RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT S/NGBT/3
10November 1994
ONTRADE INSERVICES
(94-2473)
Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT OFTHE MEETING OF24-26 OCTOBER 1994
1. TheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications held itsthird meeting on24-
26October 1994. Theagenda ofthemeeting wascontained inPC/AIR/32 of6October 1994.
2. Since thelastmeeting oftheGroup, three additional countries announced theirintention to
participate inthenegotiations. Thisbrought thetotalnumber ofparticipants to25,consisting of
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, theDominican Republic, theEuropean
Communities andtheirMember States, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Mexico,
Morocco, NewZealand, Norway, theSlovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, and
theUnited States.
3. Thefirstagenda itemwastheconsideration ofrequests forobserver status. TheGroup
considered andagreed toaccept therequests forobserver status fromthreegovernments intheprocess
ofaccession: Ecuador, Panama andChinese Taipei. Asaresult ofthisdecision, andinview of
additional WTO signatories having informed theSecretariat oftheirintention tobecome observers,
29governments were nowparticipating intheGroup asobservers. These were: Brazil, Brunei
Darussalam, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, theCzech Republic, Ecuador, ElSalvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nicaragua,
Panama, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad andTobago,
Uruguay andVenezuela.
4. Regarding requests forobserver status byinternational organizations, theChairman announced
thatnewrequests forobserver status hadbeenreceived fromtwoorganizations: theWorld Bank and
theOrganization forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD). Herecalled thatconsideration
oftherequest forobserver status oftheAsiaPacific Telecommunity (APT) remained under consideration
fromthelastmeeting. Heinvited comments fromdelegations onwhether toaccept these applications.
Thegroup agreed toapprove therequest forobserver status from theWorld Bank. Regarding the
OECD andtheAPT, onerepresentative recalled thatthere hadbeenaprecedent established during
theUruguay Round intheGroup ofNegotiations onServices whereby organizations withlimited or
regional membership, rather thanuniversal membership, werenotnormally granted observer status.
Other representatives expressed theviewthatthere should beflexibility intheGroup 'sdecisions on
observer status bysuchorganizations, taking intoconsideration therelevance oftheirwork tothe
subject matter being addressed bytheGroup. TheGroup tooknoteofthestatements made andagreed
toapprove therequests forobserver status oftheOECD andtheAPT.
5. Thenextagenda itemwasthereview ofresponses tothedraft questionnaire onbasic
telecommunications. Thequestionnaire responses of19participants inthenegotiations hadbeenreceived
(S/NGBT/W/3/Add.1 -Add.19). Participants wereinvited tobriefly introduce theirdocuments and
toentertain questions seeking further detail orclarification oftheresponses. Twelve oftheresponses
werereviewed: thoseofSwitzerland, NewZealand, Mexico, Turkey, Chile, Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Korea, Canada, theUnited States, andtheEuropean Community anditsMember States. TheChairman
indicated thattheresponses ofCyprus, Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Hungary andAustria
would bereviewed atthenextmeeting oftheGroup along withanyfurther responses received. Also,S/NGBT/3
Page2
anopportunity would beprovided atthenextmeeting torespond toanyoutstanding questions and
toaskfurther questions thatmayariseonthe12responses already reviewed.
6. Under theagenda itemonconsideration ofoutstanding technical andconceptual issues, the
Chairman recalled thatithadbeenagreed thattheSecretariat Note, Review ofOutstanding Issues
(S/NGBT/W/2) would serve asabasis fordiscussion. Participants were invited tocomment onthe
issues presented intheNote. Itwasgenerally agreed thatdiscussions regarding howtoaddress these
issues would needtocontinue atsubsequent meetings.
7. With respect tocertain oftheoutstanding issues, thefollowing wereamong thepoints raised
byparticipants:
- Onclarification ofmodes ofsupply astheyrelate tobasic telecommunications, itwasnoted
thattheobjective ofdiscussion should betoarrive atacommon understanding sothatall
participants would havethesame reading ofcommitments. Itwassuggested thatcalling card
andcountry direct services might fallunder consumption abroad. Itwasalsonoted thattoarrive
atacommon understanding oflimitations which mayneedtobelisted intherespective modes
ofsupply would require careful examination ofspecific measures andoftheschedules.
- Onwhether toschedule limitations onthenumber ofservice suppliers incircumstances where
thelimitations wereduetotechnical constraints, itwasobserved thatthemainobjective should
betominimize discretion isthisregard asfaraspossible, soastoprovide trading partners
withsecurity regarding therulestobeapplied. Itwasalsonoted thatresolving thisissuemay
beararelation tothefunctioning ofArticle VIandtomfnobligations. Theviewwasexpressed
thatwhen suchnumerical limitations were forpurely technical reasons thattheyshould not
bescheduled, butthatArticle VIshould apply.
- Regarding international agreements among operators itwasstressed thatthere wasaneedfor
acommon approach. Itwaspointed outthatGATS commitments arenotundertaken by
operators, butbygovernments. However, itwassuggested thattheextent towhich the
agreements among operators wereaffected bygovernment measures maydiffer depending on
thenational regime concerned.
- Ontheapplication ofArticle VItomeasures affecting trade inbasic telecommunications, the
Chairman proposed thatabackground notemight helptofocus discussion. Itwasagreed that
theChairman would, onhisownresponsibility, provide participants withaninformal note
outlining thenegotiating history ofArticle VI.
- Regarding theability ofservice suppliers tobuild facilities, itwasnoted thatlimits towhat
canbetaken oninthecontext ofcommitments mayneedtobekeptinmind. Itwasalso
suggested thatparticipants examine whether anysimilar issues hadarisen inthecontext of
commitments onconstruction services andthatadistinction between theconstruction and
operation offacilities mayalsoberelevant.
8. Under theagenda itemconcerning organization offuture work anddates offuture meetings,
theChairman proposed andparticipants agreed thattheGroup hold itsnextmeeting on12-
13December 1994. Heindicated thattheexchange ofinformation ontheresponses tothequestionnaire
would needtocontinue atthatmeeting aswould theconsideration ofoutstanding issues. Henoted
thattheinformation contained bothintheresponses tothequestionnaire aswellasininitial offers to
besubmitted inthefuture would provide examples thatcould shedlightonhowtodealwithvarious
oftheoutstanding technical andconceptual issues. Therefore, hewasoftheviewthatconsiderationS/NGBT/3
Page3
ofoutstanding issues would needtobeconducted asanongoing process tobeundertaken concurrently
withother work overthecoming months.
9. Under other business, therepresentative ofAustralia wasgiven theopportunity topresent a
proposal ontermination services (S/NGBT/W/4). Participants thanked therepresentative ofAustralia
foritscontribution, offered some preliminary reactions andindicated thattheywould needfurther time
tostudy theproposal andtheissues itaddressed.
10. Noting thatthere hadbeenaninterest expressed inthederestriction ofthequestionnaire and
itsresponses from participants, theChairman proposed thederestriction ofthese documents. Since
onedelegation indicated thatitwould needtoseekfurther advice fromauthorities, nodecision onthis
proposal wastaken atthemeeting.
11. Inclosing themeeting, theChairman expressed thehopethatparticipants would beinaposition
tocirculate initial offers onbasic telecommunications byMarch orApril of1995andthatthese would
serve asabasisforbilateral request/offer negotiations tobegin. Hesuggested thatparticipants might
wanttoconsider initiating bilateral contacts assoonaspossible inpreparation forthatphase ofthe
Group 'swork.