World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/87
9 December 1998 (98-4846) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND
THEIR MEMBER STATES

Work Programme on Electronic Commerce

Scope and Classification Issues

The following communication has been received from the delegation of the European Communities and their Member States with the request that it be circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
_______________

The WTO programme on electronic commerce adopted by the WTO General Council on 24 September 1998 envisaged discussions on a series of services issues within the context of the Council for Trade in Services.
This happens, for example, when the internet is used for providing internet phone, electronic mail or transfers of data-bases;

(ii) electronic transmissions are increasingly used for ordering goods over the internet which are subsequently delivered physically (e.
The position in Members’ schedules on services relating to access to the internet is not uniformly clear: some delegations have not made any mention on the ground that telecommunications commitments are technologically neutral, while others have referred to ‘integrated telecommunications services’ as defined in CPC 75260; and a third group have explicitly referred to ‘internet services’ in their schedules.
Despite in principle this may seem trade in goods (and therefore outside the scope of the GATS) it is worth noting that there are three services elements in these transmissions that will fall under the GATS: the internet access services (see above under 2); a telecoms service (see above under 3) and the distribution service consisting in selling merchandise to retailers (wholesale) or selling merchandise for personal or household consumption (retail).
_______________

In conclusion, the GATS applies to various elements of electronic commerce transmissions: internet access services (covered by the GATS Annex on Telecommunications and WTO Members commitments on basic telecommunications); telecommunications services (covered by the various telecommunications’ services subsectors), distribution services involved in the ordering of physical goods (covered under the distribution services sector); and services ordered and delivered on-line (covered under the different services sectors and/or subsectors applicable to the same services when provided in a traditional manner).
This communication is without prejudice to further notes on other aspects of the WTO work programme that the European Communities and their Member States may present in the future.

In the realm of services trade, electronic commerce can be defined as comprising three different types of transaction, all of which require consideration:
(a) the provision of Internet access services themselves – meaning the provision of access to the net for businesses and consumers;
(b) the electronic delivery of services, meaning transactions in which services products are delivered to the customer in the form of digitised information flows;
(c) the use of the Internet as a channel for distribution services, by which goods and services are purchased over the net but delivered to the consumer subsequently in nonelectronic form.
As is the case throughout the WTO system, the legal regime which governs a given transaction is determined by the nature of the product which is traded, not by the technique of production or delivery: in the same way, if it were agreed that some category of electronically delivered products, hitherto unclassified, should be classified and treated as goods,
This means that when a Member has scheduled a commitment on a given service, it may not impose a charge on the import of that service, whether done electronically or otherwise, if that would impair the level of access guaranteed in its national schedule.

Because of the way in which it can render the distance between supplier and consumer virtually irrelevant, it is perhaps natural to think of electronic commerce essentially in terms of crossborder trade  GATS modes 1 (crossborder supply) and 2 (consumption abroad).

In the context of the negotiations on Basic Telecommunications, the Chairman proposed in January 1997 an interpretative note, which was adopted by the Group on Basic Telecommunications and attached to its report to the Services Council and which confirmed the principle that commitments undertaken were technology-neutral: in the absence of an indication to the contrary, any commitment would be assumed to cover local, long distance and international services for public and non-public use, on a facilities or resale basis, and using any technological means of supply (cable, radio, satellite, Internet, etc.
It is impossible to quantify the value of services sold in this way because, in addition to the well known inadequacies of services statistics, most transactions carried out over the Internet go unrecorded: but the vast scale of electronic delivery of services can be appreciated from the mere fact that currency and securities trading is overwhelmingly done electronically.
It is important to distinguish from this a second form of electronic commerce in which goods, and services which cannot be delivered electronically, are ordered and paid for online but are delivered to the customer in tangible form.
In the same way, a fully liberal commitment on basic telecommunications confers rights to supply telecommunications services; it is not a commitment to allow the supply of any service – banking services for example – which can be provided by telephone.
Like other such exceptions provisions, Article XIV is subject to a safeguard against abuse in that measures taken under it may be challenged by other Members on the ground that they are not necessary, or are more restrictive than necessary, to achieve the stated objective.
While this note mainly deals with issues concerning trade on electronic communications networks, it should be noted that intellectual property plays an important role also in promoting the development of the infrastructure of such networks, i.
Electronic copyright management systems may make individual licensing and distribution of revenue feasible in areas where the vast numbers of works, right holders and users have until now made collective arrangements necessary.
While the following discussion is limited to copyright and related rights, and trademarks, it should be borne in mind that these problems reflect a more general legal question that relates to the "borderless" nature of the Internet, and to the difficulty of determining the applicability of territorially based laws and regulations to activities carried out on a global network.
Copyright owners will be reluctant to put their protected materials on the net as long as they fear that the Internet may lead to uncontrolled dissemination and copying of phonograms, films, computer programs and other protected materials, which will seriously undermine copyright industries.
As regards digital technology, it confirms that computer programs, whether in source or object code, must be protected as literary works, and clarifies that databases and other compilations of data or other material must be protected as such under copyright even where the databases include data that as such are not protected under copyright.
For consumers who buy products and services at a distance, it may be increasingly necessary to rely on the reputation attached to trademarks and other distinctive signs, as they do not have an opportunity to establish a personal contact with the seller of those products, or to inspect the products and services before buying them.
The owner of a registered trademark has an exclusive right to prevent others from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs for goods or services which are identical or similar to those in respect of which the trademark is registered, if such use would result in a likelihood of confusion.
Some of the problems stem from the fact that under each top-level domain name there can be only one of each particular second-level domain name, which are usually allocated on a first-come, first-served basis within each top-level domain name.
Some have yet to begin implementation; some others have, in whole or in part, adopted information technology, in particular the Internet, for publishing notices on procurement opportunities; some have gone further in also enabling tender documents to be ordered and maybe delivered through such electronic means; and some have already initiated pilot projects by which as much of the procurement process as possible, including all communications between purchasing entities and tenderers, is conducted electronically.
Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement
The Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement was established by the Singapore Ministerial Conference in 1996 "to conduct a study on transparency in government procurement practices, taking into account national policies, and, based on this study, to develop elements for inclusion in an appropriate agreement".
the tape or diskette containing data, is imported, and provides Members with two options: it allows them to levy duties on the basis, either of the value of the carrier medium (which is negligible), or of the value of the carrier medium and the value of the software (which is usually high).
Information-technology-based management of data which is received, manipulated and sent electronically by traders, government authorities, and other participants in the trade transaction process, bears considerable potential for savings in costs and time, both for governments and for importers and exporters, and may enable many small and medium-sized companies to engage for the first time in international transactions.
Two important new treaties on copyright matters were adopted under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in December 1996, namely the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).
The treaties require contracting parties to provide adequate and effective legal remedies against any person, who, without authority, removes or alters such information or distributes copies of protected material knowing that such information has been removed or altered without authority, and knows or, with respect to civil remedies, has reasonable grounds to know that it will induce, enable, facilitate or conceal an infringement of any right covered by the treaties (Article 12 of the WCT and Article 19 of the WPPT).
The relationship between Internet domain names and trademarks has been addressed in two recent initiatives to develop the Internet domain name system, namely a Memorandum of Understanding on the Generic Top-Level Domain Name Space of the Internet Domain Name System, signed in Geneva on 1 May 1997, and a Statement of Policy on "Management of Internet Names and Addresses", published by the United States Department of Commerce on 5 June 1998.
Draft Article 3 of the Basic Proposal for the Substantive Provisions of the Treaty on Certain Questions concerning the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works to be considered by the Diplomatic Conference (WIPO document CRNR/DC/4) contained a clarification in this respect, but the provision was not included in the final text of the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

WT/GC/W/306

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/68
16 November 1998 (98-4585) Council for Trade in Services

THE WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Note by the Secretariat

This paper has been prepared to assist the Council for Trade in Services in its examination of the treatment of electronic commerce in the GATS legal framework.
For instance, a foreign bank established locally may supply its services to consumers electronically, or a foreign natural person present locally may use electronic means to deliver consultancy services.
Distinguishing between modes 1 and 2
Even though it is clear that the delivery of services by electronic means may take place by any of the modes of delivery mentioned above, it is not always easy to specify whether a transaction takes place under mode 1 or mode 2.
If a Member has entered "None" under mode 1 for a particular service, any measure restricting the ability of a foreign provider to supply the service from across the border would be illegitimate; if it has entered "None" under mode 2, any measure restricting the domestic consumer's ability to buy the service abroad would be illegitimate.
If country X imposed a higher duty on a shirt sent by air than on a shirt sent by sea, then any exporter using air transport could legitimately claim that X was extending less favourable treatment to its product than to the like product of some other Member (who happened to use maritime transport).
This is to be facilitated through negotiated specific commitments relating to strengthening their domestic service capacity inter alia through access to technology on a commercial basis, the improvement of their access to distribution channels and information networks, and the liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to them.
It also requires that each Member create judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures which provide, at the request of an affected service supplier, for the prompt review of, and where justified, appropriate remedies for, administrative decisions affecting trade in services.
On the one hand, Article VII:1, notwithstanding the general MFN obligation, allows Members to extend recognition unilaterally or through agreements to the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in another country.
At the risk of some oversimplification, we can see the first as primarily a response to the central role of telecommunications as a medium of transporting services, and the second as a response to the particular difficulties in achieving liberalization in a sector characterized by dominant suppliers of network infrastructure in the foreseeable future.
The term "nondiscriminatory" refers to mostfavourednation and national treatment as defined in the Agreement, as well as to sectorspecific usage of the term to mean "terms and conditions no less favourable than those accorded to any other user of like public telecommunications transport networks or services under like circumstances".
Dominant players in the telecom market, left free to make decisions about how to treat other suppliers, would be capable of frustrating the market access and national treatment commitments made by governments in the negotiations.
Since both forms of electronic commerce – the supply of services online and the electronic retailing and wholesaling of goods and services – depend to some extent on the security and privacy of communications, it is worth noting that Article XIV(c) permits Members to take any necessary measures to protect the privacy of the personal data of individuals and the confidentiality of individual records and accounts, and to prevent deceptive and fraudulent practices.
Three types of transaction are involved:
(a) the provision of Internet access services themselves – meaning the provision of access to the net for businesses and consumers;
(b) the electronic delivery of services, meaning transactions in which services products are delivered to the customer in the form of digitised information flows;
(c) the use of the Internet as a channel for distribution services, by which goods and services are purchased over the net but delivered to the consumer subsequently in nonelectronic form.
Market-access commitments on electronic supply of services (including commitments on basic and value added telecommunications services and on distribution services) (Article XVI)
Article XVI lists 6 types of restrictive measures which are prohibited unless they are scheduled.

National treatment (Article XVII)

A full national treatment commitment requires a Member to extend to services and service suppliers of any other Member, in respect of all measures affecting the supply of services, treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers.
If a Member has not made a national treatment commitment, then it remains free to impose discriminatory internal taxes, so the commitment not to impose customs duties would not preclude recourse to discriminatory measures with an identical effect.
whether delivered electronically or otherwise, and the classification of virtually all services products is not in doubt – even though, as has been made clear in the exchange of information exercise, the existing classification systems are often imperfect or incomplete.
Any suggestion that "electronic transmissions" as such should be regarded as outside the scope of the GATS would of course fundamentally damage the entire Agreement and undermine a wide range of existing commitments, since the vast majority of cross-border trade in many sectors is done electronically.

__________
The four modes of supply are defined as follows: (1) cross-border, where the service is supplied from the territory of one Member into another; (2) consumption abroad, where the consumer purchases a service which is delivered in the territory of another Member; (3) commercial presence, where the service supplier of one Member establishes a subsidiary or a branch in another Member to supply a service; (4) presence of natural persons, where the service is supplied by a person working in the territory of another Member.
A monopoly supplier of a service is defined in the GATS as any person, public or private, which in the relevant market of the territory of a Member is authorized or established formally or in effect by that Member as the sole supplier of that service (Article XXVIII(h)).
In Annex definitions: "Public telecommunications transport service" means any telecommunications transport service required, explicitly or in effect, to be offered to the public generally and typically involving the realtime transmission of customersupplied information without any endtoend change in its form or content.

