May 18, 2005
IN THIS ALERT:

CSI Proposes Plan for Advancing Doha Round Services Negotiations 

At a May 17 hearing of the Trade Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) Chairman Norman Sorensen said that the WTO services negotiations are "at a point of crisis." As a way to move the negotiations forward, CSI proposed that all WTO Members undertake to make commitments in all service sectors in the GATS.  With that as a starting point, negotiators can focus on the depth and quality of commitments, which should at least capture current levels of liberalization. Subsequent negotiations could then seek to bring commitments up to the levels found in the most progressive schedules. The hearing was held to consider continued US membership in the WTO.  Click here for a copy of CSI's statement.

APEC Trade Ministers call for WTO Services Negotiations Progress 

On May 13, APEC Trade Ministers issued a joint statement calling on all WTO Members to meet the May deadline for submitting revised services offers.  The statement expressed serious concern about the slow progress in WTO services negotiations, and said the tabling of revised offers (and initial offers for those countries that have not yet submitted them) would make a substantial contribution to the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference in December.   Click here for a copy of the statement.

Lamy Recommended as Next WTO Director-General 

Former EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy was recommended as the next WTO Director General, it was announced on May 13.  Formal action on Mr. Lamy’s selection will take place at meeting of the WTO General Council on May 26.  US Trade Representative Robert Portman praised the decision, noting that "His commitment and leadership will be essential to all our efforts for a successful Hong Kong Ministerial in December and for concluding an ambitious and far-reaching result to the global trade talks next year."

Supplement to Report on Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services 

On April 27, the Council for Trade in Services in Special Session reconvened its meeting, begun in February.  A summary report of the meeting, issued on May 9, noted that since the February meeting, two additional initial services offers were received, from Honduras and Indonesia, bring the total number of initial offers to 52.  Some 40 initial offers remain outstanding, not including least-developed countries.  Members indicated dissatisfaction with the number of outstanding initial offers as well as the poor quality of offers overall.  In exploring possible solutions to help overcome the lack of progress, the Chairman of the CTS-SS broached the notion of benchmarks or targets.  This was raised in response to feedback from delegations that it could prove helpful to identify some type of formal or informal marker to help focus attention on a level of ambition.  Consultations on those suggestions will continue. The summary report of the meeting (TN/S/19/suppl.1) is available at http://www.wto.org.

Poll: Services Negotiations in Deep Trouble 

According to a recent poll of trade policy officials and specialists by the Institute for International Business, Economics & Law (IIBE&L), the services element of the Doha Round is in trouble.  77% of poll respondents doubt that there will be a critical mass of services offers on the table by the end of May, the deadline for WTO members to submit revised services offers. Moreover, 56% of respondents think it will be hard to reach consensus on an overall package of approximations in all five key areas of the Doha Round by the end of July.  For more information, contact Andrew L. Stoler, Executive Director, IIBE&L, at andrew.stoler@adelaide.edu.au. 

World Trade in Commercial Services Increases 16% in 2004 

According to "World Trade 2004, Prospects for 2005," recently released by the WTO Secretariat, world trade in commercial services increased by 16%, to $2.1 trillion last year. The expansion of services trade was stimulated by strong recovery in transportation and travel services. This represented an acceleration of growth for the third year in a row, and the strongest rise since 2000.  Available data points to faster growth in commercial services trade in Asian economies than in North American or European economies, although the US remained the world's largest exporter and importer of commercial services. Click here for a copy of the report. 

OECD Ministerial Calls for Doha Round Progress 

The OECD concluded its ministerial meeting on May 5 with a call for a heightened sense of urgency to achieve an ambitious Doha Round outcome by the end of next year. A summary of the meeting stressed the need for concrete and complementary progress on agriculture, non agricultural market access, services, trade facilitation and rules. The statement stressed the importance of meeting the May deadline for revised services offers to ensure a critical mass of commercially meaningful and improved offers. Click here for a copy of the statement.

ESF Releases New Position Papers on Domestic Regulation and Mode 4 

The European Services Forum (ESF) recently released new position papers on domestic regulation and the temporary movement of persons.  On domestic regulation, ESF points out that fair regulatory regimes benefit businesses, consumers, and suppliers of services. Increasing transparency can attract foreign investment, and a sound regulatory system is necessary for liberalization in services.  In its paper on the temporary movement of persons, ESF urged the EU to persuade its trading partners to make broader and deeper commitments to liberalization in this area, as the global market for highly skilled people is growing.  ESF recommends that new offers include greater uniformity in the definitions of categories of personnel, improved commitments for intra-corporate transfers, and improved sectoral commitments.  The papers are available on the ESF website at http://www.esf.be/.

UPCOMING EVENTS         

Shanghai Services Forum, June 9-10, 2005 

On June 9-10, China's Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai Municipal Government will hold an Industry Forum entitled "World Trade in Services: Opening, Cooperation, Development." The Forum will discuss current trends in global services trade, objectives for services trade negotiations at the WTO, and China's participation in these negotiations. Forum speakers will include Chinese State Council's Vice Premier Wu Yi, WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and other high level representatives from the government and private sector.  The Forum Roundtable on June 10 will explore Shanghai's benefits from China's services trade liberalization in medical, logistics, IT and other services.  Click here for more information and to register.

Global Services Network Mission to Geneva, June 24 

On June 24, member organizations of the Global Services Network will lead a mission to the WTO in Geneva to continue to advocate for progress in the Doha Round services negotiations. The delegation will call on key WTO officials, and Ambassadors to the WTO from major developed and developing countries.  The group will also hold a press conference. For more information, contact John Goyer at goyer@uscsi.org.