|
Global Services Network Alert The World Trade Organization (WTO) this morning released the revised version of the General Council statement, which negotiators hope to endorse within the next day. The statement differs in several ways from the text released on July 16 (see GSN Alert of July 16), particularly with respect to the treatment of agriculture. Importantly, services now has its own paragraph in the text, putting its treatment on a more equal footing with agriculture and non-agricultural market access, as has been the case in previous WTO declarations. (A global coalition of services organizations wrote to WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi on July 20, urging that services be given this more equal treatment in the text; see GSN Alert of July 23). An annex with the recommendations of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services remains unchanged.
If adopted, the statement will form the basis for continuing work in the Doha Round of global trade talks. If not, the Round will most likely go into a state of hibernation that will last many months; some observers believe it may even spell the end of the Round.
The full text is available at: http://www. wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/draft_text_gc_dg_30july04_e.htm.
|