At that meeting the accepting countries were expected to decide whether the Protocol should enter into force on 1 March, as would automatically have been the case if all Members concerned had accepted it by the deadline, or whether its entry into force should be deferred.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL COUNCIL
The Chairman noted that the items for discussion by the Council at this meeting were domestic regulation, market access commitments on electronic supply of services, national treatment and access to and use of public telecommunications networks and services.
It was also suggested that consideration should be given to the constraints facing developing countries in fulfilling legitimate regulatory objectives in this field and to ensuring that technical barriers to trade encountered by developing countries were also effectively dealt with.
A number of Members expressed agreement with the categorization in the Secretariat's Note (S/C/W/68) of electronic commerce in services under three types of transaction – (a) Internet access services; (b) electronic delivery of services; and (c) use of the Internet as a medium for distribution services – the sale of goods and services subsequently delivered in nonelectronic form.
The delegation suggested however that while the digitalized information content, as opposed to the supply of the content, might in some cases be regarded as a product subject to the application of GATT principles, such as MFN, national treatment and the prohibition of quantitative restrictions, the question whether it should be so regarded needed further reflection.
It was noted that the Annex guaranteed access and use of public telecommunication networks for Internet access providers, but it was not clear whether it also guaranteed service suppliers access to and use of Internet providers' services.
DERESTRICTION OF SECTORAL PAPERS
At an earlier meeting the Council had agreed that at each following meeting it would consider for derestriction those sectoral background papers prepared by the Secretariat for the information exchange exercise, which had been discussed at the previous meeting.
There was also general support for the participation of experts from other international intergovernmental organizations, but several delegations expressed doubts with respect to the participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations and of the private sector in an information session taking place within the Services Council.

RESUMED MEETING ON THE STATUS OF ACCEPTANCES ON THE FIFTH PROTOCOL (15 FEBRUARY 1999)
The Council for Trade in Services resumed its meeting in the afternoon of 15 February to address matters relating to the entry into force of the Fifth Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, under agenda item A: Status of Acceptance of the Fifth Protocol (WTO/AIR/1011).
It also agreed to renew the standstill commitment not to take any measures inconsistent with the schedules annexed to the Protocol before the entry into force of the Protocol (Decision on Acceptance of the Fifth protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, S/L/68 of 15 February 1999).
After the adoption of the decision, the representative of the United States stated that his government continued to have serious concerns with Japan’s implementation of its commitments under the bilateral insurance agreement between the two countries.

S/CSS/W/30

World Trade
Organization S/L/74
27 July 1999 (99-3194) Trade in Services


WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Progress Report to the General Council

Adopted by the Council for Trade in Services on 19 July 1999


The Council for Trade in Services submitted an Interim Report on its discussions under the work programme on electronic commerce (S/C/8) to the General Council on 31 March 1999. The Report identified issues on which discussions had progressed closer towar

Rev.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/100
17 March 1999 (99-1079) Council for Trade in Services

- D R A F T –

Interim Report on Electronic Commerce

The Council for Trade in Services has discussed the work programme remitted to it by the General Council on the subject of electronic commerce at its meetings of 23 November, 14-15 December 1998, 9 February and 22-23 March 1999.
The discussions have taken place both in formal and informal mode, but it was agreed at the outset that in principle substantive discussions would take place in informal mode, in order to facilitate a free exchange of views, and that the Chairman would present a summary of the discussions for Members' approval at the end of each meeting.
It was also said that there were three different kinds of transmission involved in electronic commerce: (1) electronic transmissions consisting solely of telecommunications, such as electronic mail; (2) electronic transmissions used to order goods over the internet, which were subsequently delivered physically; and (3) electronic transmissions in which services are ordered and delivered electronically.
Three issues required consideration in the area of domestic regulation: (i) whether it would be desirable to agree under Article VI a group of regulatory policy objectives justifying the imposition of regulatory restrictions in electronic commerce, with a view to minimising unnecessary barriers to trade; (ii) whether it would be advantageous to distinguish between regulations applying to content and regulations applying to transport; and (iii) whether it would be desirable to request an Internet service provider to make inaccessible to consumers a web site which does not comply with domestic regulation.
However, the suggestion was made that the digitalized information content, as opposed to the supply of the content, might in some cases be regarded as a product subject to the application of GATT principles, such as MFN, national treatment and the prohibition of quantitative restrictions – though whether it would be desirable so to regard them needed further reflection.
However, it was pointed out that the Annex only applied to sectors where specific commitments had been undertaken and that in a number of sectors or modes of supply crucial to electronic commerce there were few commitments.
It was noted that the Annex guaranteed access and use of public telecommunication networks for Internet access providers, but it was not clear whether it also guaranteed service suppliers access to and use of Internet providers' services.

World Trade
Organization S/C/N/554
3 June 2010 (10-3083) Council for Trade in Services Original: English


NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES


The following notification, dated 28 May 2010, from the delegation of Barbados, is being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.

_______________


Member notifying:
Barbados
Notification under:
Article III:3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
Date of entry into force:
21 February 2005
Agency responsible for enforcement of the measure:
- Telecommunications Unit in the Ministry of Finance, Investment
Telecommunications and Energy.
- Fair Trading Commission
Description of the measures:
Telecommunication Services
Internet and internet access services
Full liberalization of these services since 21 February 2005.
Persons desirous of providing public internet and internet access services must apply to the Chief Teleco

World Trade
Organization TN/S/W/27
S/CSC/W/44
10 February 2005
(05-0548) Council for Trade in Services
Special Session
Committee on Specific Commitments Original: English


Communication from the European Communities

Classification in the Telecom Sector under the WTO-GATS Framework


The following communication, dated 9 February 2005, from the delegation of the European Communities, is being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services and the Members of the Committee on Specific Commitments.

_______________


Summary:

This Communication addresses the legal uncertainty created by the existing classification used in the telecom sector under the GATS. Classification is first and foremost the basis to identify all services which Members wish to open to competition (market access) and for which they wish to ensure non-discrimination (national treatment). But the classification used so far is based on business concepts and wo

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/74
8 December 1998 (98-4942) Council for Trade in Services

TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

Background Note by the Secretariat

Introduction
This note has been prepared in the context of the information exchange programme currently conducted by the Council for Trade in Services in preparation for the forthcoming further round of negotiations on services.
In emerging economies where commitments on wire-based infrastructure and public voice services are often to be phased in later, new providers of liberalized wireless services are increasing the pace of entry into local service markets, supplying service to consumers who have been waiting for fixed lines to be installed.
The competition now in effect in more than forty, countries is already showing benefits not only for customers and new international telecom carriers, who have managed to gain over 11 per cent of the world market, but also for a few incumbent operators who, by slashing prices to face competition, have registered impressive growth.
with the entry into force of the Fourth Protocol of the GATS and its attached commitments on basic telecommunications, the vast bulk of the world market, measured in revenue terms, is subject to open markets for the supply of basic telecom services whether on the basis of simple resale or over a supplier's own infrastructure.
of this list, as well as a variety of "other" services, including mobile communications, providing real-time transmission of customer supplied information (usually listed under sub-sector o.
however, that this breakdown does not necessarily reflect and does not need to correspond to any particular government's national practice with respect to classifying services as basic or value added.
First, where there is partial correspondence there is no way of being certain which portion of a UNCPC description is intended to be relevant and, second, certain elements of the UNCPC descriptions used are either out of date or superseded by understandings developed in the negotiations on basic telecommunications.
Another difficulty with the GATS list of telecom services is that the distinction between many of its subsectors has blurred with the adoption of new transmission technologies, the enhanced ability to integrate different technologies, and the advent of service suppliers who distinguish themselves not by specializing in particular telecom services, but rather by the market segments they seek to serve.
Even distinctions between fixed and mobile telephony are crumbling as some suppliers can now offer both as an integrated package, can arrange to re-route calls to a customer's fixed telephone to its mobile telephone upon demand, and will soon be able to offer a wireless handset that converts itself from fixed service to mobile service if carried out of range of the fixed handset base.
Europe accounted for US$ 204 billion or nearly 32 per cent, Asia for US$168 billion (26 per cent), Oceania for US$ 17 billion (2.
Main line penetration in Europe, at nearly 36 per 100 inhabitants, is slightly higher than in the Americas, which averages nearly 32 per 100, while the reverse is true for cellular use: the Americas records slightly higher cellular
Table 1.
Cellular operators from China, Korea and Brazil made great strides in 1997: China's operator ranked second in the world (in number of cellular subscribers) in 1997, compared with fifth in 1996; Korea's SK Telecom ranked seventh, up from fifteenth in 1996; and Brazil's operator moved to twelfth place, up from twenty-first in the previous year.
This figure comprises the 69 participants in the Fourth Protocol on basic telecommunications, the 4 Members who have subsequently submitted schedules on basic telecoms, 2 recently acceded countries whose commitments resemble those in the Fourth Protocol, and 8 Members that included some basic services in their Uruguay Round schedules.
For example, commitments made in the Uruguay Round are silent on whether firms may build, own or operate their own network facilities for the supply of the value-added services upon which commitments are taken.
It is interesting to note that this means that regulatory commitments were included in more schedules of emerging economy governments than was any single subsector of basic telecom service except for data transmission
Level of commitments by modes of supply

In terms of the extent of market access commitments under the different modes of supply, there were fairly marked differences when basic services (sub-sectors a.
This means that all incidences of "unbound" entries on basic services with respect to particular modes of supply are accounted for by emerging economies, and this was more often done in respect to cross-border and consumption abroad, than in respect to commercial presence.
Whereas emerging economies, although they also record fewer limitations on cross border supply and consumption abroad, have recorded a higher incidence of commitments, overall, on commercial presence, when both full and partial commitments are taken into account.
Overall, emerging economies are about five times more likely than industrialized countries to have maintained limitations on the number suppliers and are almost four times more likely to require that particular types of legal entity be established to provide service.
Suppliers of telecommunications services: Trends in market structure

infrastructure
owners (

Retailers (
Full service (
National ( Long distance Regional City International
Business only (
National ( Long Distance Regional City International

Wholesalers(
International ( Fixed ( Submarine Dry Satellite
National ( Long distance Regional City
RESELLERS (

Switched resellers (
Arbitragers ( Call back Aggregators IP Telephony

Service Providers (
Wholesalers( Value-added messaging Virtual private networks Calling cards
Retailers ( Internet service providers Calling cards Value-added
Messaging ( IP-based Non IP-based

Switchless
resellers ( Arbitragers ( Aggregators Call back
Service providers ( Special numbers ( Premium services Freephone Location services ( Messaging "Follow me" services Source: CommunicationsWeek International,
Both traditional telecom providers and new entrants are acquiring not only other telecom companies but also other kinds of businesses in an effort to prepare for the broader,
This does not, suggests the article, represent the much-feared advent of a handful of mega-companies set to dominate the telecom industry, but while "a relatively small number of colossal deals are inflating overall deal value, there is a much larger number of smaller, discrete transactions whose significance goes well beyond their apparent scale.
Both traditional and new operators are engaging heavily in acquisitions of internet service providers and other data communications or computer service/software providers to help capture portions of the growing customer demand for voice over data networks, data communications, and information technology services, generally.
As cellular network operators assume larger market shares, it is possible that other service suppliers may find that access to a major cellular operator's network, to terminate customers' communications, to be inordinately costly, potentially as a result of the operator's market position rather than competitive forces.
A host of obligations typically required of telecom licensees, to help satisfy various social and regulatory objectives, include public service obligations, obligations to service specific groups or areas, quality of service targets, tariff controls, treatment of customers, competitive behaviour, and obligations to publish selected information.
For example, for services in which governments have committed to dispense with limits on the number of suppliers, except perhaps involving use of radio spectrum, the practice of requiring suppliers to await the issue of tenders for licenses may no longer be suitable.
com/

International Telecommunications Users Group (INTUG)
6 rue St Jean,
B-5000 Namur, Belgium Tel: +32 81 26 05 16
Fax: +32 81 26 05 17 E-mail: intug@mail.
be

Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG)
Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Datenverarbeitung (ADV), Austria

Belgian Telecommunications Users Group (BELTUG)

Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance (CBTA)

Danish Data Association (DDA)

Central Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Finland

European Council of Telecommunications Users Associations (ECTUA)

Association Française des Utilisateurs du Téléphone et des Télécommunications (AFUTT)

Hong Kong Telecommunications Users Group (HKTUG)

Hungarian Telecommunications Users Group (TE3)

Associazione Nazionale Utenti Italiani di Telecomunicazioni (ANUIT)

Netherlands Association of Business Telecommunications Users (BTG)

Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ)

Norwegian Telecommunications Users Group (NORTIB)

Spanish Association of Telecommunication Users (AUTEL)

Swedish Telecommunications Users Group (NTK)

Associaton Suisse d'Usagers de Telecommunicatons (ASUT)

International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC), UK
Telecom eV (Germany)

Telecommunications Managers Association (TMA), UK
International Communications Association (ICA), USA
Tele-Communications Association (TCA), USA

