Participants concluded negotiations on the new disciplines on services domestic regulation at a meeting of the initiative on 27 September. Contained in the “Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation”, the new disciplines developed by the initiative aim to facilitate services trade by mitigating the unintended trade-restrictive effects of measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards. Their focus lies on the transparency, predictability and effectiveness of procedures that businesses have to comply with for obtaining authorization to supply their services. The Reference Paper is available here.

Participants are also advancing work on the review of the translation of the Reference Paper into French and Spanish and the drafting of a ministerial outcome document. 

An endorsement by ministers of the final outcome of the negotiations on services domestic regulation is expected for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) scheduled from 30 November to 3 December.

A total of 65 WTO members⁽¹⁾ are currently participating in this initiative, accounting for over 90 per cent of world services trade.

Notes:

1. Albania; Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; El Salvador; Estonia; European Union; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, China; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Kazakhstan; Korea, Republic of; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Moldova, Republic of; Montenegro; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Norway; Paraguay; Peru; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of; Singapore; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; United States and Uruguay. back to text