TRADE TOPICS
Guide to the GATS
An Overview of Issues for Further Liberalization
This work brings together in one volume the background papers on major service sectors prepared by the WTO Secretariat for the WTO's Council for Trade in Services.
Following an analysis of the economic effects of services liberalization, 19 chapters on individual service sectors consider the issues which WTO members need to consider when framing their negotiating positions and objectives for the current round of negotiations and preparing their industries for a more open trading environment. Many of the papers also identify prevalent forms of trade restriction or discrimination and suggest areas for further work. In addition, the work includes a detailed description of the structure of services commitments as submitted by WTO members with respect to the four modes of supply which constitute the definition of trade in services under the General Agreements on Trade in Services (GATS).
Published in 2001