REFERENCES

Berendt,
Bond, James, "The Drivers of the Information Revolution—Cost, Computing Power, and Convergence", Public policy for the Private Sector, Note 118, June 1997, The World Bank Group at http://www.
European Commission, "Fourth Report on the Implementation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Package", Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 25 November, 1988.
Smith, Peter, "What the Transformation of Telecommunications Markets Means for Regulation", Public policy for the Private Sector, Note 121, June 1997, The World Bank Group at http://www.
Wellenius, Bjorn, "Extending Telecommunications Service to Rural Areas—The Chilean Experience: Awarding subsidies through competitive bidding", Public policy for the Private Sector, Note 105, February 1997, The World Bank Group, at http://www.
Private leased circuit services 7522** and 7523** 7523 (see above) 7522 Business network services
75221 Shared network services - Network services necessary to establish telephone communications between selected (point-to-point or multi-point) locations (terminals) via a public (shared) network.
This type of service is primarily used to establish voice communications between distant PBX's (tie line), between a distant location and a PBX (off premises extension), between a PBX and a distant exchange area (foreign exchange) or between designated telephone sets, but may also accommodate data transmission.
Other
- Terrestrial-based Mobile CB 4 4 2 11 CA 1 4 1 8 CP 30 1 20 21 33 - Satellite-based Mobile CB 2 4 2 9 CA 1 4 1 6 CP 24 1 20 18 31 Source: WTO
Legend: CB - Cross border supply
CA – Consumption abroad
CP - Commercial presence a) Number of suppliers
c) Number of operations
d) Number of natural persons
e) Types of legal entity
f) Participation of foreign capital
g) Other measures 1 Data in this table does not take into account horizontal measures listed in schedules.
Other
- Terrestrial-based Mobile CB 1 7 4 4 4 CA 6 4 4 4 CP 1 12 5 3 1 6 4 - Satellite-based Mobile CB 1 7 4 4 4 CA 6 4 4 4 CP 1 9 4 1 1 5 4 Source: WTO
Legend:
CB – Cross border supply
CA – Consumption abroad
CP – Commercial presence

a) Tax measures
d) Nationality requirements
e) Residency requirements
f) Licensing, standards, qualifications
g) Registration requirements
h) Authorization requirements
l) Ownership of property/land 1 Data in this table does not take into account horizontal measures listed in schedules.
11,668 3,640 46,550 20% 250,662 0% 4 MCI 13,400 25,907 10% 19,653 299 60,409 8% 325,332 0% 5 BT 2,588 3,735 20% 26,067 5,367 124,700 -2% 209,035 0% 6 China Telecom 2,355 21,632 14% 15,821 - 970,000 -24% 16,311 100% 7 France Telecom 2,106 3,200 6% 26,122 3,313 165,042 0% 158,274 75% 8 KDD 1,864 1,196 3% 2,708 67 5,275 -2% 513,334 0% 9 Sprint 1,636 22,759 11% 14,873 952 47,500 -1% 313,116 0% 10 Telecom Italia 11,605 2,381 12% 16,721 2,483 82,317 -5% 203,129 5% 11 Telmex 1,432 1,184 6% 7,534 2,679 54,758 -1% 137,592 0% 12 Stentor 11,391 21,778 8% 9,939 1,320 77,000 -9% 129,074 3% 13 Swisscom 11,386 2,093 9% 6,931 -61 22,170 1% 312,622 100% 14 Singapore Telecom 1,263 753 22% 3,051 1,576 10,793 4% 282,648 80% 15 WorldCom 11,249 21,400 65% 7,351 799 14,700 25% 500,068 0% 16 Teleglobe 1,050 21,112 22% 1,400 211 1,204 -56% 1,162,557 0% 17 KPN Telecom 1,031 488 6% 7,622 1,722 32,709 1% 233,030 44% 18 Telstra 914 705 1% 11,458 2,959 57,122 -16% 200,593 66% 19 Telefonica de Espana 882 1,566 32% 10,509 1,013 62,666 -7% 167,694 0% 20 VSNL 778 428 11% 1,630 362 2,861 0% 569,663 65% 21 Korea Telecom 686 657 27% 4,834 76 59,753 -1% 80,903 71% 22 Chunghwa Telecom 684 826 11% 5,272 1,355 34,748 -3% 151,727 100% 23 Telia Group 675 2747 6% 5,827 506 33,930 0% 171,746 100% 24 Telintar 646 183 3% 646 150 700 1% 922,351 0% 25 Telkom 585 306 5% 4,024 707 57,813 0% 69,603 70% Source: CommunicationsWeek International, 23 November 1998
Figures are for the 1997 financial year.
Top 20 fixed telephone line operators, ranked by 1997 main telephone lines
Rank Main telephone lines Local telephone service revenue 97 96 Operator (Country) Total (000s) 1997 Change (96-97) Total (US$ million) 1997 Change (96-97) As % of revenue 1997 1 2 DGT (China) 70'310 28.
03 Antigua and Barbuda X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Argentina X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Australia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Austria X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Bangladesh X X X X X X X X X X Barbados X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Belize X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Bolivia X X X X X X X X X Brazil* X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Brunei Darussalam X X X X X X X X Bulgaria X X X X X X X X X X X X X Canada X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Chile X X X X X X X X X X X X Colombia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Congo RP X Côte d'Ivoire X X X X X X X X X X Cuba X X X X X X X Czech Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Djibouti X X X X X X X X X X Dominica* X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Dominican Republic X X X X X X X X X X Ecuador X X X X X X X X X El Salvador X X X X X X X X X European Community X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Finland X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Gambia X X X X X X X X X X X Ghana X X X X X X X X X X Grenada X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Guatemala* X X X X X X X X X Guyana X Hong Kong X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Hungary X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Iceland X X X X X X X X X X X X X X India X X X X X X X X X X Indonesia X X X X X X X X X X X Israel X X X X X X X X X X X X X Jamaica X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Japan X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Kenya X X Korea RP X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Kyrgyz Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Latvia* X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Lesotho X X X X X X Liechtenstein X X X X X X X X X Malaysia X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Mauritius X X X X X X X X X X Mexico X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Mongolia X X X X X X X Morocco X X X X X X X X X X X X New Zealand X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Nicaragua X X X X X X X X X X X X X Nigeria X X X X X X X X X X Norway X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Pakistan X X X X X X X X X X X X Panama X X X X X X X X Papua New Guinea* X X X X X X X X X Peru X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Philippines* X X X X X X X X X X X Poland X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Romania X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Saint Kitts & Nevis X X X Senegal X X X X X X X X X X X Singapore X X X X X X X X X X X Slovak Republic X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Slovenia X X X X X South Africa X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Sri Lanka X X X X X X Suriname X X X X X X X X X Sweden X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Switzerland X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Thailand X X X X X X X X Trinidad and Tobago X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Tunisia X X X X X X Turkey X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Uganda** X X X X X X X X X X USA X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Venezuela X X X X X X X Zimbabwe X X X X X X X X X X X Total 69 63 64 59 47 59 59 55 51 57 48 46 45 43 65 57 46 Source: WTO

* Entry into force subject to acceptance, which is pending.
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Sheet3
Sheet2
Sheet1
Chart1
From 14 to 15
From 10 to13
From 6 to 9
Five or less
No.
Coverage of telecom commitments
From 14 to 15
From 14 to 15
From 10 to13
From 10 to13
From 6 to 9
From 6 to 9
Five or less
Five or less
0.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL COUNCIL

The Chairman recalled that at its previous meeting, on 22 and 23 March 1999, the Council had completed the first round of discussions on the items of the work programme adopted by the General Council.
The representative of the European Communities stressed that as the work programme moved on, it was important to avoid repeating discussions that had been held in the first part of the work programme and that at the end of discussions on each item, the Council should note whether consensus had emerged or whether further discussions were needed.
Suggestions as to possible ways of avoiding or minimizing uncertainty included the possibility of merging Modes 1 and 2 in a single mode covering all transactions between one jurisdiction and another; alternatively, the problem would disappear if Members ensured that their commitments under these two modes mirrored each other, since legal uncertainty could only arise where the level of commitment varied as between one mode and the other.
Thus, a number of Members had made explicit reference to Internet access services or to the relevant CPC number for "integrated telecommunication services" (CPC 75260), while many others had intentionally scheduled these services by virtue of their commitments on data services or value-added services, understanding that their coverage was ensured by the principle of technological neutrality, which was agreed to cover all technologies, including the Internet.
Another delegation observed that defining Internet access provision as services "required" by governments "to be offered to the public generally" might be stretching the Annex definition of "public" and agreed that where there was competition in the supply of services, less need would arise to impose public service requirements – a factor that would have broader implications for the application of the Annex.
DEVELOPMENT OF DISCIPLINES PUSUANT TO ARTICLE VI:4 OF THE GATS

The Chairman recalled that at its last meeting the Council held a discussion on the question of how to carry out future work on the development of multilateral disciplines pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article VI of the GATS.
Regarding organization, the Chairman stated that the main issue was how to manage the two overlapping mandates, that is, paragraph 4 of Article VI itself, which called upon the Council to develop disciplines on domestic regulation on all services sectors, and the Decision on Professional Services which called upon the WPPS to fulfill the same task for professional services.
Several other delegations, including India and Brazil said that they did not have instructions for substantial changes to the decision, such as the widening of the working party’s mandate, and pointed out that, if a decision was to be adopted at this meeting, they could not accepts a widening of the mandate.
However, such an assessment is rendered difficult by the paucity of statistics, particularly acute for developing countries, by the lack of information on whether GATS commitments had actually improved on trade regimes, and by the fact that various liberalization initiatives, as in basic telecommunications and financial services, had been negotiated too recently for any economic consequences to be observable.
He thus encouraged continued collaboration of the WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats, and expressed particular interest in studies on how developing countries had benefitted from liberalisation under the GATS, on the problems they had encountered, and on how these might be overcome.
The representatives of Switzerland, Hong Kong, China and the European Communities said that the assessment of trade should not be conducted as a one-off exercise, but rather be considered as an on-going process.
The representative of Japan introduced the informal paper by his delegation, which identified some possible elements to be taken up in the negotiating guidelines and procedures, but did not yet constitute the final position of his government.
He suggested that the negotiating guidelines might be structured along the following lines: (i) processes pursuant to Article XIX of the GATS (to cover the negotiation of specific commitments); (ii) processes pursuant to Articles IV and XXV (to take account of the rights and interests of developing countries); (iii) processes pursuant to the mandated items under the GATS (domestic regulation; recognition; GATS rules; modification of schedules; Annex on Article II exemptions; Annex on Air Transport Services; Annex on Maritime Transport Services).
the dividing lines between Articles VI, XVI and XVII and the definition of the economic needs test); (2) domestic regulation (Article VI:4 work programme); (3) mandated work (review of Article II exemptions, negotiations on maritime transport services, recognition and GATS rules); (4) developing country concerns; (5) market access (a fair and balanced package for the entire membership).
SYSTEMIC ISSUES ARISING FROM ARTICLE V OF THE GATS

The Chairman recalled that at the previous meeting of the Council, under Other Business, the delegation of Hong Kong, China introduced a paper on Systemic Issues arising from GATS Article V, with the request that it be inscribed on the agenda of this meeting.
The paper addressed the relationship between the requirement for "substantial sectoral coverage" in Article V:1(a) and the requirement for the "absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination" in Article V:1(b), and the application of the conditions contained in these two sub-paragraphs as well as the development of possible disciplines.
He called for discussions to be undertaken during the next round of negotiations to clarify, among others, the following issues: First, any modification of schedules resulting from an EIAS should not entail adding new limitations; second, Members should agree on which GATS obligations, other than MFN, can be departed from with an EIAS; third, the requirements for "substantial sectoral coverage" and "substantially all discrimination" in Article V:1(a) and (b) require further elucidation; and, finally, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article V should be clarified in conjunction with the three factors contained in footnote 1 to Article V:1(a).
For example, on the requirement for "substantial sectoral coverage", he noted that the three factors mentioned in footnote 1 to Article V should be examined together; that a case-by-case approach should be adopted; and that aspects of labour mobility beyond the scope of mode 4 would be covered by the provisions of Article Vbis on labour market integration agreements.
COUNCIL INFORMATION SESSION ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN

At the previous meeting of the Council it had been agreed that a special information session of the Council would be held on telecommunications.

