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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 back to top
1. This Agreement applies to measures by Members affecting trade in
services.
2. 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, through commercial presence in
the territory of any other Member;
(d) by a service supplier of one Member, through presence of natural
persons of a Member in the territory of any other Member.
3.
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.
Part
II: General Obligations and Disciplines
Article
II: Most-Favoured-Nation
Treatment back to top
1. With respect to any measure covered by this Agreement, 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.
2. A Member may maintain a measure inconsistent with paragraph 1
provided that such a measure is listed in, and meets the conditions
of, the Annex on Article II Exemptions.
3. The provisions of this Agreement shall not be so construed as to
prevent any Member from conferring or according advantages to adjacent
countries in order to facilitate exchanges limited to contiguous
frontier zones of services that are both locally produced and
consumed.
Article
III: Transparency
back to top
1. Each Member shall publish promptly and, except in emergency
situations, at the latest by the time of their entry into force, all
relevant measures of general application which pertain to or affect
the operation of this Agreement. International agreements pertaining
to or affecting trade in services to which a Member is a signatory
shall also be published.
2. Where publication as referred to in paragraph 1 is not
practicable, such information shall be made otherwise publicly
available.
3. Each Member shall promptly and at least annually inform the Council
for Trade in Services of the introduction of any new, or any changes
to existing, laws, regulations or administrative guidelines which
significantly affect trade in services covered by its specific
commitments under this Agreement.
4. Each Member shall respond promptly to all requests by any other Member
for specific information on any of its measures of general application
or international agreements within the meaning of paragraph 1.
Each Member shall also establish one or more enquiry points to provide
specific information to other Members, upon request, on all such
matters as well as those subject to the notification requirement in
paragraph 3. Such enquiry points shall be established within
two years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement
Establishing the WTO (referred to in this Agreement as the “WTO
Agreement”). Appropriate flexibility with respect to the
time-limit within which such enquiry points are to be established may
be agreed upon for individual developing country Members. Enquiry
points need not be depositories of laws and regulations.
5. Any Member may notify to the Council for Trade in Services any
measure, taken by any other Member, which it considers affects the
operation of this Agreement.
Article
III bis: Disclosure of
Confidential Information back to top
Nothing in this Agreement shall require any Member to provide
confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law
enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which
would prejudice legitimate commercial interests of particular
enterprises, public or private.
Article
IV: Increasing Participation
of Developing Countries back to top
1. 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.
2. Developed
country Members, and to the extent possible other Members, shall
establish contact points within two years from the date of entry
into force of the WTO Agreement to facilitate the access of developing
country Members’ service suppliers to information, related to their
respective markets, concerning:
(a) commercial and technical aspects of the supply of services;
(b) registration, recognition and obtaining of professional
qualifications; and
(c) the availability of services technology.
3. Special
priority shall be given to the least-developed country Members in the
implementation of paragraphs 1 and 2. Particular account
shall be taken of the serious difficulty of the least-developed
countries in accepting negotiated specific commitments in view of
their special economic situation and their development, trade and
financial needs.
Article
V: Economic Integration back to top
1. 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(1), 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.
2. In
evaluating whether the conditions under paragraph 1(b) are met,
consideration may be given to the relationship of the agreement to a
wider process of economic integration or trade liberalization among
the countries concerned.
3. (a) Where
developing countries are parties to an agreement of the type referred
to in paragraph 1, flexibility shall be provided for regarding
the conditions set out in paragraph 1, particularly with reference to
subparagraph (b) thereof, in accordance with the level of development
of the countries concerned, both overall and in individual sectors and
subsectors.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph 6, in the case of an agreement of the
type referred to in paragraph 1 involving only developing
countries, more favourable treatment may be granted to juridical
persons owned or controlled by natural persons of the parties to such
an agreement.
4. Any
agreement referred to in paragraph 1 shall be designed to
facilitate trade between the parties to the agreement and shall not in
respect of any Member outside the agreement raise the overall level of
barriers to trade in services within the respective sectors or
subsectors compared to the level applicable prior to such an
agreement.
5. 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.
