda for the meeting, contained in WTO/AIR/2375, included the following items: government procurement, emergency safeguard measures, subsidies, date of the next meeting and other business. To assi

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/38
26 July 2002 (02-4172) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 15 JULY 2002

Note by the Secretariat

The Working Party on GATS Rules held its thirty-eighth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr.
It consisted of six items: work programme for the Working Party; negotiations on safeguards under GATS Article X; negotiations on subsidies under GATS Article XV; negotiations on government procurement under GATS Article XIII; date of the next meeting; and other business.
Work Programme for the Working Party
The Chairperson recalled that paragraph 2 of the Communication from the Chairperson of the Working Party on GATS Rules transmitting the Draft Fourth Decision on Negotiations on Emergency Safeguard Measures stipulated that, "the Chairman will carry out consultations to establish a programme structuring future work of the Working Party".
Second, benchmarks for submissions were indicative, with a view to encouraging Members to put forward submissions on the respective subjects as early as possible, and would be without prejudice to Members’ right to put forward further suggestions and raise relevant issues by way of submissions at any time, under any of the three subjects of negotiation.
Noting that there were some remaining concerns, he proposed that Members consider adopting the work programme in JOB(02)/82 with the following changes: (i) "work programme" would read "work programmes" throughout the text to reflect that separate work programmes were established for the respective subjects of negotiations, and the first paragraph should be read as referring to all three work programmes; (ii) a reference to paragraph 7 of the Negotiating Guidelines would be added in paragraph 2 of JOB(02)/82.
Moreover, it was not appropriate to repeat the first paragraph under each agenda item because the first sentence of paragraph 1 of JOB(02)/82 related only to emergency safeguard measures.
Her delegation would be prepared to look at the suggestions made by Mexico and India, but could not give any guarantee as to what it would do with them without having seen them in writing.
Moreover, in line with the suggestions he had made in the morning: (i) an "s" had been added to "work programme" (title, paragraphs 1(a) and 2), to make it clear that each item had a separate work programme, and to recognize the fact that they were at different stages of progress; and, (ii) a reference to paragraph 7 of the Negotiating Guidelines had been added to the work programme on emergency safeguard measures.
The representative of Switzerland said that, in spite of remaining concerns, his delegation had come prepared to support the work programme as contained in JOB(02)/82, which would have enabled the Working Party to proceed in a precise manner on the substantive issues.
the second and third sentences of that paragraph would be deleted, and the words "under each negotiating mandate" would be inserted at the end of the first sentence.
The ad referendum procedure provided a period of time during which those delegations which might still be in doubt as to whether they could join the consensus, could come back and notify the Secretariat that they were not able to join the consensus.
In this regard, delegations might give some thought to what they would see as possible outcomes from a broader perspective, taking into account not only their standpoints, but also the views and positions expressed by other Members.
After having reached some understanding on this issue as soon as possible, Members would be ready to move on to the next step, which was designing a mechanism or procedure governing Members' temporary suspension of their commitments.
The new informal paper suggested that the definition contained in the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) be used as a working basis, but Members might use any other definition of subsidy, as long as it was specified.
At the last meeting, his delegation had suggested that the Secretariat update its note on information contained in WTO Trade Policy Reviews (S/WPGR/W/25), and undertake a compilation of subsidy-related information found in the various sectoral proposals.
A representative of the Secretariat said that the initial demand for this compilation had been triggered by the feeling that, as the information exchange under Article XV was not taking off, there was a need to find a substitute.
The representative of the Republic of Korea said that factual information provided by the Secretariat, such as updating information contained in TPR reports and compiling relevant elements in sectoral proposals, could be considered as part of the information exchange in Article XV, which concerned all subsidies.
The representative of the European Communities said that the communication in S/WPGR/W/39 underscored the size of government procurement markets, as well as the particular interest developing countries would have to liberalise this sector.
She enquired what the EC position was with respect to thresholds, since this issue was not mentioned in the EC communication; yet, it was an important one.
Japan had particular interest in the sectors of construction, engineering and architecture, and, in the light of further explanations from the EC, might want to submit an own contribution.
paragraph 1 of Article XIII exempted government procurement from the application of Articles II, XVI and XVII.
He enquired how the European Communities had selected the sectors mentioned in paragraph 13 and said that governments' participation in other sectors, such as energy, telecommunication or audiovisual services was still important in a number of countries.
Similarly, the raising of any relevant issues for discussion by Members should be without prejudice to the continued discussion already being undertaken by Members and vice versa.
1 reads as follows: "
to identify, elaborate and consolidate elements for ESM and to address the question of feasibility and desirability of ESM;"

See also Communication from Australia on Questions raised at the informal meeting of the Working Party on GATS rules held on 12 February 2002, JOB(02)/9, 13 February 2002.