S/C/M/40

ANNEX 1B

GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES

PART I SCOPE AND DEFINITION

Article I Scope and Definition

PART II GENERAL OBLIGATIONS AND DISCIPLINES

Article II Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
Article III Transparency
Article III bis Disclosure of Confidential Information
Article IV Increasing Participation of Developing Countries
Article V Economic Integration
Article V bis Labour Markets Integration Agreements
Article VI Domestic Regulation
Article VII Recognition
Article VIII Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
Article IX Business Practices
Article X Emergency Safeguard Measures
Article XI Payments and Transfers
Article XII Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance of Payments
Article XIII Government Procurement
Article XIV General Exceptions
Article XIV bis Security Exceptions
Article XV Subsidies

PART III SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

Article XVI Market Access
Article XVII National Treatment
Article XVIII Additional Commitments

PART IV PROGRESSIVE LIBERALIZATION

Article XIX Negotiation of Specific Commitments
Article XX Schedules of Specific Commitments
Article XXI Modification of Schedules

PART V INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

Article XXII Consultation
Article XXIII Dispute Settlement and Enforcement
Article XXIV Council for Trade in Services
Article XXV Technical Cooperation
Article XXVI Relationship with Other International Organizations

PART VI FINAL PROVISIONS

Article XXVII Denial of Benefits
Article XXVIII Definitions
Article XXIX Annexes

Annex on Article II Exemptions
Annex on Movement of Natural Persons Supplying Services under the Agreement
Annex on Air Transport Services
Annex on Financial Services
Second Annex on Financial Services
Annex on Negotiations on Maritime Transport Services
Annex on Telecommunications
Annex on Negotiations on Basic Telecommunications

GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES

Members,

Recognizing the growing importance of trade in services for the growth and development of the world economy;

Wishing to establish a multilateral framework of principles and rules for trade in services with a view to the expansion of such trade under conditions of transparency and progressive liberalization and as a means of promoting the economic growth of all trading partners and the development of developing countries;

Desiring the early achievement of progressively higher levels of liberalization of trade in services through successive rounds of multilateral negotiations aimed at promoting the interests of all participants on a mutually advantageous basis and at securing an overall balance of rights and obligations, while giving due respect to national policy objectives;

Recognizing the right of Members to regulate, and to introduce new regulations, on the supply of services within their territories in order to meet national policy objectives and, given asymmetries existing with respect to the degree of development of services regulations in different countries, the particular need of developing countries to exercise this right;

Desiring to facilitate the increasing participation of developing countries in trade in services and the expansion of their service exports including, inter alia, through the strengthening of their domestic services capacity and its efficiency and competitiveness;

Taking particular account of the serious difficulty of the least-developed countries in view of their special economic situation and their development, trade and financial needs;

Hereby agree as follows:

PART I

SCOPE AND DEFINITION

Article I

Scope and Definition

1.
For the purposes of this Agreement, trade in services is defined as the supply of a service:

(a) from the territory of one Member into the territory of any other Member;

(b) in the territory of one Member to the service consumer of any other Member;

(c) by a service supplier of one Member,
For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) "measures by Members" means measures taken by:

(i) central, regional or local governments and authorities; and

(ii) non-governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional or local governments or authorities;

In fulfilling its obligations and commitments under the Agreement, each Member shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure their observance by regional and local governments and authorities and non-governmental bodies within its territory;

(b) "services" includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority;

(c) "a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority" means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers.
The increasing participation of developing country Members in world trade shall be facilitated through negotiated specific commitments, by different Members pursuant to Parts III and IV of this Agreement, relating to:

(a) the strengthening of their domestic services capacity and its efficiency and competitiveness, inter alia through access to technology on a commercial basis;

(b) the improvement of their access to distribution channels and information networks; and

(c) the liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to them.
This Agreement shall not prevent any of its Members from being a party to or entering into an agreement liberalizing trade in services between or among the parties to such an agreement, provided that such an agreement:

(a) has substantial sectoral coverage, and

(b) provides for the absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination, in the sense of Article XVII, between or among the parties, in the sectors covered under subparagraph (a), through:

(i) elimination of existing discriminatory measures, and/or

(ii) prohibition of new or more discriminatory measures,

either at the entry into force of that agreement or on the basis of a reasonable time-frame, except for measures permitted under Articles XI, XII, XIV and XIV bis.

Article V bis

Labour Markets Integration Agreements

This Agreement shall not prevent any of its Members from being a party to an agreement establishing full integration of the labour markets between or among the parties to such an agreement, provided that such an agreement:

(a) exempts citizens of parties to the agreement from requirements concerning residency and work permits;

(b) is notified to the Council for Trade in Services.
Such disciplines shall aim to ensure that such requirements are, inter alia:

(a) based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service;

(b) not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service;

(c) in the case of licensing procedures, not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.
pending the entry into force of disciplines developed in these sectors pursuant to paragraph 4, the Member shall not apply licensing and qualification requirements and technical standards that nullify or impair such specific commitments in a manner which:

(i) does not comply with the criteria outlined in subparagraphs 4(a), (b) or (c); and

(ii) could not reasonably have been expected of that Member at the time the specific commitments in those sectors were made.
Each Member shall:

(a) within 12 months from the date on which the WTO Agreement takes effect for it, inform the Council for Trade in Services of its existing recognition measures and state whether such measures are based on agreements or arrangements of the type referred to in paragraph 1;

(b) promptly inform the Council for Trade in Services as far in advance as possible of the opening of negotiations on an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1 in order to provide adequate opportunity to any other Member to indicate their interest in participating in the negotiations before they enter a substantive phase;

(c) promptly inform the Council for Trade in Services when it adopts new recognition measures or significantly modifies existing ones and state whether the measures are based on an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1.
Where a Member's monopoly supplier competes, either directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of a service outside the scope of its monopoly rights and which is subject to that Member's specific commitments, the Member shall ensure that such a supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a manner inconsistent with such commitments.
If, after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, a Member grants monopoly rights regarding the supply of a service covered by its specific commitments, that Member shall notify the Council for Trade in Services no later than three months before the intended implementation of the grant of monopoly rights and the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article XXI shall apply.
any Member may, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article XXI, notify the Council on Trade in Services of its intention to modify or withdraw a specific commitment after a period of one year from the date on which the commitment enters into force; provided that the Member shows cause to the Council that the modification or withdrawal cannot await the lapse of the three-year period provided for in paragraph 1 of Article XXI.
Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of the members of the International Monetary Fund under the Articles of Agreement of the Fund, including the use of exchange actions which are in conformity with the Articles of Agreement, provided that a Member shall not impose restrictions on any capital transactions inconsistently with its specific commitments regarding such transactions, except under Article XII or at the request of the Fund.
(c) Such consultations shall assess the balance-of-payment situation of the Member concerned and the restrictions adopted or maintained under this Article, taking into account, inter alia, such factors as:

(i) the nature and extent of the balance-of-payments and the external financial difficulties;

(ii) the external economic and trading environment of the consulting Member;

(iii) alternative corrective measures which may be available.
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:

(a) to require any Member to furnish any information, the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or

(b) to prevent any Member from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:

(i) relating to the supply of services as carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military establishment;

(ii) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;

(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or

(c) to prevent any Member from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
In sectors where market-access commitments are undertaken, the measures which a Member shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:

(a) limitations on the number of service suppliers whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive service suppliers or the requirements of an economic needs test;

(b) limitations on the total value of service transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;

(c) limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service output expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;

(d) limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular service sector or that a service supplier may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;

(e) measures which restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service; and

(f) limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment.
There shall be appropriate flexibility for individual developing country Members for opening fewer sectors, liberalizing fewer types of transactions, progressively extending market access in line with their development situation and,
Negotiating guidelines shall establish modalities for the treatment of liberalization undertaken autonomously by Members since previous negotiations, as well as for the special treatment for least-developed country Members under the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article IV.
With respect to sectors where such commitments are undertaken, each Schedule shall specify:

(a) terms, limitations and conditions on market access;

(b) conditions and qualifications on national treatment;

(c) undertakings relating to additional commitments;

(d) where appropriate the time-frame for implementation of such commitments; and

(e) the date of entry into force of such commitments.
(a) At the request of any Member the benefits of which under this Agreement may be affected (referred to in this Article as an "affected Member") by a proposed modification or withdrawal notified under subparagraph 1(b), the modifying Member shall enter into negotiations with a view to reaching agreement on any necessary compensatory adjustment.
A Member may not invoke Article XVII, either under this Article or Article XXIII, with respect to a measure of another Member that falls within the scope of an international agreement between them relating to the avoidance of double taxation.
If any Member considers that any benefit it could reasonably have expected to accrue to it under a specific commitment of another Member under Part III of this Agreement is being nullified or impaired as a result of the application of any measure which does not conflict with the provisions of this Agreement,
Article XXVI

Relationship with Other International Organizations

The General Council shall make appropriate arrangements for consultation and cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized agencies as well as with other intergovernmental organizations concerned with services.
public or private, which in the relevant market of the territory of a Member is authorized or established formally or in effect by that Member as the sole supplier of that service;

(i) "service consumer" means any person that receives or uses a service;

(j) "person" means either a natural person or a juridical person;

(k) "natural person of another Member" means a natural person who resides in the territory of that other Member or any other Member, and who under the law of that other Member:

(i) is a national of that other Member; or

(ii) has the right of permanent residence in that other Member, in the case of a Member which:

1.
juridical persons of that other Member identified under subparagraph (i);

(n) a juridical person is:

(i) "owned" by persons of a Member if more than 50 per cent of the equity interest in it is beneficially owned by persons of that Member;

(ii) "controlled" by persons of a Member if such persons have the power to name a majority of its directors or otherwise to legally direct its actions;

(iii) "affiliated" with another person when it controls, or is controlled by, that other person; or when it and the other person are both controlled by the same person;

(o) "direct taxes" comprise all taxes on total income, on total capital or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property,
This Annex applies to measures affecting natural persons who are service suppliers of a Member, and natural persons of a Member who are employed by a service supplier of a Member, in respect of the supply of a service.
The Agreement shall not prevent a Member from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across, its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to any Member under the terms of a specific commitment.

(b) For the purposes of subparagraph 3(b) of Article I of the Agreement, "services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority" means the following:

(i) activities conducted by a central bank or monetary authority or by any other public entity in pursuit of monetary or exchange rate policies;

(ii) activities forming part of a statutory system of social security or public retirement plans; and

(iii) other activities conducted by a public entity for the account or with the guarantee or using the financial resources of the Government.
(xi) Participation in issues of all kinds of securities, including underwriting and placement as agent (whether publicly or privately) and provision of services related to such issues;

(xii) Money broking;

(xiii) Asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms of collective investment management, pension fund management, custodial, depository and trust services;

(xiv) Settlement and clearing services for financial assets, including securities, derivative products, and other negotiable instruments;

(xv) Provision and transfer of financial information, and financial data processing and related software by suppliers of other financial services;

(xvi) Advisory, intermediation and other auxiliary financial services on all the activities listed in subparagraphs (v) through (xv), including credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and strategy.
Article II and the Annex on Article II Exemptions, including the requirement to list in the Annex any measure inconsistent with most-favoured-nation treatment that a Member will maintain, shall enter into force for international shipping, auxiliary services and access to and use of port facilities only on:

(a) the implementation date to be determined under paragraph 4 of the Ministerial Decision on Negotiations on Maritime Transport Services; or,

(b) should the negotiations not succeed, the date of the final report of the Negotiating Group on Maritime Transport Services provided for in that Decision.
(b) Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member have access to and use of any public telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across the border of that Member, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to paragraphs (e) and (f), that such suppliers are permitted:

(i) to purchase or lease and attach terminal or other equipment which interfaces with the network and which is necessary to supply a supplier's services;

(ii) to interconnect private leased or owned circuits with public telecommunications transport networks and services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier; and

(iii) to use operating protocols of the service supplier's choice in the supply of any service, other than as necessary to ensure the availability of telecommunications transport networks and services to the public generally.
To this end, Members endorse and encourage the participation, to the fullest extent practicable, of developed and developing countries and their suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks and services and other entities in the development programmes of international and regional organizations, including the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Development Programme, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Measures that are aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of direct taxes include measures taken by a Member under its taxation system which:
(i) apply to non-resident service suppliers in recognition of the fact that the tax obligation of non-residents is determined with respect to taxable items sourced or located in the Member's territory; or
(ii) apply to non-residents in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes in the Member's territory; or
(iii) apply to non-residents or residents in order to prevent the avoidance or evasion of taxes,
including compliance measures; or
(iv) apply to consumers of services supplied in or from the territory of another Member in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes on such consumers derived from sources in the Member's territory; or
(v) distinguish service suppliers subject to tax on worldwide taxable items from other service suppliers, in recognition of the difference in the nature of the tax base between them; or
(vi) determine, allocate or apportion income, profit, gain, loss, deduction or credit of resident persons or branches, or between related persons or branches of the same person, in order to safeguard the Member's tax base.
The term "non-discriminatory" is understood to refer to most-favoured-nation and national treatment as defined in the Agreement, as well as to reflect sector-specific usage of the term to mean "terms and conditions no less favourable than those accorded to any other user of like public telecommunications transport networks or services under like circumstances".