6. A
service supplier of any other Member that is a juridical person
constituted under the laws of a party to an agreement referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be entitled to treatment granted under such
agreement, provided that it engages in substantive business operations
in the territory of the parties to such agreement.
7. (a) Members
which are parties to any agreement referred to in paragraph 1
shall promptly notify any such agreement and any enlargement or any
significant modification of that agreement to the Council for Trade in
Services. They shall also make available to the Council such relevant
information as may be requested by it. The Council may establish a
working party to examine such an agreement or enlargement or
modification of that agreement and to report to the Council on its
consistency with this Article.
(b) Members which are parties to any agreement referred to in paragraph 1
which is implemented on the basis of a time-frame shall report
periodically to the Council for Trade in Services on its
implementation. The Council may establish a working party to examine
such reports if it deems such a working party necessary.
(c) Based on the reports of the working parties referred to in
subparagraphs (a) and (b), the Council may make recommendations to the
parties as it deems appropriate.
8. A
Member which is a party to any agreement referred to in paragraph 1
may not seek compensation for trade benefits that may accrue to any
other Member from such agreement.
Article
V bis: Labour Markets
Integration Agreements back to top
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.
Article
VI: Domestic Regulation
back to top
1. In sectors where specific commitments are undertaken, each Member
shall ensure that all measures of general application affecting trade
in services are administered in a reasonable, objective and impartial
manner.
2. (a) Each Member shall
maintain or institute as soon as practicable 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. Where such procedures are not independent
of the agency entrusted with the administrative decision concerned,
the Member shall ensure that the procedures in fact provide for an
objective and impartial review.
(b) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not be construed to require a
Member to institute such tribunals or procedures where this would be
inconsistent with its constitutional structure or the nature of its
legal system.
3. Where authorization is required for the supply of a service on which a
specific commitment has been made, the competent authorities of a
Member shall, within a reasonable period of time after the submission
of an application considered complete under domestic laws and
regulations, inform the applicant of the decision concerning the
application. At the request of the applicant, the competent
authorities of the Member shall provide, without undue delay,
information concerning the status of the application.
4. With a view to ensuring that measures relating to qualification
requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing
requirements do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in
services, the Council for Trade in Services shall, through appropriate
bodies it may establish, develop any necessary disciplines. 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.
5. (a) In sectors in
which a Member has undertaken specific commitments, 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.
(b) In determining whether a Member is in conformity with the obligation
under paragraph 5(a), account shall be taken of international
standards of relevant international organizations(3) applied by
that Member.
6. In sectors where specific commitments regarding professional services
are undertaken, each Member shall provide for adequate procedures to
verify the competence of professionals of any other Member.
Article
VII: Recognition back to top
1. For
the purposes of the fulfilment, in whole or in part, of its standards
or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of
services suppliers, and subject to the requirements of
paragraph 3, a Member may recognize the education or experience
obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in a
particular country. Such recognition, which may be achieved through
harmonization or otherwise, may be based upon an agreement or
arrangement with the country concerned or may be accorded
autonomously.
2. A
Member that is a party to an agreement or arrangement of the type
referred to in paragraph 1, whether existing or future, shall
afford adequate opportunity for other interested Members to negotiate
their accession to such an agreement or arrangement or to negotiate
comparable ones with it. Where a Member accords recognition
autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for any other
Member to demonstrate that education, experience, licenses, or
certifications obtained or requirements met in that other Member’s
territory should be recognized.
3. A
Member shall not accord recognition in a manner which would constitute
a means of discrimination between countries in the application of its
standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing or
certification of services suppliers, or a disguised restriction on
trade in services.
4. 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.
5. Wherever
appropriate, recognition should be based on multilaterally agreed
criteria. In appropriate cases, Members shall work in cooperation with
relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations towards
the establishment and adoption of common international standards and
criteria for recognition and common international standards for the
practice of relevant services trades and professions.
Article
VIII: Monopolies and
Exclusive Service Suppliers back to top
1. Each Member shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service in
its territory does not, in the supply of the monopoly service in the
relevant market, act in a manner inconsistent with that Member’s
obligations under Article II and specific commitments.