S/WPGR/W/41

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/23
6 July 1999 (99-2785) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 21 JUNE 1999

Note by the Secretariat


The twenty-third meeting of the Working Party of GATS Rules was chaired by Mr. Siva Somasundram of Singapore. The agenda of the meeting was contained in WTO/AIR/1110. It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under Article X of the GATS, including the extension of the deadline for the negotiations; negotiations on subsidies under Article XV of the GATS; negotiations on government procurement under Article XIII of the GATS; date of the next meeting of the Working Party; and other business.
2. The Chairman indicated that he had circulated a Note, Job No. 3432 dated 14 June 1999, to assist delegations in their preparation for the meeting. The Note recapitulated where the Working Party stood on its three negotiating issues and proposed a certain structure for the discussion.


ITEM

S/WPGR/M/39

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/WPGR/M/25
2 November 1999 (99-4741) Working Party on GATS Rules

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF 8 OCTOBER 1999

Note by the Secretariat

The Working Party on GATS Rules held its twenty-fifth meeting under the chairmanship of Mr.
It consisted of five items: negotiations on safeguards under Article X of the GATS; negotiations on subsidies under Article XV of the GATS; negotiations on government procurement under Article XIII of the GATS; date of the next meeting of the Working Party; and other business.
Concepts of injury and causality
The Chairman proposed to focus the discussion on potential injury and causality indicators which might be used in any sort of safeguard mechanism, irrespective of whether it was sector-specific or horizontal, or any other variant under consideration.
While the United States remained prepared to engage in a general discussion, he wished to reiterate that delegations should attempt to describe real-life situations, which could assist the Working Party in reaching some kind of common understanding on appropriate indicators or criteria.
Her authorities were asking for more concrete examples so as to better understand the desirability and scope of various criteria when applied to specific situations.
Although it was likely that, if there were such examples, they might already have been raised in the GATS Council under Article X.
In summing up the discussion, the Chairman noted that Members acknowledged the particular importance of trade and injury indicators, irrespective of what safeguard mechanism would be in place.
He noted that it might be difficult to arrive at an early consensus on indicators until the Working Party started examining their use in concrete - real-life or hypothetical - situations.
Horizontal versus sector-specific safeguards
The Chairman noted that the Working Party had agreed, at its last meeting, to focus on the criteria and principles which would need to govern any type of safeguard action, regardless of the basic mechanism (sector-specific, horizontal or other) which might ultimately be chosen.
Would foreign-owned suppliers, which were already established under mode 3, continue to have exactly the same rights as any other domestically established supplier – including the right to expand their market shares through take-overs, mergers, new investment, etc.
With respect to the proposed clear specification of the measure, the US paper was more specific than the Hong Kong, China paper; in ASEAN's view, rules in services might go a step further than those in the goods sector by specifying the particular safeguard measures that might be applied if the investigation established injury caused by increased consumption of foreign services.
The history in the goods area, predating the existence of the AS, showed that when governments were faced with requests from industries to provide relief, they would look at the various options available to them, including GATT Article XIX and Article XXVIII.
The representative of Hong Kong, China said that the objective of the paper previously presented by his delegation was to see whether a mechanism not open to abuse could be set up and be workable.
With respect to degressivity, there was a need to examine the relationship with the principle of temporary application: if a safeguard action was temporary and short, degressivity might not be relevant.
while many Members had expressed the view that it should be possible in safeguard cases to suspend commitments under Article XVIII, others had raised doubts as to whether this should include the suspension of regulatory principles (e.
He thought it would be useful to have more background information and suggested that the Secretariat look at other papers, for instance in the area of investment, where services subsidies might have been discussed.
Entities having some exclusive rights, without being directly controlled by the government, might be an obstacle to market access, but should not raise procurement-related issues, especially if there was no government ownership.
The representative of New Zealand recalled that the paper presented by his delegation was an attempt to explore possible areas of common understanding in the application of fundamental WTO principles to government procurement in services.
In this regard, New Zealand acknowledged that Members, whilst seeking the best price or the economically most advantageous tender, might wish to ensure that domestic suppliers were not overlooked and had a full and fair opportunity to compete.
The representative of Canada agreed that the Working Party should proceed on parallel tracks and, in doing so, examine the questions raised in the New Zealand paper as well as any other pertinent issues.
At this stage, the Working Party should be focusing on more general procurement disciplines rather than pursuing the type of sectoral approach adopted in the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services.
Date of the next meeting
The Chairman proposed that, in view of the preparation of the Seattle Ministerial Conference, the Working Party should hold its next meeting early next year, at a date to be announced in due course.
other business
The Chairman said that the decision not to schedule an additional meeting this year had implications for the Annual Report which had to be submitted to the Council for Trade in Services.