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL COUNCIL

The Chairman recalled that at its last meeting, on 23 and 24 November 1998, the Council had its first substantive discussion of the elements contained in the work programme on electronic commerce as they related to the GATS framework on the basis of a note by the Secretariat (S/C/W/68).
The representative of the European Communities said that the GATS applied to all the various elements of electronic commerce transmissions: internet access services (covered by the GATS Annex on Telecommunications and WTO Members commitments on basic telecommunications); telecommunications services (covered by the various telecommunications’ services subsectors),

He argued that since access to the internet required access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks, WTO Members had to ensure that providers of other Members were accorded this access and use on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, as provided in the GATS Annex on Telecommunications.
He argued that WTO Members’ market access and national treatment commitments applied not only when the services committed were provided in a traditional format but also when they were provided via electronic means.
He said that the Secretariat note suggested that electronic delivery can take place under any of the four modes of supply and that the GATS makes no distinction between different technological means by which a service may be supplied and, it therefore, covers electronic delivery of services.
Several delegations expressed interest in the suggestion in the Secretariat’s paper (S/C/W/68) that the real function of the modes is to classify commitments and measures taken under them rather than to classify transactions, and that the essential distinction between modes one and two would be made according to whether the measure in question restricts the ability of suppliers to supply the service on a cross-border basis or whether it restricts the ability of domestic consumers to buy the service abroad.
One delegation said that there were three different kinds of transmission involved in electronic commerce: (1) electronic transmissions consisting solely of telecommunications, such as electronic mail; (2) electronic transmissions used to order goods over the internet, which were subsequently delivered physically; and (3) electronic transmissions in which services are ordered and delivered electronically.
It was suggested that the seminar should provide the opportunity to examine examples of success stories by developing countries' service suppliers in electronic commerce and to share ideas on how to increase technical assistance in this area.
He said that in his view there were two main elements: (i) the collection and presentation of data which may be available and (ii) a discussion in the Council leading to a joint assessment of the way in which trade flows and regulatory developments had progressed since the coming into force of the Agreement.
It was, however, the general view that the assessment should take no more than one or two meetings of the Council, taking into consideration that in the next year the Council was called upon to begin other important work under Article XIX and namely the negotiating guidelines.
REOPENING OF THE FOURTH PROTOCOL TO THE GATS FOR ACCEPTANCE: REQUEST BY GHANA – DRAFT DECISION BY THE COUNCIL

At the previous meeting of the Council the representative of Ghana had made a statement under other business requesting the Council to adopt a decision to temporarily reopen the Fourth Protocol to the GATS relating to basic telecommunications in order to allow its government to accept it.
The delegations of Brazil and Philippines, who had not yet accepted the Protocol, informed the Council that ratification of the Protocol was still pending before their respective parliaments and that at this point in time they could not indicate a date when they would be able to accept the Protocol.
Other suggestions included: the identification of the areas of common interest referred to in paragraph 2; the deletion of the reference to Opinion A and Opinion B of the second ITU World Telecommunication policy Forum in the fifth indent of the Preamble – although one delegation asked for the reference to be retained; changing the references to the “Parties” into “the ITU and the WTO”; and keeping the comments,
He said that the comments on each Article would remain in the background document to be approved by the Services Council, while the would disappear from the final text to be forwarded to the General Council for approval.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF SUBSIDIARY BODIES

In accordance with the procedures adopted by the General Council for annual reporting, the following subsidiary bodies submitted their reports to the Services Council: the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/3); the Working Party on Professional Services (S/WPPS/3) and the Working Party on GATS Rules (S/WPGR/3).
The Chairman drew attention to the following notifications:
- COMMUNICATION FROM NIGERIA (S/C/N/69)
- COMMUNICATION FROM SWITZERLAND (S/C/N/70)
- COMMUNICATION FROM PERU (S/C/N/71)
- COMMUNICATION FROM THAILAND (S/C/N/72)
- COMMUNICATION FROM THAILAND (S/C/N/73)
- COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN (S/C/N/74)
- COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN (S/C/N/77)
- COMMUNICATION FROM INDONESIA (S/C/N/78)
- COMMUNICATION FROM INDONESIA (S/C/N/79)
- COMMUNICATION FROM INDONESIA (S/C/N/80)
- COMMUNICATION FROM INDONESIA (S/C/N/81)
- COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN (S/C/N/82)
- COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN (S/C/N/83)
- COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN (S/C/N/84)
- COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM (S/C/N/85)

He suggested that the Council take note of the notifications.

The representative of Brazil said that his delegation remained convinced that the proposal of derestriction of the Secretariat’s Background Notes for the Services Council, according to paragraph 2(b) of the Procedures for the Circulation and Derestriction of WTO Documents, adopted by the General Council on 18 July 1996, was not the most appropriate way of addressing the need for more transparency to the work of the WTO, as recommended by the Singapore Ministerial Declaration.
As for the other set of documents referred to on the agenda as S/C/W/72 to 75, he suggested that they be derestricted at the next meeting of the Council since they were being discussed for the first time at the current meeting.
PREPARATION FOR NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XIX – EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION, SECTORAL DISCUSSIONS

The Chairman invited participants to refer back to the five main questions which Members had agreed in order to structure the sectoral discussions: (1) What are the regulatory authorities, governmental and/or non-governmental?
The following informal papers were submitted by delegations on the services sectors under discussion: (a) Accountancy Services: Australia, and Japan; (b) Financial Services: Australia, Japan and Turkey; (c) Telecommunications Services: Australia, and Japan; (d) Presence of Natural Persons: Australia.
Wider use of the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services, a discussion on the scope of prudential measures as provided in the Annex on Financial Services, and the development of regulatory disciplines in financial services were also possible areas for future work.
These included the coverage of intra-corporate transferees and other staff under either Mode 3 or Mode 4; uncertainties related to the legal status of foreigners employed by domestically-owned companies; the absence of an agreed definition of terms such as "business visitors" or "senior executives"; Members' failure to schedule maximum periods of stay for the persons covered; potential contradictions between horizontal and sector-specific entries; the use of economic needs tests without transparent criteria; and the status under Article XVI, XVII or VI of regulatory interventions affecting wages, working hours etc.
In relation to definitional issues, it was suggested that two forms of convergence could have implications for the sector: the convergence of various forms of telecom infrastructure and services and the convergence of telecom services with other kinds of services.
On the negotiation of commitments, suggestions included the removal of existing scheduled limitations on market access for basic and value-added services, particularly exclusive rights of long duration, more commitments on market access and the Reference Paper by Members who have not yet done so, the removal of most-favoured-nation exemptions, improved commitments on cross-border supply and consumption abroad, particularly in view of their role in e-commerce, and the removal of limitations on market access, privileges and immunities that give competitive advantages to some satellite operators.
The representative of the European Communities said that they were in the process of completing all their ratification procedures: a majority of the Member States had completed their internal procedures, while the others should complete them on time in order to accept the protocol by the deadline of 29 January 1999.
He added that his delegation wanted to discuss with Guatemala the reasons which had led them not to accept the protocol, and in particular the language on cost-oriented interconnection, which in the new schedule had been removed from their commitments on the regulatory principles in the reference paper.
Appointment of Chairpersons of subsidiary bodies

The Chairman informed Members that in accordance with the Rules of Procedures for the Council for Trade in Services, and as outgoing Chairman, it was his intention to start consultations on the appointment of Chairpersons for subsidiary bodies during the month of January.

General Agreement on Trade in Services 作　　者： 靖心慈／WTO中心 國家： 組　　織： 世界貿易組織
機密
： U 議　　題： 服務貿易 產業： 資料來源： WTO
，
Final Act, The Uruguay Round agreements
－
Annex 1B
，
1994年4月15日 分　　類： 服務貿易\議題簡介\服務貿易總協定,法律文件與承諾表\
總協定
General Agreement on Trade in Services
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES APRIL 1994
PART I SCOPE AND DEFINITION
PART II GENERAL OBLIGATIONS AND DISCIPLINES
PART III SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
PART IV PROGRESSIVE LIBERALIZATION
PART V INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
PART VI FINAL PROVISIONS
Annex on Article II Exemptions
Annex on Movement of Natural Persons Supplying Services under the Agreement
Annex on Air Transport Services
Annexes on Financial Services
Annex on Negotiations on Maritime Transport Services
Annexes on Telecommunications
Related instruments
Decision on Institutional Arrangements for the General Agreement on Trade in Services
Decision on Certain Dispute Settlement Procedures for the General Agreement on Trade in Services
Decision on Trade in Services and the Environment
Decision on Negotiations on Movement of Natural Persons
Decision on Financial Services
Decision on Negotiations on Maritime Transport Services
Decision on Negotiations on Basic Telecommunications
Decision on Professional Services
Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services
Appendix
Lists of Schedules of Specific Commitments and of Article II (MFN) Exemptions
SERVICES: AGREEMENTGeneral Agreement on Trade in Services

Members,
Recognizing the growing importance of trade in services for the growth and development of the world economy;
Wishing to establish a multilateral framework of principles and rules for trade in services with a view to the expansion of such trade under conditions of transparency and progressive liberalization and as a means of promoting the economic growth of all trading partners and the development of developing countries;
Desiring the early achievement of progressively higher levels of liberalization of trade in services through successive rounds of multilateral negotiations aimed at promoting the interests of all participants on a mutually advantageous basis and at securing an overall balance of rights and obligations, while giving due respect to national policy objectives;
Recognizing the right of Members to regulate, and to introduce new regulations, on the supply of services within their territories in order to meet national policy objectives and, given asymmetries existing with respect to the degree of development of services regulations in different countries, the particular need of developing countries to exercise this right;
Desiring to facilitate the increasing participation of developing countries in trade in services and the expansion of their service exports including, inter alia, through the strengthening of their domestic services capacity and its efficiency and competitiveness;
Taking particular account of the serious difficulty of the least-developed countries in view of their special economic situation and their development, trade and financial needs;
Hereby agree as follows:
SERVICES: AGREEMENTPart I — Scope and definition

Article I Scope and Definition
1.
For the purposes of this Agreement:
(a) “measures by Members” means measures taken by:
(i) central, regional or local governments and authorities; and
(ii)non-governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional or local governments or authorities;
In fulfilling its obligations and commitments under the Agreement, each Member shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure their observance by regional and local governments and authorities and non-governmental bodies within its territory;
(b) “services” includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority;
(c) “a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority” means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers.
each Member shall accord immediately and unconditionally to services and service suppliers of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers of any other country.
The increasing participation of developing country Members in world trade shall be facilitated through negotiated specific commitments, by different Members pursuant to Parts III and IV of this Agreement, relating to:
(a) the strengthening of their domestic services capacity and its efficiency and competitiveness, inter alia through access to technology on a commercial basis;
(b) the improvement of their access to distribution channels and information networks; and
(c) the liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to them.
If, in the conclusion, enlargement or any significant modification of any agreement under paragraph 1, a Member intends to withdraw or modify a specific commitment inconsistently with the terms and conditions set out in its Schedule, it shall provide at least 90 days advance notice of such modification or withdrawal and the procedure set forth in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article XXI shall apply.