2. 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.
3. The Council for Trade in Services may, at the request of a Member
which has a reason to believe that a monopoly supplier of a service of
any other Member is acting in a manner inconsistent with paragraph 1
or 2, request the Member establishing, maintaining or authorizing such
supplier to provide specific information concerning the relevant
operations.
4. 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.
5. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive
service suppliers, where a Member, formally or in effect, (a) authorizes
or establishes a small number of service suppliers and (b) substantially
prevents competition among those suppliers in its territory.
Article
IX: Business Practices back to top
1. Members recognize that certain business practices of service
suppliers, other than those falling under Article VIII, may
restrain competition and thereby restrict trade in services.
2. Each Member shall, at the request of any other Member, enter into
consultations with a view to eliminating practices referred to in
paragraph 1. The Member addressed shall accord full and
sympathetic consideration to such a request and shall cooperate
through the supply of publicly available non-confidential information
of relevance to the matter in question. The Member addressed shall
also provide other information available to the requesting Member,
subject to its domestic law and to the conclusion of satisfactory
agreement concerning the safeguarding of its confidentiality by the
requesting Member.
Article
X: Emergency Safeguard
Measures back to top
1. There shall be multilateral negotiations on the question of emergency
safeguard measures based on the principle of non-discrimination. The
results of such negotiations shall enter into effect on a date not
later than three years from the date of entry into force of the WTO
Agreement.
2. 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.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall cease to apply three years
after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.
Article
XI: Payments and Transfers back to top
1. Except under the circumstances envisaged in Article XII, a Member
shall not apply restrictions on international transfers and payments
for current transactions relating to its specific commitments.
2. 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.
Article
XII: Restrictions to
Safeguard the Balance of Payments back to top
1. In
the event of serious balance-of-payments and external financial
difficulties or threat thereof, a Member may adopt or maintain
restrictions on trade in services on which it has undertaken specific
commitments, including on payments or transfers for transactions
related to such commitments. It is recognized that particular
pressures on the balance of payments of a Member in the process of
economic development or economic transition may necessitate the use of
restrictions to ensure, inter alia, the maintenance of a level
of financial reserves adequate for the implementation of its programme
of economic development or economic transition.
2. 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.
3. In
determining the incidence of such restrictions, Members may give
priority to the supply of services which are more essential to their
economic or development programmes. However, such restrictions shall
not be adopted or maintained for the purpose of protecting a
particular service sector.
4. Any
restrictions adopted or maintained under paragraph 1, or any changes
therein, shall be promptly notified to the General Council.
5. (a) Members
applying the provisions of this Article shall consult promptly with
the Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions on restrictions
adopted under this Article.
(b) The
Ministerial Conference shall establish procedures(4) for
periodic consultations with the objective of enabling such
recommendations to be made to the Member concerned as it may deem
appropriate.
(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.
(d) The consultations shall address the compliance of any restrictions
with paragraph 2, in particular the progressive phaseout of
restrictions in accordance with paragraph 2(e).
(e) In such consultations, all findings of statistical and other facts
presented by the International Monetary Fund relating to foreign
exchange, monetary reserves and balance of payments, shall be accepted
and conclusions shall be based on the assessment by the Fund of the
balance-of-payments and the external financial situation of the
consulting Member.
6. If
a Member which is not a member of the International Monetary Fund
wishes to apply the provisions of this Article, the Ministerial
Conference shall establish a review procedure and any other procedures
necessary.
Article
XIII: Government Procurement back to top
1. Articles II, XVI and XVII shall not apply to laws,
regulations or requirements governing the procurement by governmental
agencies of services purchased for governmental purposes and not with
a view to commercial resale or with a view to use in the supply of
services for commercial sale.
2. There shall be multilateral negotiations on government procurement in
services under this Agreement within two years from the date of entry
into force of the WTO Agreement.
