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GATS TRAINING MODULE: CHAPTER 5

Role and Responsibilities of Member Governments

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5.3 Potentially Relevant Principles

Given the crucial role of regulation in determining market entry and market participation in many services sectors, there are various provisions in the Agreement to improve the transparency of Members’ regulatory regimes. Apart from various notification and information requirements, these include the obligation on all Members to maintain one or more enquiry points. At such points, other Members can request and receive specific information on measures of general application or international agreements affecting services trade (Article III:4). A list of these enquiry points is available on the WTO Website (www.wto.org).

Enquiry points are intended only for government access. Queries from the business community may be channelled through the home-country government to the enquiry point of the Member concerned. In order for these points to be effective, they must have at their disposal an inventory or a database of relevant measures and international agreements within the meaning of Article III:1 and 3. Increasingly, such information is being made more generally available through searchable websites.

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