Global Services Network Alert
June 7, 2004

WTO D-G Commends Negotiators, Urges More Progress. On June 4, World Trade Organization Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi commended negotiators for their success in narrowing differences in critical agriculture negotiations during the week, but urged them to make every effort to build on this progress and cautioned that time is rapidly running out to achieve a framework agreement by the end of July. Click here: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres04_e/pr379_e.htm.

"Temporary Movement of Labor Fuels GATS Debate." Article by Oonagh Sands, Center for Strategic and International Studies. In this June 1 article, Sands examines the various issues surrounding the debate on the temporary movement of labor, or “Mode 4,” in the GATS. The article examines the specific concerns about Mode 4, and analyzes how the issue may unfold. It is available at: http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=231.

APEC Trade Ministers Urge Progress in Doha Negotiations. Trade Ministers from the 21 member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum issued a statement during their June 4-5 meeting in Santiago, Chile, in which they urge WTO members to “intensify their efforts in coming weeks to agree by July 2004 on the key issues that will provide a clear way forward in the Doha negotiations.” Among the results the ministers called for were: the tabling of services offers by members that have not done so by this July; a time frame for improving offers; and, progress in the rule-making areas of services. The trade ministers’ statement is available at: http://www.apec2004.cl/documentos/MINISTERIAL_STATEMENT_On_DOHA.pdf.

"Subsidies, Services and Sustainable Development." Draft paper by Professor Marc Benitah, University of Quebec. Paper examines the challenge of designing a regulatory framework for service subsidies. It presents the main arguments for and against services subsidy disciplines, attempts to assess whether existing GATS rules are already sufficient, outlines a new definition of a "subsidy," sets out some general parameters and elements for a services subsidy regime, and describes specific scenarios for developing multilateral disciplines on services subsidies. Click here: http://www.ictsd.org/issarea/services/index.htm.

WTO Publishes 2004 Annual Report. On May 26, the WTO released its Annual Report which summarizes the WTO dispute settlement cases and trade policy reviews conducted in 2003. The report can be downloaded from the WTO website at: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/annual_report_e.htm. (note – report is 144 pages in length, and is 899 KB).

Study: Visa Processing Delays Cost US Exporters $30 B. Significant delays in processing visas for business travelers to the US have cost US exporters more than $30 billion in revenue and indirect costs since July 2002, according to a recent study prepared by several international trade groups. The study is based on surveys of a wide range of US companies. Of those companies surveyed, 73% currently experience, or have recently experienced, problems in the processing of business travel visas, including unexpected delays and denials. In addition, 60% reported suffering “material impact” from business travel visa processing delays, including lost sales. A full copy of the visa survey is available at http://www.nftc.org/default/visasurveyresults%20final.pdf and the "Recommendations for Ameliorating Impact of Visa Delays" is available at: http://www.nftc.org/default/visasurveyrecommendations%20604.pdf.

DSB Adopts Panel Report On US-Mexico Telecoms Dispute. On June 1, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body adopted the panel report on “Mexico - Measures Affecting Telecommunications Services” (DS204). For a summary, click here: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news04_e/dsb_1june04_e.htm.