Global Services Network Alert, April 9, 2004

Global Services Exports Up 12% in 2003. Global services exports increased by 12% last year, reaching $1.7 trillion, according to data released by the WTO on April 5. That figure represents 24% of the $7.2 billion in global merchandise exports. For more information, click here: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres04_e/pr373_e.htm. For a video of the press conference announcing the data, click here: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/webcas_e/webcas_e.htm#5apr04

Managing Request-Offer Negotiations Under the GATS: The Cases of Insurance Services and Energy Services. These papers are part of an on-going UNCTAD / OECD project on trade in services to produce a set of sector-specific checklists, by building on the generic negotiating checklists developed in the request-offer paper “Managing request-offer negotiations under the GATS” (TD/TC/WP(2002)13/FINAL). (http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2002doc.nsf/LinkTo/td-tc-wp(2002)13-final). The checklists are intended to be of immediate operational use in the context of the GATS request-offer negotiations, and it is hoped that they could serve as capacity building tools to assist WTO Members, particularly developing countries, in assessing and modifying requests and offers.

The insurance paper has three parts. Part I provides a brief background on insurance services and their importance in the economy. Part II outlines the treatment of insurance services in the GATS, including the Annex on Financial Services and the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services, and the state of play in the current negotiations. Part III contains the negotiating checklists, which are presented in three parts: 1) the benefits of, and concerns about, liberalization and the necessary regulatory reform; 2) questions to be raised with trading partners in the GATS context; and 3) additional relevant questions beyond the scope of the GATS. The paper is available at: http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2003doc.nsf/LinkTo/td-tc-wp(2003)17-final.

The energy services paper analyses the main features of the energy industry and the services segment of the industry. It addresses the main issues related to energy services emerging from the GATS negotiations, including regulatory and technology-related issues, with special attention to developing country needs and expectations. The paper is available at: http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2003doc.nsf/LinkTo/td-tc-wp(2003)24-final

US-Morocco FTA text and trade advisory group reports now available. The text of the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement is now available on the USTR web site. Each chapter and annex is posted as a separate PDF file. Please go to: http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Morocco/text/index.htm. In addition, the reports prepared by private sector advisory groups which assess the agreement are also now on-line. The reports cover the full range of industry sectors, including services, and are available at: http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Morocco/advisor/index.htm.

USTR Releases 2004 Inventory of Foreign Trade Barriers. On April 1, 2004, USTR released its annual National Trade Estimate report, which documents trade barriers in 58 major US trading partners around the world. The report is available at: http://www.ustr.gov/reports/nte/2004/index.htm.

Ten Myths about Jobs and Outsourcing. Research paper prepared by Tim Kane, Brett Schaefer, and Alison Fraser, Heritage Foundation, April 2004. Paper is available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/wm467.cfm.