RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/CSC/W/1
8May 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-1824)
Committee onSpecific Commitments
ANNOTATED PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE
FIRST MEETING OFTHE COMMITTEE
ONSPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
Note bytheSecretariat
Asstipulated inWTO/AIR/333, thefollowing items areproposed fordiscussion atthefirst
meeting oftheCommittee onSpecific Commitments tobeheld on24May 1996.
1. Participation ofobservers
1. Itissuggested thattheCommittee adopt thesame approach astheCouncil forTrade inServices
regarding observership bygovernments andinternational organizations. This would mean following
theDecision taken bytheGeneral Council on31January 1995 granting observer status toanumber
ofgovernments andseparate customs territories. Regarding international organizations, pending the
approval oftheguidelines onobserver status forinternational organizations intheWTO, theGeneral
Council hasagreed onanadhocarrangement whereby theWorld Bank, theIMF, theUNandUNCTAD
areinvited toparticipate asobservers.
2. Organization ofwork
2. Themandate fortheCommittee iscontained intheDecision ontheTerms ofReference for
theCommittee onSpecific Commitments (document S/L/16) which wasadopted bytheCouncil forTrade
inServices on22November 1995. According totheterms ofreference, theCommittee hasathree-fold
function inrelation toallservices sectors except those sectors forwhich astanding body hadbeen
established. Thethree areas ofresponsibility, forwhich some consideration ofwork priorities would
bedesirable, arethefollowing:
(a) Oversee theimplementation ofspecific commitments inallmodes ofsupply, including specific
commitments relating tomovement ofnatural persons, contained inMembers 'schedules
3. There arenoformal reporting requirements forMembers regarding theimplementation oftheir
scheduled commitments. This isdifferent inthecase ofGATS Articles which give risetoanumber
ofimplementation obligations, e.g.thenotification ofchanges inrelevant legislation under Article III.
4. Intheabsence offormal requirements Members might wish toconsider what isentailed by
overseeing theimplementation ofcommitments. DoMembers seeanyregular orcontinuous monitoring
function orwould issues behandled onanad-hoc basis? Dothey see,forexample, theCommittee
asaforum todiscuss specific problems thatmay arise concerning theimplementation oftheir specific
commitments?S/CSC/W/1
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(b) Examine, attherequest ofMembers, schedules ofspecific commitments andlistsofexemptions
from Article IIoftheGATS, particularly with aview toimproving their technical accuracy
andcoherence inthefuture
5. Members have considerable experience inexamining thetechnical accuracy ofschedules and
MFN exemption lists. Thefirst andlargest verification exercise took place inFebruary 1994 when
alltheUruguay Round schedules andMFN exemption lists, inpreparation fortheMarrakesh Ministerial
meeting, were subjected toanintensive process ofverification and, inmany cases, torectification on
avoluntary basis. Anumber ofverifications have been carried outsince then forschedules thatwere
submitted inthepost-Uruguay Round period. Thepurpose ofsuch exercises hasbeen toverify the
accuracy andclarity ofschedules andexemption listsasareflection oftheagreed results ofnegotiations
andtheir consistency with theguidelines established fortheir presentation. These aretheagreed
guidelines forthescheduling ofcommitments contained inMTN.GNS/W/164 andAdd.1 andthe
guidelines onthedrafting ofexemption listsintheSecretariat Note of15September 1993.
6. Inthelight oftheexperience ofpastverification work, andalsointhecontext ofcommitments
thathave been submitted since theentry intoforce oftheGATS, Members oftheCommittee might
wish toraise technical issues which would behelpful intrying toensure thatfuture commitments are
setdown asclearly andaccurately aspossible. Anexample ofsuch atechnical question might bethe
definition ofthesectoral coverage. Thelegal nature ofaschedule, aswell astheneed toevaluate
commitments, require themaximum degree ofclarity inthedescription ofeach sector andsub-sector
thatisscheduled. Possible issues arising from theinitial round ofservices liberalisation which the
Committee might wish toaddress include:
- Inorder toaidcountries inthenegotiation andscheduling ofspecific commitments,
theSecretariat issued asectoral classification list1in1991 which, across eleven broad
sectors, gives apractical indication ofwhat iscurrently regarded asaservice. Do
Members think thatthelistisstillanadequate basis forclassifying commitments?