Article V bis Labour Markets Integration Agreements
This Agreement shall not prevent any of its Members from being a party to an agreement establishing full integration (2)of the labour markets between or among the parties to such an agreement, provided that such an agreement:
(a) exempts citizens of parties to the agreement from requirements concerning residency and work permits;
(b) is notified to the Council for Trade in Services.
Such disciplines shall aim to ensure that such requirements are, inter alia:
(a) based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service;
(b) not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service;
(c) in the case of licensing procedures, not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.
pending the entry into force of disciplines developed in these sectors pursuant to paragraph 4, the Member shall not apply licensing and qualification requirements and technical standards that nullify or impair such specific commitments in a manner which:
(i) does not comply with the criteria outlined in subparagraphs 4(a), (b) or (c); and
(ii) could not reasonably have been expected of that Member at the time the specific commitments in those sectors were made.
inform the Council for Trade in Services of its existing recognition measures and state whether such measures are based on agreements or arrangements of the type referred to in paragraph 1;
(b) promptly inform the Council for Trade in Services as far in advance as possible of the opening of negotiations on an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1 in order to provide adequate opportunity to any other Member to indicate their interest in participating in the negotiations before they enter a substantive phase;
(c) promptly inform the Council for Trade in Services when it adopts new recognition measures or significantly modifies existing ones and state whether the measures are based on an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1.
If, after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, a Member grants monopoly rights regarding the supply of a service covered by its specific commitments, that Member shall notify the Council for Trade in Services no later than three months before the intended implementation of the grant of monopoly rights and the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article XXI shall apply.
In the period before the entry into effect of the results of the negotiations referred to in paragraph 1, any Member may, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article XXI, notify the Council on Trade in Services of its intention to modify or withdraw a specific commitment after a period of one year from the date on which the commitment enters into force; provided that the Member shows cause to the Council that the modification or withdrawal cannot await the lapse of the three-year period provided for in paragraph 1 of Article XXI.
The restrictions referred to in paragraph 1:
(a) shall not discriminate among Members;
(b) shall be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund;
(c) shall avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of any other Member;
(d) shall not exceed those necessary to deal with the circumstances described in paragraph 1;
(e) shall be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situation specified in paragraph 1 improves.
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) to require any Member to furnish any information, the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or
(b) to prevent any Member from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
(i) relating to the supply of services as carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military establishment;
(ii) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;
(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or
(c) to prevent any Member from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
In sectors where market-access commitments are undertaken, the measures which a Member shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:
(a) limitations on the number of service suppliers whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive service suppliers or the requirements of an economic needs test;
(b) limitations on the total value of service transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(c) limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service output expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;(2)
(d) limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular service sector or that a service supplier may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(e) measures which restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service; and
(f) limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign share-holding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment.
There shall be appropriate flexibility for individual developing country Members for opening fewer sectors, liberalizing fewer types of transactions, progressively extending market access in line with their development situation and, when making access to their markets available to foreign service suppliers, attaching to such access conditions aimed at achieving the objectives referred to in Article IV.
With respect to sectors where such commitments are undertaken, each Schedule shall specify:
(a) terms, limitations and conditions on market access;
(b) conditions and qualifications on national treatment;
(c) undertakings relating to additional commitments;
(d) where appropriate the time-frame for implementation of such commitments; and
(e) the date of entry into force of such commitments.
(a) At the request of any Member the benefits of which under this Agreement may be affected (referred to in this Article as an "affected Member") by a proposed modification or withdrawal notified under subparagraph 1(b), the modifying Member shall enter into negotiations with a view to reaching agreement on any necessary compensatory adjustment.
The Council for Trade in Services or the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) may, at the request of a Member, consult with any Member or Members in respect of any matter for which it has not been possible to find a satisfactory solution through consultation under paragraph 1.
If any Member considers that any benefit it could reasonably have expected to accrue to it under a specific commitment of another Member under Part III of this Agreement is being nullified or impaired as a result of the application of any measure which does not conflict with the provisions of this Agreement, it may have recourse to the DSU.
juridical persons of that other Member identified under subparagraph (i);
(n) a juridical person is:
(i) “owned” by persons of a Member if more than 50 per cent of the equity interest in it is beneficially owned by persons of that Member;
(ii) “controlled” by persons of a Member if such persons have the power to name a majority of its directors or otherwise to legally direct its actions;
(iii) “affiliated” with another person when it controls, or is controlled by, that other person; or when it and the other person are both controlled by the same person;
(o) “direct taxes” comprise all taxes on total income, on total capital or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property, taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.
Lists of Article II Exemptions
[The agreed lists of exemptions under paragraph 2 of Article II appear as part of this Annex in the treaty copy of the WTO Agreement.
The Agreement shall not prevent a Member from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across, its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to any Member under the terms of a specific commitment.
(b) “Selling and marketing of air transport services” mean opportunities for the air carrier concerned to sell and market freely its air transport services including all aspects of marketing such as market research, advertising and distribution.
(d) “Traffic rights” mean the right for scheduled and non-scheduled services to operate and/or to carry passengers, cargo and mail for remuneration or hire from, to, within, or over the territory of a Member, including points to be served, routes to be operated, types of traffic to be carried, capacity to be provided, tariffs to be charged and their conditions, and criteria for designation of airlines, including such criteria as number, ownership, and control.
“services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority” means the following:
(i) activities conducted by a central bank or monetary authority or by any other public entity in pursuit of monetary or exchange rate policies;
(ii) activities forming part of a statutory system of social security or public retirement plans; and
(iii) other activities conducted by a public entity for the account or with the guarantee or using the financial resources of the Government.

(b) A Member that is a party to such an agreement or arrangement referred to in subparagraph (a) , whether future or existing, shall afford adequate opportunity for other interested Members to negotiate their accession to such agreements or arrangements, or to negotiate comparable ones with it, under circumstances in which there would be equivalent regulation, oversight, implementation of such regulation, and, if appropriate, procedures concerning the sharing of information between the parties to the agreement or arrangement.

(xi) Participation in issues of all kinds of securities, including underwriting and placement as agent (whether publicly or privately) and provision of services related to such issues;
(xii) Money broking;
(xiii) Asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms of collective investment management, pension fund management, custodial, depository and trust services;
(xiv) Settlement and clearing services for financial assets, including securities, derivative products, and other negotiable instruments;
(xv) Provision and transfer of financial information, and financial data processing and related software by suppliers of other financial services;
(xvi) Advisory, intermediation and other auxiliary financial services on all the activities listed in subparagraphs (v) through (xv) , including credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and strategy.
Article II and the Annex on Article II Exemptions, including the requirement to list in the Annex any measure inconsistent with most-favoured-nation treatment that a Member will maintain, shall enter into force for international shipping, auxiliary services and access to and use of port facilities only on:
(a) the implementation date to be determined under paragraph 4 of the Ministerial Decision on Negotiations on Maritime Transport Services; or,
(b) should the negotiations not succeed, the date of the final report of the Negotiating Group on Maritime Transport Services provided for in that Decision.

(c) Nothing in this Annex shall be construed:
(i) to require a Member to authorize a service supplier of any other Member to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate, or supply telecommunications transport networks or services, other than as provided for in its Schedule; or
(ii) to require a Member (or to require a Member to oblige service suppliers under its jurisdiction) to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate or supply telecommunications transport networks or services not offered to the public generally.
(2)
(b) Each Member shall ensure that service suppliers of any other Member have access to and use of any public telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across the border of that Member, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to paragraphs (e) and (f), that such suppliers are permitted:
(i) to purchase or lease and attach terminal or other equipment which interfaces with the network and which is necessary to supply a supplier's services;
(ii) to interconnect private leased or owned circuits with public telecommunications transport networks and services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier; and
(iii) to use operating protocols of the service supplier's choice in the supply of any service, other than as necessary to ensure the availability of telecommunications transport networks and services to the public generally.
To this end, Members endorse and encourage the participation, to the fullest extent practicable, of developed and developing countries and their suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks and services and other entities in the development programmes of international and regional organizations, including the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Development Programme, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Such responsibilities shall include:
(a)to keep under continuous review and surveillance the application of the Agreement with respect to the sector concerned;
(b)to formulate proposals or recommendations for consideration by the Council in connection with any matter relating to trade in the sector concerned;
(c)if there is an annex pertaining to the sector, to consider proposals for amendment of that sectoral annex, and to make appropriate recommendations to the Council;
(d)to provide a forum for technical discussions, to conduct studies on measures of Members and to conduct examinations of any other technical matters affecting trade in services in the sector concerned;
(e)to provide technical assistance to developing country Members and developing countries negotiating accession to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization in respect of the application of obligations or other matters affecting trade in services in the sector concerned; and
(f)to cooperate with any other subsidiary bodies established under the General Agreement on Trade in Services or any international organizations active in any sector concerned.
SERVICES: AGREEMENTDecision on trade in services and the environment
Noting that since measures necessary to protect the environment typically have as their objective the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, it is not clear that there is a need to provide for more than is contained in paragraph (b) of Article XIV;
Ministers decide to recommend that the Council for Trade in Services at its first meeting adopt the decision set out below.
SERVICES: AGREEMENTDecision on negotiations on movement of natural persons

Ministers,
Noting the commitments resulting from the Uruguay Round negotiations on the movement of natural persons for the purpose of supplying services;
Mindful of the objectives of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, including the increasing participation of developing countries in trade in services and the expansion of their service exports;
Recognizing the importance of achieving higher levels of commitments on the movement of natural persons, in order to provide for a balance of benefits under the General Agreement on Trade in Services;
Decide as follows:
1.
SERVICES: AGREEMENTDecision on negotiations on maritime transport services

Ministers,
Noting that commitments scheduled by participants on maritime transport services at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round shall enter into force on an MFN basis at the same time as the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to as the "WTO Agreement"),
Decide as follows:
1.
the following have announced their intention to take part in the negotiations:Argentina, Canada, European Communities and their member States, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States.
Commencing immediately and continuing until the implementation date to be determined under paragraph 4, it is understood that participants shall not apply any measure affecting trade in maritime transport services except in response to measures applied by other countries and with a view to maintaining or improving the freedom of provision of maritime transport services, nor in such a manner as would improve their negotiating position and leverage.
it is understood that no participant shall apply any measure affecting trade in basic telecommunications in such a manner as would improve its negotiating position and leverage.
In making these recommendations, the Working Party shall concentrate on:
(a) developing multilateral disciplines relating to market access so as to ensure that domestic regulatory requirements are: (i) based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service; (ii) not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service, thereby facilitating the effective liberalization of accountancy services;
(b) the use of international standards and, in doing so, it shall encourage the cooperation with the relevant international organizations as defined under paragraph 5(b) of Article VI, so as to give full effect to paragraph 5 of Article VII;
(c) facilitating the effective application of paragraph 6 of Article VI of the Agreement by establishing guidelines for the recognition of qualifications.
Each Member shall permit non-resident suppliers of financial services to supply, as a principal, through an intermediary or as an intermediary, and under terms and conditions that accord national treatment, the following services:
(a) insurance of risks relating to:
(i) maritime shipping and commercial aviation and space launching and freight (including satellites), with such insurance to cover any or all of the following: the goods being transported, the vehicle transporting the goods and any liability arising therefrom; and
(ii) goods in international transit;
(b) reinsurance and retrocession and the services auxiliary to insurance as referred to in subparagraph 5(a)(iv) of the Annex;
(c) provision and transfer of financial information and financial data processing as referred to in subparagraph 5(a)(xv) of the Annex and advisory and other auxiliary services, excluding intermediation, relating to banking and other financial services as referred to in subparagraph 5(a)(xvi) of the Annex.
When membership or participation in, or access to, any self-regulatory body, securities or futures exchange or market, clearing agency, or any other organization or association, is required by a Member in order for financial service suppliers of any other Member to supply financial services on an equal basis with financial service suppliers of the Member, or when the Member provides directly or indirectly such entities, privileges or advantages in supplying financial services, the Member shall ensure that such entities accord national treatment to financial service suppliers of any other Member resident in the territory of the Member.
A non-resident supplier of financial services is a financial service supplier of a Member which supplies a financial service into the territory of another Member from an establishment located in the territory of another Member, regardless of whether such a financial service supplier has or has not a commercial presence in the territory of the Member in which the financial service is supplied.

PRESS RELEASE

EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE
0001 GMT FRIDAY 20 MARCH 1998
PRESS/96
13 March 1998
STUDY FROM WTO SECRETARIAT HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL
TRADE GAINS FROM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
A new study, "Electronic Commerce and the Role of the WTO", from the WTO Secretariat examines the potential trade gains from the rapidly increasing use of the Internet for commercial purposes.
Electronic commerce - the production, advertising, sale and distribution of products via telecommunication networks - can be divided into three broad categories for the purpose of policy discussion: i) the searching stage where producers and consumers, or buyers and sellers, first interact; ii) the ordering and payment stage once a transaction has been agreed upon; and iii) the delivery stage.
The study attempts to lay out the issues without pre-judging which of them should be taken up in the WTO, nor how they should be dealt with substantively.
PRESS/96Page 3

PRESS/96 Page 3

98-1039 MORE

PRESS/96
Page 2/3

END

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED WT/COMTD/W/51
23 November 1998 (98-4673) Committee on Trade and Development


DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Note by the Secretariat


At its meeting on 25 September 1998, the General Council agreed on a Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, according to which, inter alia:
" The Committee on Trade and Development shall examine and report on the development implications of electronic commerce, taking into account the economic, financial and development needs of developing countries. The issues to be examined shall include:

- effects of electronic commerce on the trade and economic prospects of developing countries, notably of their small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and means of maximizing possible benefits accruing to them;

- challenges to and ways of enhancing the participation of developing countries in electronic commerce, in particular as exporters of electronically delivered products

World Trade
Organization TN/TF/W/89
4 April 2006 (06-1607) Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation Original: English


COMMUNICATION FROM CHILE, PERU, AND THE UNITED STATES


The following communication, dated 4 April 2006, from the delegations of Chile, Peru, and the United Sates, is being circulated in advance of the Negotiating Group meeting of 5-7 April.
_______________


Internet Publication


We submit for consideration summarized elements of a proposal regarding Internet publication of import procedures and customs laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application.
ELEMENTS OF A COMMITMENT ON INTERNET PUBLICATION
Internet as Publication Method: Internet publication as an available method for Members to meet current publication obligations under Article X of GATT 1994.

Internet Publication of Import Procedures: Members provide an Internet page setting out requirements for importation and exportation of g

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/91
16 December 1998 (98-5103) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES

Telecommunications Services

The following communication received from the delegation of the United States was circulated informally on 15 December 1998 to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services to assist in the discussion on Telecommunications Services in the context of the Information Exchange Programme.

