SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS Said EL HACHIMI World Trade Organization.
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
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SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS Said Said EL HACHIMI EL HACHIMI World Trade Organization World Trade Organization
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SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS. Said EL HACHIMI World Trade Organization. SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS. The basics What interest in trade in services; WTO GATS. The negotiations What is it all about?. The gains for developing countries Should we care?. SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS. The basics - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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SERVICES NEGOTIATIONSSERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
SaidSaid EL HACHIMI EL HACHIMIWorld Trade OrganizationWorld Trade Organization
The basics
What interest in trade in services; WTO GATS
The negotiations
What is it all about?
The gains for developing countries
Should we care?
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONSSERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
The basics
What interest in trade in services; WTO GATS
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONSSERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADE IN SERVICES IN THE WORLD ECONOMY
• Services is the dominant economic activity in virtually all countries of the world, regardless
of their level of development.
• Services tend to be an important source of employment
•Given their infrastructural role, services such as telecommunications, financial services
(including banking and insurance), business services, construction and transport are
crucial in shaping overall economic performance
THE BASICSTHE BASICS
THE BASICSTHE BASICS : WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services –GATS-
• Negotiated during the Uruguay round
• The first multilateral agreement on services
GATS : Principles• Main objective: progressive
liberalization through successive rounds of negotiations as a means of promoting growth and development.
• Applies to all services but there are exceptions• Most-favoured nation treatment
• Commitments, including National Treatment• Special treatment for developing countries
• Keeping control of national regulations
GATS : Four modes of supply• Cross-border trade –Mode 1-
Only the service crosses the border• Consumption abroad –Mode 2-
Consumer travels to the service supplier’s territory
• Commercial presence –Mode 3-
Service supplier establishes a presence (FDI)• Presence of natural persons–Mode 4-
Service supplier travels to the consumer’s territory to supply the service
Current sector focus of commitments
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20
40
60
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160
Developed
Developing
The negotiations
What is it all about?
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONSSERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
Key dates in services negotiationsKey dates in services negotiations• 1 January 1995: GATS enters into force• February 1997: Agreement on basic
telecommunications• December 1997: Agreement on financial
services• 1 January 2000: The new negotiations begin• January 2000: submission proposals begins• July 2002: exchange of initial requests begins• March 2003: submission of initial offers
begins• The July framework: new impetus• The Hong Kong Ministerial
What is the new negotiation all What is the new negotiation all about?about?
• Negotiations started before the Doha Ministerial- the built in
agenda-
• Objectives and principles
• Scope of the negotiations
• Modalities and procedures
• Special treatment for the LDC’s
What has been happening ?What has been happening ?
• Doha and Cancun Ministerial Conferences
• The July framework highlighted the need for more offers
• Hong Kong refocus in terms of objectives, approaches and timelines –Annex C-
State of play of the negotiationsState of play of the negotiations
• Initial requests – little information available
• Initial and revised offers : since 2003 > 70 and 30 revised
• The quality of the offers is similar to the Uruguay Round sectoral coverage
Number of Offers per SectorNumber of Offers per Sector
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40
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60
70 Developing
Developed
NumberNumber of Offers per Sectorof Offers per Sector-Continued--Continued-
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50
60
70
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Mar
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ux. T
rans
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(per
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Tra
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Hor
izon
tal
Developing
Developed
Main ChallengesMain Challenges
• Will new methodologies such as plurilaterals work?
• Different stages in Members engagement in the services negotiations
• The rules clusters of the GATS• Credit for Autonomous
liberalization• Overall balance with Agricultural
and NAMA negotiations
The gains for developing countries
Should we care?
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONSSERVICES NEGOTIATIONS
• In total, more than 30 developing country Members have voiced interest in at least one sector or mode of
supply under negotiation.
•Relevant sectors include professional services, computer and related services, telecommunication
services, audiovisual services, construction and related engineering services, distribution services, energy services, environmental services, financial services; tourism services and transport services
(including logistics).
•Movements of natural persons (under Mode 4) and, more recently, the cross-border supply of services
(under Modes 1 and 2), have also attracted attention.
Specific Issues of Interest to Specific Issues of Interest to Developing CountriesDeveloping Countries
• In general, these gains have been found to dwarf the benefits expected to flow from further trade
liberalization in goods.
•Developing countries stand to gain considerably from liberalization of trade in services, both on the
part of their trading partners and in terms of their own policy regimes.
Possible Gains for Developing Possible Gains for Developing CountriesCountries
Read more about the negotiations Read more about the negotiations on the WTO website:on the WTO website:
• Developments in the Services negotiations
www.wto.org > trade topics > services > negotiations > developments
• Proposals for the new negotiations
www.wto.org > trade topics > services > negotiations > proposals
The World Trade OrganizationCentre William Rappard
rue de Lausanne 154CH–1211 Geneva 21
Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)22 739 51 11Fax: +41 (0)22 739 54 58
email: [email protected]: www.wto.org