Ifnot,which aspects ofthelist2possibly need rethinking oramendment? Would it
beuseful toconsider modifications ofparts ofthelistonthelines ofwhat wasdone
intheAirTransport Annex forcertain aviation-related services orthedevelopment of
anew classification inthemaritime transport sector?
- Each sector contained intheSecretariat listisannotated with thecorresponding Central
Product Classification3(CPC) number. TheCPC describes what should becovered
bytheservices listed. DoMembers consider thatthisapproach isadequate inorder
todescribe service activities which arethesubject ofcommitments? What should be
done, ifanything, toimprove theoperational effectiveness ofusing theSecretariat list
backed upwith theCPC?
1Services Sectoral Classification List-Note bytheSecretariat (document MTN.GNS/W/120 dated 10July
1991).
2Forexample, surveying services donothave anindividual entry intheSectoral classification listandthe
wide range ofsurveying services supplied bytheprofession -including measurement andmapping, operation
oflandandgeographicinformationsystems,valuationoflandandpropertyinvestmentandconstructioneconomics
-arenotgrouped together intheCPC list.How could theeconomic realities ofsurveying bebetter reflected
inarevised classification?
3Provisional Central Product Classification ,United Nations, 1991, (document ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/77)S/CSC/W/1
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- Schedules differ considerably inthedegree ofdetail with which theydefine thesectoral
coverage oftheir commitments, most using theSecretariat classification listandthe
CPC while others have used their own definitions. Itisofcourse notobligatory for
countries tousethelist,butitisclear thatvariations between countries indefining the
sectoral scope ofcommitments canrender aserious evaluation ofschedules difficult.
Inview ofthis, how canthecomparability ofsectoral descriptions used inschedules
beimproved?
7. Members might alsowish todiscuss other technical matters relating tothedistinction between
modes, theuseofcolumns, thewording ofentries inthecolumns, orother issues. Members could
also consider theform thattheresults ofsuch work could takee.g.afurther addendum tothescheduling
guideline.
(c) Oversee theapplication oftheprocedures forthemodification ofschedules pursuant to
Article XXI oftheGATS
8. Members might wish toconsider howtheCommittee could facilitate themodification process,
forexample, byensuring transparency atvarious stages oftheprocess bywhich documents arerequired
tobecommunicated toallMembers. Inthisrespect, theCommittee could address issues relating to,
forexample, distributing thenotification from themodifying Member indicating themodification to
allother Members, distributing notifications ofclaims ofinterest byaffected Members ordistributing
reports ontheresults ofcompensation negotiations. TheCommittee could alsobeaforum fordiscussing
procedural issues orproblems asthey arise.
3. Establishment ofpriorities andtheneed fortechnical work
9. Members might consider establishing priorities forfuture work inthelight ofthenumber of
technical andother issues thatareproposed fordiscussion intheCommittee. Thefrequency ofmeetings
could alsobediscussed. Members might alsowish toconsider what kind oftechnical work could be
carried outafter thefirstmeeting oftheCommittee inorder toprepare formore detailed discussion
ofparticular issues.
4. Other business
10. Onematter ofpotential interest toallparticipants ishowtofacilitate thehandling ofschedules
andMFN listswhich, already quite voluminous, willcontinue togrow insize. Inthisregard, one
question Members may wish toconsider istheintroduction ofaloose-leaf binding system forthe
schedules andMFN exemption lists which would make iteasier tointegrate new orimproved
commitments aswell asmake iteasier tohandle anymodifications toschedules thatmay arise.
11. IfMembers wish toraise other issues thattheyconsider relevant tothework oftheCommittee,
they areinvited tosoinform theSecretariat which could notify other delegations inadvance ofthe
meeting.