RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGMTS/12
3June1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-2088)
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
NOTE ONTHE MEETING OF24MAY 1996
1. Thetwelfth meeting oftheNegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services tookplace on
24May1996. Theagenda ofthemeeting wascontained inAirgram WTO/AIR/342 of14May1996.
2. Under itemAoftheagenda, submission ofoffers, anditemB,developments inbilateral
negotiations, theChairman informed participants thatsince thelastmeeting, Slovenia andIndonesia
hadsubmitted conditional offers, andNorway arevision ofitsearlier offer. TheDominican Republic,
Iceland, Mexico, Nigeria andPoland declared theirintention tosubmit conditional offers inthenear
future. Each ofthenewoffers isexpected tocover allthethree pillars.
3. TheUnited States saidthatithadreviewed thestateofplayinthecurrent negotiations and
determined thattheresults achieved sofarfellwoefully short oftheobjectives ofthenegotiations.
Theobjectives weretocreate assurances ofopenmarkets andnon-discriminatory treatment forshipping
companies andrelated commercial operations. Oftheoffers submitted since thenegotiating group
began itswork, theonlyparticipants withacceptable offers, intheviewoftheUnited States, were
OECD countries withnoshipping industries todefend, withperhaps asingle exception. Only one
offer contained rollback, while others enshrined preferences intheUnited Nations Liner Code, and
contained MFN exemptions. Onlyonecountry, intheperception oftheUnited States, provided adequate
commitments formultimodal transport services. TheUnited States could, therefore, notseehowoffers
ofkeycountries would meet itsexpectations bythedeadline. Ithadevery intention ofkeeping its
market asopeninthefuture asitwasnow, butcould seenopurpose toamultilateral agreement that
simply bound current closed regimes.
4. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, theEuropean Union, Hong Kong, Japan, New
Zealand, Norway, Singapore, andSwitzerland expressed deepdisappointment attheUnited States
statement. Many ofthese delegations found theUnited States position unacceptable andnoted that
itwasunprecedented towithdraw from negotiations when more thanamonth remained before the
deadline. TheEuropean Union andNorway saidthattheUnited States mayhavetimed itsannouncement
topreempt efforts tocreate apackage thatitwould havefound difficult toreject. There wasageneral
belief thatsignificant progress hadalready beenmade inthenegotiations, andtherewasevery prospect
offurther progress before theendofJune. Allthedelegations mentioned above reiterated theirresolve
toputtogether asubstantial package ofconditional offers inorder topersuade theUnited States to
participate, andstrongly urged theUnited States toreconsider itsposition.
./.S/NGMTS/12
Page2
5. Singapore,onbehalfoftheASEANcountries,andBrazilarguedthattheprincipleofprogressive
liberalization, especially bydeveloping countries, wascentral totheGATS, andthishadbeenexplicitly
recognized inArticle XIXoftheAgreement. Intheirperception, theUnited States wasdemanding
ahigher degree ofliberalization inmaritime transport services thanhadbeenachieved inanyother
service sector. They feltthatitwasironical thattheUS,whohadinsisted onnegotiating services in
theUruguay Round, hadnowprevented theachievement ofafully multilateral outcome inthree
successive sectoral negotiations. Chile saidthattheposition theUnited States hadtaken compromised
theability oftheWTO todealwithanambitious trade agenda.
6. Under itemCoftheagenda, matters relating toparagraph 7oftheDecision onNegotiations
onMaritime Transport Services, Japan, theEuropean Union andNorway again expressed theirconcern
overtherecent enactment oftheUnited States legislation which permits theexport ofNorth Alaskan
oilbutreserves itstransportation toUnited States-flag ships. Japan saidthatthislegislation wasin
conflict withparagraph 7oftheMinisterial Decision onNegotiations onMaritime Transport Services
andwiththebilateral treaty oncommerce andnavigation between Japan andtheUnited States, and
requested details onthestatus ofitsimplementation. TheEuropean Union saidthatitwasnotable
thattheonlyissueeverraised under thisitemoftheagenda concerned aMember whohadstated that
itspolicieswereamongthemostliberal.ReferringtotheUnitedStatesstatementinthepreviousmeeting
thatthecomments received byitsCommerce Department prior totheenactment ofthelegislation had
notincluded anyfromforeign governments, itsaidthatithadexpressed itsconcerns through normal
diplomatic channels. Inresponse, theUnited States saidthatithadalready expressed itsviews on
thesubject inprevious meetings. Therelevant lawdidnotimprove itsbargaining position. TheUnited
States Commerce Department hadheldhearings andnogovernment hadbeenprevented frompresenting
itsarguments atthose hearings. Asaresult ofthehearings andanissuance on28April bythePresident,
anotice hadbeenplaced intheUnited States Federal Register setting outtheconditions ofcarriage,
primarily concerning environmental andanti-pollution matters andtherouting ofvessels away from
sensitive areas. Regarding thestatus ofimplementation ofthelaw,nooilhadyetbeenexported and
nocontract signed toselloiloverseas.
7. TheChairman confirmed thattheNGMTS willmeetatahighlevelon4June1996 togive
thenegotiations thepolitical impetus necessary forasuccessful conclusion.