Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 6 • Number 27 • 17th July 2002
Services: Members Adopt Timeframe For Negotiating ESM; Government Procurement And Subsidies
Services: Members Adopt Timeframe For Negotiating ESM; Government Procurement And Subsidies
WTO Members met on 15 July in the Working Party on GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) Rules (WPGR) where they preliminarily adopted a work programme for negotiating a possible emergency safeguard measure (ESM) for the services sector, as well as multilateral disciplines on services-related subsidies and government procurement (services purchased for governmental purposes). The programme will enter into force on 22 July unless Members object to it before then.
Timetable for emergency safeguard mechanism
According to trade sources, Members discussed and made changes to a 12 July draft Chair’s paper outlining the work programme for the establishment of a possible ESM, and then adopted it on an "ad referendum" basis. This would mean, sources explained, that the Chair’s draft would be considered definitive unless delegates raised objections before 22 July. Otherwise, the draft would become official and be made public on that date. It was said that the Chair’s draft, inter alia, provides that Members should table their proposals on an emergency safeguard by end-2002, take stock at the Fifth Ministerial Conference in September 2003 in Cancun, Mexico, and finalise the negotiations before mid-March 2004 as agreed on 15 March this year (see BRIDGES Weekly, 19 March 2002). Discussion continued further on ESM papers submitted at the last WPGR session on 3 June by the EC and Australia (see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 June 2002).
Subsidies and government procurement
Similarly, on the issue of subsidies and government procurement, the work programme encourages Members to make their respective proposals by 31 March 2003 and to take stock and review the status of the negotiations next year in Cancun, sources explained. Chile, Hong Kong/China and Argentina reportedly submitted a "simplified questionnaire" on subsidies in response to a 1997 Secretariat paper (S/WPGR/W/16) wherein the Secretariat had asked Members to provide information about all subsidies provided to their domestic service suppliers, and had further invited Members to give their views on the definition of the term "subsidy". As only a few Members have responded to the questions so far, Members agreed that more information was needed in order to proceed with the discussions.
The EC tabled a communication (S/WPGR/W/39, searchable at http://docsonline.wto.org) on government procurement of services, wherein it proposed to treat public services purchases in a similar fashion to general services. This would include establishing general rules such as transparency and most-favoured nation (MFN) treatment to apply across-the-board, together with special commitments (market access and national treatment) in specially chosen sectors. The paper received little discussion, however, as some Members, such as India, took the view that GATS Article XIII would expressly carve out negotiations on MFN, market access and national treatment. Article XIII, together with GATS Articles X and XXV contain ‘built-in agendas’ mandating negotiations on a possible ESM, government procurement and subsidies, respectively.
BRIDGES Weekly will report further on other services-related WTO meetings in its two forthcoming issues.
ICTSD reporting.