Article
XIV: General
Exceptions back to top
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a
manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable
discrimination between countries where like conditions prevail, or a
disguised restriction on trade in services, nothing in this Agreement
shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any
Member of measures:
(a) necessary to protect public morals or to maintain public order;(5)
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement including those
relating to:
(i) the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or to deal with
the effects of a default on services contracts;
(ii) the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation to the
processing and dissemination of personal data and the protection of
confidentiality of individual records and accounts;
(iii) safety;
(d) inconsistent with Article XVII, provided that the difference in
treatment is aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective(6)
imposition or collection of direct taxes in respect of services or
service suppliers of other Members;
(e) inconsistent
with Article II, provided that the difference in treatment is the
result of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation or
provisions on the avoidance of double taxation in any other
international agreement or arrangement by which the Member is bound.
Article
XIV bis: Security
Exceptions back to top
1. 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.
2. The Council for Trade in Services shall be informed to the fullest
extent possible of measures taken under paragraphs 1(b) and (c)
and of their termination.
1. Members recognize that, in certain circumstances, subsidies may have
distortive effects on trade in services. Members shall enter
into negotiations with a view to developing the necessary multilateral
disciplines to avoid such trade-distortive effects.(7)
The negotiations shall also address the appropriateness of
countervailing procedures. Such negotiations shall recognize the
role of subsidies in relation to the development programmes of
developing countries and take into account the needs of Members,
particularly developing country Members, for flexibility in this
area. For the purpose of such negotiations, Members shall
exchange information concerning all subsidies related to trade in
services that they provide to their domestic service suppliers.
2. Any Member which considers that it is adversely affected by a subsidy
of another Member may request consultations with that Member on such
matters. Such requests shall be accorded sympathetic
consideration.
Part
III: Specific Commitments
Article
XVI: Market Access back to top
1. With respect to market access through the modes of supply identified
in Article I, each Member shall accord services and service suppliers
of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that provided
for under the terms, limitations and conditions agreed and specified
in its Schedule.(8)
2. 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;(9)
(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.
Article
XVII: National Treatment back to top
1. In the sectors inscribed in its Schedule, and subject to any
conditions and qualifications set out therein, each Member shall
accord 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.(10)
2. A Member may meet the requirement of paragraph 1 by according to
services and service suppliers of any other Member, either formally
identical treatment or formally different treatment to that it accords
to its own like services and service suppliers.
3. Formally identical or formally different treatment shall be considered
to be less favourable if it modifies the conditions of competition in
favour of services or service suppliers of the Member compared to like
services or service suppliers of any other Member.
Article
XVIII: Additional Commitments back to top
Members may negotiate commitments with respect to measures affecting
trade in services not subject to scheduling under Articles XVI or XVII,
including those regarding qualifications, standards or licensing
matters. Such commitments shall be inscribed in a Member’s
Schedule.
Part
IV: Progressive Liberalization
Article
XIX: Negotiation
of Specific Commitments back to top
1. In pursuance of the objectives of this Agreement, Members shall
enter into successive rounds of negotiations, beginning not later than five
years from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement and
periodically thereafter, with a view to achieving a progressively
higher level of liberalization. Such
negotiations shall be directed to the reduction or elimination of the
adverse effects on trade in services of measures as a means of
providing effective market access. This process shall take place with a view to promoting the
interests of all participants on a mutually advantageous basis and to
securing an overall balance of rights and obligations.
2. The process of liberalization shall take place with due respect
for national policy objectives and the level of development of
individual Members, both overall and in individual sectors. 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.
3. For each round, negotiating guidelines and procedures shall be
established. For the
purposes of establishing such guidelines, the Council for Trade in
Services shall carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall
terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the objectives of this
Agreement, including those set out in paragraph 1 of Article IV.
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.
4. The process of progressive liberalization shall be advanced in
each such round through bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral
negotiations directed towards increasing the general level of specific
commitments undertaken by Members under this Agreement.
Article
XX: Schedules
of Specific Commitments back to top
1. Each
Member shall set out in a schedule the specific commitments it
undertakes under Part III of this Agreement. 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.
2. Measures
inconsistent with both Articles XVI and XVII shall be inscribed in the
column relating to Article XVI. In this case the inscription
will be considered to provide a condition or qualification to Article XVII
as well.
