Plurilateral services negotiations set to start on Mar 27, 2006
23 Mar '06
7 min read
The plurilateral approach to the WTO services negotiations is set to move into high gear, with negotiations between groups of demandeur and target countries to start from 27 March. The plurilateral process was jumpstarted with the submission of 22 collective requests for market access starting from 28 February, the target deadline set out in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 March 2006, .
Of these, 16 requests pertain to specific sectors or sub-sectors, namely legal; architectural/engineering/integrated engineering; computer and related services; postal/courier including express delivery; telecommunications; audiovisual; construction and related engineering; distribution; education; environmental; financial; maritime transport; air transport; logistics; energy; and services related to agriculture.
Three of the plurilateral requests relate to the modes of supply: the cross-border supply and consumption of services (modes 1 and 2), establishment of commercial presence (mode 3) and temporary access for individual workers (mode 4).
A further three refer to the elimination or reduction of existing exemptions from most-favoured nation (MFN) treatment, which Members were, in principle, allowed to maintain for a period of ten years from the 1995 entry into force of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The first of these requests applies across-the-board to all scheduled MFN exemptions, while the other two relate specifically to MFN exemptions maintained in the financial services and the audiovisual services sectors.
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