The chair of the Services Council, Ambassador Kemvichet Long of Cambodia, said he has started consulting with WTO members on taking work forward and encouraged them to talk to each other to come up with proposals. Members also raised various concerns about measures affecting trade in services at the Council meeting.

LDC Services Waiver

Malawi, on behalf of the WTO LDC Group, highlighted that implementation of the services waiver was one of the priorities from the MC12 Outcome Document. Ministers' instructions to the Council included exploring improvements in LDC services export data, reviewing information about suppliers and consumers of LDC services in preference-granting members and learning which best practices can facilitate the use of preferences.

Preference-granting members encouraged LDCs to share their specific needs and to put forward concrete proposals, indicating their openness to consider these proposals. The problem with data collection in many LDCs was highlighted.

A total of 51 members have notified preferences for LDC services and service suppliers under the waiver. The waiver was formalized by a decision adopted at the 2011 Ministerial Conference.

A total of 36 WTO members are classified as LDCs. More information on the waiver can be found here.

E-commerce Work Programme

The chair highlighted that ministers decided at MC12 to extend the moratorium on e-commerce — under which members agreed to continue the practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions — and to reinvigorate the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, including its development dimension.

Delegations discussed how the Services Council could complement the work of the General Council on electronic commerce. They also indicated their readiness to continue with the exchange of experiences and developments in the digital sphere.

Other MC12 mandates

The chair reported on his consultations with members.

On the response to pandemics, members said they have no concrete proposals but are open to discussing ideas brought forward by members. Topics mentioned included transport and logistics, e-commerce and ICT-enabled services and tourism, among other topics.

On WTO reform, members talked about complementing the work of the General Council in the Council for Trade in Services and about ways of strengthening the Council's monitoring and deliberative functions, including improving members' notifications of services measures.

Services trade concerns

Members discussed four specific trade concerns previously addressed in the Council involving cybersecurity measures and 5-G-related measures among other topics.

Japan and the United States, echoed by Australia, Canada and the European Union, reiterated concerns about cybersecurity measures of China and Viet Nam. China recalled its concerns about Australia's 5G measures and repeated concerns with certain measures from the United States related to specific Chinese mobile applications and telecom providers. China also reiterated its concerns regarding India's measures in relation to mobile applications.

Developments in trade in services statistics

The WTO Secretariat noted that services trade had recovered partially in 2021, up 16 per cent. It noted that significant variation existed among services sectors. The largest growth rates were recorded for digitally delivered services, such as computer and insurance services, and for freight transport, while sectors requiring cross-border mobility, such as passenger transport, travel, and construction services, remained below pre-pandemic levels.

The WTO Secretariat also presented new data on intermediate services trade involving services that serve as inputs to other economic activities. New findings suggest that participation in intermediate services exports is positively correlated with the Gross National Income per capita.

Conflict in Ukraine

Many members took the floor to express their strong condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent actions. The Russian delegate responded by saying that the WTO was not the proper venue for a discussion of this nature.