Insofar as the liberalization of trade and crossborder investment flows in telecommunications services are relatively new phenomena, we expect that by taking such actions governments can generate large gains in economic welfare.
Should Members incorporate the WTO Basic Telecommunications Reference paper into the GATS, while developing international best practices guidelines in accord with the Reference Paper.
As a result of these policies, fortyeight license applications by foreignaffiliated firms have been granted since the entryintoforce of the Fourth Protocol to the GATS on February 6, 1998.
Several points made by the Secretariat deserve reemphasis or comment:

“Modern means of telecommunications, enhanced by competition, will enable all countries to participate more fully in international trade, particularly if complemented by increased liberalization of crossborder supply of many electronically deliverable services.
)

“With the dramatic growth of wireless services of all kinds, yet another concern will be the availability of spectrum more generally; how it will be organized and allotted, for example, to meet the many competing new demands in the nottoodistant future.
A recent communication from Egypt, “Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries in the Multilateral Trading System” (WT/GC/W/109, WT/COMTD/W/49 of 5 November 1998), notes the challenge to Members to determine “.
how can trade become a tool that promotes convergence of standards of living and levels of development among various countries and regions around the world and not widen the existing and even growing gaps and inequities.

World Trade
Organization WT/COMTD/60
31 January 2007
(07-0432) Committee on Trade and Development Original: Spanish


communication from brazil on behalf of the mercosur

Protocol of Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR


The following communication, dated 19 January 2007, from the delegation of Brazil on behalf of the MERCOSUR member countries is being circulated for information. It concerns the "Protocol of Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR".


_______________


Protocol of Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR


In its capacity of Pro Tempore Chairman of MERCOSUR, the Brazilian Government, on behalf of the MERCOSUR Member Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), conveys to the WTO Secretariat for the attention of all WTO Members that on 7 December 2005 the Protocol of Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR entered into force. The duration of the Protocol is indefinite.
The Protocol of

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/160
13 July 2000 (00-2861) Council for Trade in Services Original: English


COMMUNICATION FROM BRAZIL

Fourth Protocol – Revised Schedule of Specific Commitments


The attached statement has been received from the delegation of Brazil with the request that it be circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in Services.

_______________


When Brazil presented its offer of Specific Commitments on Basic Telecommunications in February 1997 under the IV Protocol to the GATS, it was indicated the intention of revising it, particularly with respect to public services, one year after the enactment of the Brazilian General Telecommunications Law (July 1998). At that time, it was in force in Brazil what was called the “Minimum Law”, enacted in July 1996 and containing some basic directives to market access in cellular, and limited satellite services.
Two major reasons contributed for the postponement of this revision

The Council addressed the following matters:
MULTILATERAL DISCIPLINES ON DOMESTIC REGULATION IN THE ACCOUNTANCY SECTOR
At the Council meeting of 14 and 15 December 1998, the Council discussed the report of the Working Party on Professional Services concerning its work on the development of multilateral disciplines in the accountancy sector.
NOTIFICATIONS TO THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO GATS PROVISIONS
At its meeting of 14 and 15 December 1998 the Council took note of the following notifications:
(i) Notifications pursuant to Article III:3 of the GATS concerning modifications to services regulations in sectors where specific commitments had been undertaken:

Nigeria (S/C/N/69)
Switzerland (S/C/N/70)
Peru (S/C/N/71)
Thailand (S/C/N/72)
Thailand (S/C/N/73)
Japan (S/C/N/74)
Japan (S/C/N/77)
Indonesia (S/C/N/78)
Indonesia (S/C/N/79)
Indonesia (S/C/N/80)
Indonesia (S/C/N/81)
Japan (S/C/N/82)
Japan (S/C/N/83)
Japan (S/C/N/84)
United Kingdom (S/C/N/85)

(ii) Notifications pursuant to Article VII:4 of the GATS concerning recognition measures and agreements or agreements:

Australia (S/C/N/67)
United States (S/C/N/68)
Switzerland (S/C/N/75)
Liechtenstein (S/C/N/76)

entry into force of the fifth protocol
By the deadline of 29 January 1999,
Members welcomed as a positive development the fact that Costa Rica and Nicaragua could accept the Fifth Protocol, but stressed that deadlines had an important function and that they must be observed.
Ministers endorsed a recommendation in paragraph 47 of document S/C/3 calling upon the Council for Trade in Services to develop an information exchange programme with the aim of facilitating the access of all Members, in particular developing country Members, to information regarding laws, regulations and administrative guidelines and policies affecting trade in services.
For this purpose, the same provision calls upon the Council to carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of the GATS, including those set out in paragraph 1 of Article IV.
SUBMISSION OF SCHEDULES of COMMITMENTS under the certification procedure
At meeting of the Services Council held on 14 and 15 December 1998, Côte d’Ivoire submitted a schedule of commitments in financial services and a list of Article II exemptions under the certification procedure.
trade facilitation
On 1 September 1998 the Chairman of the Council for Trade in Services received a letter from the Chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods requesting the Services Council to include “trade facilitation” as an item on the agenda of its following meeting to address its relationship with the GATS and provide the results of such discussions by March 1999,
It was also suggested that issues of trade facilitation in services could be taken up as they related to individual sectors in the context of the exchange of information exercise, while specific issues relating to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) could be taken up in the context of the work programme on Electronic Commerce.
however, maintained that there was no need to revise or modify Article V, whose requirements and parameters were clear enough.
Work of subsidiary bodies
The activities of Subsidiary bodies are reflected in their respective reports which are annexed to this report as follows:
Annex I - Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/88
11 December 1998 (98-5010) Council for Trade in Services

SCHEDULE OF COMMITMENTS IN BASIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Certification

Guatemala

The attached draft Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications has been communicated to the WTO by the Government of Guatemala with a request to initiate the appropriate procedures for it to be added to, and constitute an integral part of, Guatemala's Schedule of Specific Commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS/SC/36).

World Trade
Organization Council for Trade in Services Original: Spanish

GUATEMALA

Schedule of Specific Commitments

Supplement 1

Revision

(This is authentic in Spanish only)

_______________

This text is to be incorporated in document GATS/SC/36 as the section on Telecommunications Services.
7529)
(g) Private leased circuit services (7522, 7523)
(o) Other
Paging services (75291)
Cellular services (75213)
Personal Communications services
Mobile data services
Satellite services (1) International traffic must be routed through the facilities of an enterprise with a frequency user's title and/or Telecommunications Registration Certificate issued by the Superintendency of Telecommunications.
Such interconnection is provided:

(a) Under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;

(b) in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates that are transparent, having regard to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided; and

(c) upon request, at points in addition to the network termination points offered to the majority of users,
Public availability of criteria for granting a user's title

Where a user's title is required, the following will be made publicly available:

(a) All the criteria for granting a user's title and the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a user's title; and

(b) the terms and conditions of individual titles.
___________

S/C/W/88 Page 2/3

S/C/W/88Page 4

S/C/W/88
Page 3

S/C/W/88Page 6

S/C/W/88 Page 7

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/191
27 April 2001 (01-2133) Council for Trade in Services

SCHEDULE OF COMMITMENTS IN BASIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Certification

BRAZIL

The attached Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications has been communicated to the WTO Secretariat by the Government of Brazil with a request to initiate its certification in accordance with the "Procedures for the Certification of rectifications or improvements to schedules of specific commitments" adopted by the Council for Trade in Services (S/L/84).

BRAZIL - SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

Modes of supply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial Presence 4) Presence of natural persons Sector or Sub-sector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment
Additional Commitments

2.
(3) Licenses shall be granted only to suppliers duly constituted according to the Brazilian legislation, which requires head office and management located in the Brazilian territory, and ownership of the majority of the voting shares by natural persons resident in Brazil or companies duly constituted according to the Brazilian legislation, which requires head office and management located in the Brazilian territory.
Others

Value Added Services

Electronic mail

Voice mail

On-line information and data base retrieval

Electronic data interchange (EDI)

(1) None

(2) None

(3) None

(1) None

(2) None

(3) None

The use of PTTNS will be ensured to any supplier of Value Added Services, according to the applicable regulations.
Such interconnection is provided

under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;
in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and cost-oriented rates that are transparent, reasonable, having regard to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided;
(c) upon request,
5 Interconnection : dispute settlement

A service supplier requesting interconnection with a major supplier will have recourse, either:

at any time or
after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known to an independent domestic body, which may be a regulatory body as referred to in paragraph 5 below, to resolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection within a reasonable period of time, to the extent that these have not been established previously.
Public availability of licensing criteria

Where a licence is required, the following will be made publicly available:

all the licensing criteria and the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a licence and
the terms and conditions of individual licences.
S/C/W/191Page 2

S/C/W/191 Page 3

S/C/W/191Page 4

S/C/W/191
Page 5

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S/C/W/191 Page 7

World Trade
Organization G/TBT/N/JPN/322
15 December 2009 (09-6523) Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original: English


NOTIFICATION

The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6

1. Member to Agreement notifying: Japan
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2): 2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above: 3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [   ], other: 4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Terminal equipment for Internet Protocol telephone, etc. 5. Title, number of pages and language(s

World Trade
Organization TN/S/W/50
1 July 2005
(05-2868) Council for Trade in Services
Special Session Original: English


COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA, CANADA, THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, JAPAN, HONG KONG CHINA, KOREA, NORWAY, Singapore, THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU, AND THE UNITED STATES

Liberalization of Telecommunication Services


The following communication, dated 1 July 2005, from the delegations of Australia, Canada, the European Communities, Japan, Hong Kong China, Korea, Norway, Singapore, the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and the United States is being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services.

_______________


We believe telecommunications services are an important element of the GATS negotiations because of the valuable roles such services play in supporting national economies and international trade:
Drivers of Economic Growth: A modern tel

PRESS RELEASE

PRESS/517
20 February 2008

(08-0747)
Symposium on Telecommunications
WTO DG Lamy celebrates benefits of opening trade in telecoms
Director-General Pascal Lamy hailed liberalisation of trade in telecoms services as a vital tool in economic growth and development on the occasion of the WTO Symposium on Telecommunications organized in Geneva to commemorate the 10th anniversary of agreement among WTO members to open basic telecommunications services.

“The impressive results we have seen in 10 years of opening telecommunications markets shows how crucial liberalising services trade can be for economies. It is a good reminder to all of the importance of accelerating the services negotiations that are so vital to the success of the Doha Development round," said Mr. Lamy.

“Since the results came into force ten years ago this month, global access to telecommunications has increased from below 15 percent in 1996 to above 60 percent in 2006, and revenues have risen

World Trade
Organization S/C/N/139
14 February 2001 (01-0722) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES

The following notification has been received from the delegation of the Republic of Poland.
____________

Member notifying:
The Republic of Poland

Notification under:
Article III, paragraph 3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services

Date of entry into force:
1 November 1999

Duration

Indefinite

Agency responsible for implementation and enforcement of the measure:
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

Description of the measures:
Measure

mode of supply covered by the measure: (3) commercial presence
effect on trade in services: liberalization measure
the measure has impact on commitments in the telecommunication services:
The regulation of the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of 9 September 1999 on general conditions of telecommunication networks interconnection and rules of accounting imposes obligations on operators of the public use telecommunication networks,
no later 1 July 2000 are obliged to start points of contact at least in numbering zones in which international telephone centrals are located, and no later than 1 July 2000 in numbering zones in which long-distance telephone transit centrals are located and which belong to Poland-wide public use network operator having dominant position.
Members specifically affected, if any:
None

The texts are available from:
Official Journal of Laws No.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/M/31
9 December 1998 (98-4973) Council for Trade in Services

REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 23 AND 24 NOVEMBER 1998

Note by the Secretariat

The Council for Trade in Services held a meeting on 23 and 24 November 1998.
Under other business, the delegation of Ghana raised a point concerning the temporary reopening of the Fourth Protocol to the GATS for acceptance and the delegation of United States requested to make proposal for an information session on the telecommunications agreement.
It was suggested that the proposed calendar could be accelerated in order to cover as much ground as possible before the March meeting of the General Council, that work on clarification and on analytical issues were not mutually exclusive; and that the informal process should maintain a certain degree of flexibility so that, for instance, issues discussed at one meeting could be raised again by delegations at following meetings.
standards and recognition
Market-access commitments on electronic supply of services
National treatment
Access and use of public telecoms network and services

March Council Meeting

Competition
Protection of privacy and public morals and prevention of fraud (Article XIV)
Custom duties

Some delegations, however, said that they were not yet in the position to formally agree on a framework for discussion.
One delegation noted that while in principle intra-modal distinctions based on the technique of delivery could be challenged as inconsistent with MFN, it remained possible for a Member to make such distinctions when defining the scope of its specific commitments in a particular sector.
Future work should examine how electronic commerce would affect the supply and demand for services, as well as the competitiveness of developing countries; successful partnerships between developed countries and developing countries and between the public and private sectors; and difficulties and challenges for developing countries, in particular, their small and medium enterprises and the possible need for technical assistance.
It was also pointed out that the statement in paragraph 28 that electronic commerce required access to the internet was not accurate because there were forms of electronic commerce which relied on other electronic means.
The following informal papers were submitted by delegations on the services sectors under discussion: (a) Transport Services (general): Japan, and Poland; (b) Air Transport Services: Australia, New Zealand and Turkey; (c) Land Transport Services: Australia and New Zealand; (d) Maritime Transport Services: Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Turkey.
(c) Rail transport services

Delegations noted that the low level of commitments on rail transport could be explained by the existence in almost all countries, until very recently, of publicly owned monopolies as the dominant form of business organization.
One delegation expressed the view that non-transport air activities were relatively insignificant in terms of international trade, that ancillary services listed in the Secretariat paper were directly related to hard rights in so far as they were mentioned in bilateral agreements and that rental and leasing with crew, as opposed to the leasing of aircraft without crews, was normally regarded as an air transport service and would therefore be excluded from the present scope of the GATS.
The representative of Mexico said that her delegation could agree on an arrangement for technical cooperation and exchange of information, but it still had doubts on the form such arrangement should take.
She suggested that work might begin by: (i) looking at how domestic regulation has so far been dealt with under the GATS in the various services sectors; (ii) examining experiences on domestic regulation in other WTO areas; (iii) gathering information on work undertaken in other international and regional organizations; (iv) gathering factual background information on recent work by relevant international bodies on technical standards; and (v) convening an informal session of the Services Council to examine this material and to determine a future work programme.
Some delegations, however, underlined that work at the horizontal level should not prejudice the work which was being done at the sector specific level on accountancy in the Working Party on Professional Services,
REPORTING ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS – RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
The Chairman drew attention to the recommendations of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) to the Council for Trade in Services adopted on 20 February 1998 with respect to how the required reporting on the operation of regional trade agreements should be carried out.
DERESTRICTION OF SECTORAL PAPERS BY THE SECRETARIAT
The Chairman recalled that at the last meeting he had suggested that the Council take a decision to derestrict the papers written by the Secretariat for the sectoral discussions in the context of the exchange of information exercise.
He noted that in the past there had been difficulties with the entry into force of earlier protocols because of delays in acceptance, therefore, everything should be done in this case to avoid similar difficulties.

