SERVICES: SECTOR BY SECTOR
Post-Uruguay Round negotiations on basic telecommunications
The Ministerial Decision on negotiations of basic telecommunications, adopted in Marrakesh on 15 April 1994, allowed negotiations on basic telecommunications to continue beyond the conclusion of the Uruguay Round. As a result, the talks resumed in May 1994 and ended in February 1997 with new commitments by 69 WTO members. These negotiations also resulted in the Reference Paper, a set of regulatory principles for participants to consider adopting in their schedules of basic telecommunications commitments. Further information on the Reference Paper.
The results
The post-Uruguay Round negotiations on basic telecommunications ended successfully with the conclusion of the Fourth Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The Protocol provided the legal basis for the integration of these new basic telecommunications commitments of 69 WTO members into GATS services schedules of the members concerned. The Protocol, adopted on 30 April 1996, entered into force on 5 February 1998.
- Summary of the results of the negotiations on basic telecommunications
- Country-by-country summary descriptions
- Coverage of basic telecom and value-added services
- History of the basic telecommunications negotiations
- Data on telecommunications markets covered by the WTO negotiations on basic telecommunications, 17 February 1997
- WTO Director-General's statement on basic telecommunications negotiations, 22 March 1996
- Background note on the WTO negotiations on basic telecommunications, 22 February 1996
- High-level meeting of the negotiating group on basic telecommunications, 6 October 1995: statement by the Director-General of the WTO, 6 October 1995
- Next great challenge facing WTO Governments is liberalization of trade in telecommunications — says Director-General Ruggiero, 3 October 1995