3. Schedules
of specific commitments shall be annexed to this Agreement and shall
form an integral part thereof.
Article
XXI: Modification
of Schedules back to top
1. (a) A Member (referred to in
this Article as the “modifying Member”) may modify or
withdraw any commitment in its Schedule, at any time after three years
have elapsed from the date on which that commitment entered into
force, in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
(b) A modifying Member shall notify its intent to modify or withdraw a
commitment pursuant to this Article to the Council for Trade in
Services no later than three months before the intended date of
implementation of the modification or withdrawal.
2. (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. In
such negotiations and agreement, the Members concerned shall endeavour
to maintain a general level of mutually advantageous commitments not
less favourable to trade than that provided for in Schedules of
specific commitments prior to such negotiations.
(b) Compensatory adjustments shall be made on a most-favoured-nation
basis.
3. (a) If
agreement is not reached between the modifying Member and any affected
Member before the end of the period provided for negotiations, such
affected Member may refer the matter to arbitration. Any
affected Member that wishes to enforce a right that it may have to
compensation must participate in the arbitration.
(b) If no affected Member has requested arbitration, the modifying Member
shall be free to implement the proposed modification or withdrawal.
4. (a) The
modifying Member may not modify or withdraw its commitment until it
has made compensatory adjustments in conformity with the findings of
the arbitration.
(b) If the modifying Member implements its proposed modification or
withdrawal and does not comply with the findings of the arbitration,
any affected Member that participated in the arbitration may modify or
withdraw substantially equivalent benefits in conformity with those
findings. Notwithstanding Article II, such a modification or
withdrawal may be implemented solely with respect to the modifying
Member.
5. The Council for Trade in Services shall establish procedures for
rectification or modification of Schedules. Any Member which has
modified or withdrawn scheduled commitments under this Article shall
modify its Schedule according to such procedures.
Part
V: Institutional Provisions
Article
XXII: Consultation back to top
1. Each
Member shall accord sympathetic consideration to, and shall afford
adequate opportunity for, consultation regarding such representations
as may be made by any other Member with respect to any matter
affecting the operation of this Agreement. The Dispute
Settlement Understanding (DSU) shall apply to such consultations.
2. 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.
3. 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. In case of disagreement
between Members as to whether a measure falls within the scope of such
an agreement between them, it shall be open to either Member to bring
this matter before the Council for Trade in Services.(11)
The Council shall refer the matter to arbitration. The
decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the Members.
Article
XXIII: Dispute
Settlement and Enforcement back to top
1. If
any Member should consider that any other Member fails to carry out
its obligations or specific commitments under this Agreement, it may
with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory resolution of the
matter have recourse to the DSU.
2. If
the DSB considers that the circumstances are serious enough to justify
such action, it may authorize a Member or Members to suspend the
application to any other Member or Members of obligations and specific
commitments in accordance with Article 22 of the DSU.
3. 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.
If the measure is determined by the DSB to have nullified or impaired
such a benefit, the Member affected shall be entitled to a mutually
satisfactory adjustment on the basis of paragraph 2 of Article XXI,
which may include the modification or withdrawal of the measure.
In the event an agreement cannot be reached between the Members
concerned, Article 22 of the DSU shall apply.
Article
XXIV: Council
for Trade in Services back to top
1. The
Council for Trade in Services shall carry out such functions as may be
assigned to it to facilitate the operation of this Agreement and
further its objectives. The Council may establish such
subsidiary bodies as it considers appropriate for the effective
discharge of its functions.
2. The
Council and, unless the Council decides otherwise, its subsidiary
bodies shall be open to participation by representatives of all
Members.
3. The
Chairman of the Council shall be elected by the Members.
Article
XXV: Technical
Cooperation back to top
1. Service suppliers of Members which are in need of such assistance
shall have access to the services of contact points referred to in
paragraph 2 of Article IV.
2. Technical assistance to developing countries shall be provided at the
multilateral level by the Secretariat and shall be decided upon by the
Council for Trade in Services.
Article
XXVI: Relationship
with Other International Organizations back to top
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.
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