The representative of the European Communities said that five Member States had completed internal ratification procedures and that all the remaining Member States were expected to complete their internal procedures in time to meet the deadline.
The Chairman reminded participants that upon completion of the information exchange exercise in December, the Council was called upon by Article XIX of the GATS to carry out an assessment of trade in services and to establish negotiating guidelines and procedures for the next round of liberalisation negotiations.

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/207
19 April 2002 (02-2201) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

CERTIFICATION

Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications

EGYPT

The attached draft Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications has been submitted to the WTO Secretariat by the Government of Egypt with a request to initiate its certification in accordance with the "Procedures for the Certification of Rectifications or Improvements to Schedules of Specific Commitments" adopted by the Council for Trade in Services (S/L/84).

Accordingly, if no objections are communicated to the Secretariat within 45 days from the date of this communication, this certification procedure shall be considered concluded and the attached draft Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications shall enter into force and will be deemed to constitute an integral part of the Schedule of Specific Commitments of Egypt under the GATS (GATS/SC/30).

EGYPT – SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

Modes of supply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial Presence 4) Presence of natural persons Sector or Sub-sector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment Additional Commitments 2.
Essential facilities mean facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that

(a) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers; and

(b) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service.
Such interconnection is provided

(a) under nondiscriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services or for like services of nonaffiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;

(b) in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and costoriented rates that are transparent, reasonable, having regard to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided; and

(c) upon request,
5 Interconnection: dispute settlement

A service supplier requesting interconnection with a major supplier will have recourse, either:

(a) at any time or

(b) after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known

to an independent domestic body, which may be a regulatory body as referred to in paragraph 5 below, to resolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection within a reasonable period of time, to the extent that these have not been established previously.
Allocation and use of scarce resources

Any procedures for the allocation and use of scarce resources, including frequencies, numbers and rights of way, will be carried out in an objective, timely, transparent and nondiscriminatory manner.
The current state of allocated frequency bands will be made publicly available, but detailed identification of frequencies allocated for specific government uses is not required.
S/C/W/207Page 1

S/C/W/207 Page 1

S/C/W/207Page 4

S/C/W/207
Page 3

S/C/W/207Page 6

S/C/W/207 Page 7

S/C/M/37

Members welcomed as a positive development the fact that Ghana could accept the protocol, but stressed that deadlines had an important function and that they must be observed.
NOTIFICATIONS TO THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO GATS PROVISIONS
At its meeting of 14 and 15 December 1998 the Council took note of the following notifications:
(i) Notifications pursuant to Article III:3 of the GATS concerning modifications to services regulations in sectors where specific commitments had been undertaken:

Nigeria (S/C/N/69)
Switzerland (S/C/N/70)
Peru (S/C/N/71)
Thailand (S/C/N/72)
Thailand (S/C/N/73)
Japan (S/C/N/74)
Japan (S/C/N/77)
Indonesia (S/C/N/78)
Indonesia (S/C/N/79)
Indonesia (S/C/N/80)
Indonesia (S/C/N/81)
Japan (S/C/N/82)
Japan (S/C/N/83)
Japan (S/C/N/84)
United Kingdom (S/C/N/85)

(ii) Notifications pursuant to Article VII:4 of the GATS concerning recognition measures and agreements or agreements:

Australia (S/C/N/67)
United States (S/C/N/68)
Switzerland (S/C/N/75)
Liechtenstein (S/C/N/76)

entry into force of the fifth protocol
By the deadline of 29 January 1999,
Members welcomed as a positive development the fact that Costa Rica and Nicaragua could accept the Fifth Protocol, but stressed that deadlines had an important function and that they must be observed.
Ministers endorsed a recommendation in paragraph 47 of document S/C/3 calling upon the Council for Trade in Services to develop an information exchange programme with the aim of facilitating the access of all Members, in particular developing country Members, to information regarding laws, regulations and administrative guidelines and policies affecting trade in services.
For this purpose, the same provision calls upon the Council to carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of the GATS, including those set out in paragraph 1 of Article IV.
At the July 1999 meeting, the UNCTAD Secretariat was invited to provide an overview of their work in the services area with a view to identifying material that might be relevant to the assessment by the Services Council.
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE ITU AND THE WTO
The question of a cooperation agreement between the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the WTO was discussed at several meetings of the Services Council during 1998.
It was also suggested that issues of trade facilitation in services could be taken up as they related to individual sectors in the context of the exchange of information exercise, while specific issues relating to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) could be taken up in the context of the work programme on Electronic Commerce.
standards, and recognition (Articles VI and VII); (vi) competition (Articles VIII and IX); (vii) protection of privacy and public morals and the prevention of fraud (Article XIV); (viii) market-access commitments on electronic supply of services (including commitments on basic and value added telecommunications services and on distribution services) (Article XVI); (ix) national treatment (Article XVII); (x) access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services (Annex on Telecommunications); (xi) customs duties; (xii) classification issues.
The Chairman of the Working Party on GATS Rules presented the proposal, which set the date for the conclusion of the negotiations on emergency safeguards measures at 15 December 2000, and provided that the final date for the entry into effect of the results of these negotiations shall be no later than the date of entry into force of the results of the next services round.
requestS for observer status
At the meeting held on 18 October 1999, the Council, noted requests for observer status from the Islamic Development Bank, from the League of Arab States and from the World Health Organization with a view to making a decision at a subsequent meeting.
Work of subsidiary bodies
The activities of Subsidiary bodies are reflected in their respective reports which are annexed to this report as follows:
Annex I - Report of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/.

S/CSS/W/35

S/CSS/W/17

World Trade
Organization RESTRICTED S/C/W/107
12 May 1999 (99-1989) Council for Trade in Services

SCHEDULE OF COMMITMENTS IN BASIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Certification

KENYA

The attached Schedule of Commitments in Basic Telecommunications has been communicated to the WTO by the Government of Kenya with a request to initiate the appropriate procedures for it to constitute an integral part of Kenya’s Schedule of Specific Commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS/SC/47).

World Trade
Organization (99-0000) Council for Trade in Services Original: English

KENYA

Schedule of Specific Commitments

Supplement 1

(This is authentic in English only)

_______________

KENYA –- SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS IN BASIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Modes of supply: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence of natural persons Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limitations on national treatment Additional commitments 2C Telecommunications services (excludes video and audio broadcast services)
For public use:

a) Voice telephone service (7521)

(1) None,
Store and forward, store and retrieve (7523**)
(m) Code and protocol conversion
(n) On-line information and/or data processing (including transaction processing) (843**)
Other:

- Internet and internet access services

(1) None

(2) None

(1) None

(2) None
(3) Only over facilities of licenced network operators.
Essential facilities mean facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that:-

(a) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers;

(b) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service.
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable that provided for its own like services or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;

(b) in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and cost-oriented rates that are transparent, reasonable, having regard to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided; and

(c) upon request,
5 Interconnection: dispute settlement

A service supplier requesting interconnection with a major supplier will have resource, either:-

(a) at any time or

(b) after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known to an independent domestic body, which may be a regulatory body as refereed to in paragraph 5 below,
PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF LICENSING CRITERIA

Where a licence is required, the following will be made publicly available:-

(a) all the licensing criteria and the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a licence and

(b) the terms and conditions of individual licences.
ALLOCATION AND USE OF SCARCE RESOURCES

Any procedures for the allocation and use of scarce resources, including frequencies, numbers and rights of way, will be carried out in an objective, timely, transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

World Trade
Organization WT/REG238/1
9 May 2008 (08-2195) Committee on Regional Trade Agreements







FACTUAL PRESENTATION

Protocol of Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR

Report by the Secretariat



This report, prepared for the consideration of the Protocol on Montevideo on Trade in Services in the MERCOSUR has been drawn up by the WTO Secretariat on its own responsibility and in full consultation with the Parties. The report has been drawn up in accordance with the rules and procedures contained in the Decision for a Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements (WT/L/671).

Any technical questions arising from this report may be addressed to Mrs. Maria Pillinini (tel: +41 22 739 5244) and Mr. Martin Roy (tel.: +41 22 739 6105).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page


I. Trade Environment 1
II. Characteristic Elements OF THE PROtocol 13
A. Background Information 13
B. Scope And Definitions 15
C. Denial of Benefits 15
D. Ge

Direct line: (+41 22) 739 53 48
Direct fax: (+41 22) 739 57 88
Email: tessa.
org Reference: WLI/100 4 June 2002

MARRAKESH AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
DONE AT MARRAKESH ON 15 APRIL 1994

GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES

CERTIFICATION OF RECTIFICATIONS OR IMPROVEMENTSTO SCHEDULES OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

EGYPT

TRANSMISSION OF CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES

I have the honour to furnish herewith a certified true copy of the Certification of improvements to the Schedule of Specific Commitments of Egypt.
Mike Moore
Director-General

02-3244 WT/Let/421

MARRAKESH AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
DONE AT MARRAKESH ON 15 APRIL 1994

GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES

CERTIFICATION OF RECTIFICATIONS OR IMPROVEMENTS
TO SCHEDULES OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

EGYPT

WHEREAS the Council for Trade in Services, on 18 April 2000, took a Decision (document S/L/83) adopting Procedures for the Certification of Rectifications or Improvements to Schedules of Specific Commitments (document S/L/84);

WHEREAS in accordance with the provisions of the above-mentioned Procedures, a draft containing improvements to Schedule GATS/SC/30 (Egypt) was communicated to Members of the World Trade Organization in document S/C/W/207 on 19 April 2002;

WHEREAS the procedures for the rectifications or improvements to the Schedule of Specific Commitments have been concluded (S/L/103);

IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the annexed improvements to the Schedule of Specific Commitments of Egypt are established in conformity with the above-mentioned Procedures and constitute an integral part of Egypt's Schedule of Specific Commitments as of 3 June 2002.
4 June 2002EGYPT – SCHEDULE OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS

Modes of supply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial Presence 4) Presence of natural persons Sector or Sub-sector Limitations on Market Access Limitations on National Treatment Additional Commitments 2.
Essential facilities mean facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that

(a) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers; and

(b) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service.
A major supplier is a supplier which has the ability to materially affect the terms of participation (having regard to price and supply) in the relevant market for basic telecommunications services as a result of:

(a) control over essential facilities; or

(b) use of its position in the market.
Such interconnection is provided

(a) under nondiscriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services or for like services of nonaffiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;

(b) in a timely fashion, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and costoriented rates that are transparent, reasonable, having regard to economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided; and

(c) upon request,
5 Interconnection: dispute settlement

A service supplier requesting interconnection with a major supplier will have recourse, either:

(a) at any time or

(b) after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known

to an independent domestic body, which may be a regulatory body as referred to in paragraph 5 below, to resolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection within a reasonable period of time, to the extent that these have not been established previously.
Public availability of licensing criteria

Where a licence is required, the following will be made publicly available:

(a) all the licensing criteria and the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a licence and

(b) the terms and conditions of individual licences.
Allocation and use of scarce resources

Any procedures for the allocation and use of scarce resources, including frequencies, numbers and rights of way, will be carried out in an objective, timely, transparent and nondiscriminatory manner.
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