Article II
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Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment1. 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 Back to top
Transparency
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 Back to top
Disclosure of Confidential Information
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 Back to top
Increasing Participation of Developing Countries
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 Back to top
Economic Integration
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 Back to top
Labour Markets Integration Agreements
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 Back to top
Domestic Regulation
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 Back to top
Recognition
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 Back to top
Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
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 Back to top
Business Practices
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 Back to top
Emergency Safeguard Measures
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 Back to top
Payments and Transfers
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 Back to top
Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance of Payments
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 phase-out 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 Back
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Government Procurement
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 Back
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General Exceptions
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 Back to top
Security Exceptions
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.
Article
XV Back to top
Subsidies
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.
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