RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/W/41
11 June 1998
(98-2380)
Council for Trade in Services
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE WTO AND
THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
Note by the Secretariat
The attached communication has been received from the International Telecommunication
Union.
In discussion of the proposal of the ITU that a Cooperation Agreement should be established
between the WTO and the ITU, the Council has requested further information on the views or
intentions of the ITU Secretariat regarding the content of such an agreement.  The ITU Secretariat has
now communicated to the Secretariat the attached draft of an agreement between the two
organizations, which although not representing an offi cial position of the ITU, makes clear the nature
of the agreement as currently envisaged. There have so far been no discussions between the two
Secretariats regarding this draft, which is circul ated to the Council for information, and to permit the
Council to provide any necessary guidance or directives to the Secretariat in its contacts with the ITU.S/C/W/41
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DRAFT
Agreement between the International Telecommunication Union
and the World Trade Organization
PREAMBLE
considering
the growing interactions between trade and te lecommunication policies pursued by individual
countries arising from the globalization of markets and the growing awareness of telecommunicationsas a traded service,
recognizing
the increasing linkages between the various aspects of telecommunication and trade policy-
making that fall within the respective mandate s of the International Telecommunication Union
("ITU") and the World Trade Organization ("WTO"),
recognizing
the close collaborative relationship which has existed over the past several decades between
ITU and the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the importance
of continuing and strengthening such a relationship between ITU and WTO,
having regard to
Articles 8 and 50 of the Constitution of ITU (Geneva, 1992), which provide for the entering
into agreements between ITU and other internatio nal organizations and for cooperation between ITU
and other international organizations,
having regard to
Article XXVI of the General Agreement on Trade in Services concerning the relationship
between WTO and other international organizations and Section 7 of its Annex on
Telecommunications recognizing "the important role played by intergovernmental and non-
governmental organizations and agreements in ensuring the efficient operation of domestic and global
telecommunications services, in particular the International Telecommunication Union",
having regard to
Opinion A of the ITU World Telecommunication Policy Forum on the implications of the
GATS with respect to basic telecommunication services  for the ITU membership and in particular the
need expressed for a cooperation agreement between ITU and WTO,
ITU and WTO agree as follows:
ARTICLE 1
For the purposes of this Agreement:S/C/W/41
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(i) "ITU" means the International Telecommunication Union;
(ii) "WTO" means the World Trade Organization;(iii) "WTO Member" means a Party to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade
Organization;
(iv) "ITU Member State" means any Member State of ITU in accordance with Article 2 of its
Constitution;
(v) "GATS" means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, its Annex on
Telecommunications and the Fourth Protocol;
(vi) Any reference to ITU or WTO as such (and not explicitly to the ITU secretariat or the WTO
secretariat), or to the institution or the organization, is understood to refer to the decision-
making bodies of ITU and WTO, respectively.
ARTICLE 2
ITU and WTO shall cooperate in discharging their respective mandates in accordance with
the provisions of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 3
The ITU secretariat and the WTO secretariat shall identify areas of common interest, with
particular emphasis on regulatory matters, technical studies and development matters, that may fosterthe purposes of both organizations.
ARTICLE 4
WTO shall grant ITU observer status at meetings of the Ministerial Conference, the Council
on Trade in Services and any Negotiating Group on Telecommunications. WTO shall invite ITU to
send a member of its staff as an observer to meetings of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body whenmatters of relevance to ITU are to be considered. WTO shall also invite ITU to send a member of its
staff to other WTO bodies for which attendance is not provided above (excluding the Committee on
Budget, Finance and Administration) when WTO, af ter consultation between the WTO secretariat and
the ITU secretariat, finds that such a presence would be of particular common interest to both
organizations.
On the basis of reciprocity, the ITU Secretary-General shall recommend that the WTO
secretariat be invited to send an observer to conferences and meetings of the Union where matters of
common interest to both organizations will be under discussion.
ARTICLE 5
ITU and WTO shall make available to each other in advance the agendas and relevant
documents of the meetings to which they are invited pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. In
addition, WTO shall make available to ITU the agendas of the Dispute Settlement Body at the time oftheir circulation in WTO.S/C/W/41
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ARTICLE 6
The WTO Secretariat shall cooperate with Member States of ITU which are developing
countries and are not WTO Members on technical studies and regulatory and development matters
relating to trade and telecommunications under the GATS.
ARTICLE 7
The ITU secretariat and the WTO secretariat shall enhance cooperation in their technical
assistance and cooperation activities relating to trade in telecommunication services under the GATS
for developing countries, so as to maximize the usefulness of those activities and ensure their
mutually supportive nature. For this purpose, the ITU secretariat and the WTO secretariat shall keep
in regular contact and exchange non-confidential information. Any technical cooperation that one of
the Parties is called upon to provide within its area of competence and which has elements coming
within the competence of the other Party shall be submitted to the latter for consideration of possiblejoint implementation or partial participation.
ARTICLE 8
Appropriate sources of funding shall be sought by the Parties for those of the activities they
have identified and agreed to carry out jointly in the field of regulatory matters, technical studies and
development, it being understood that no such activity shall be carried out until it has been fully
funded. In the event of a joint technical cooperation activity or partial participation in such activity, all
the relevant details, including cost-sharing arrangements and a statement of the maximum cost to be
borne by each of the Parties, shall be set out in a project document to be signed by the duly authorizedrepresentatives of both Parties prior to initiation of the activity.
ARTICLE 9
For the purpose of this Agreement, the Secretary-General of ITU and the Director-General of
WTO shall ensure cooperation between the staffs of the two institutions and, to that end, shall agree
on appropriate procedures for collaboration, including access to databases and regular exchanges of
views on jurisdictional, regulatory, technical and policy issues.
ARTICLE 10
Each Party to this  Agreement shall ensure that any information communicated under this
Agreement shall be used only within the limits specified by the other Party.
ARTICLE 11
The Secretary-General of ITU and the Director-General of WTO shall be responsible for the
implementation of this Agreement and, to that eff ect, shall make such arrangements as they deem
appropriate.S/C/W/41
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ARTICLE 12
This Agreement shall be reviewed upon the request of either Party and may be amended by
mutual written agreement.
ARTICLE 13
This Agreement may be terminated by either Party by written notice to the other and, unless
otherwise agreed by the Parties, shall terminate six  months after receipt of such notice .
ARTICLE 14
Following approval by the Council of ITU and the General Council of WTO, this Agreement
shall provisionally enter into force on the date of its signature. Its final entry into force shall take
effect from the date on which WTO receives notification of approval of this Agreement by the ITUPlenipotentiary Conference.
Done in Geneva on [               1998].For the International Telecommunication Union For the World Trade Organization
P. TARJANNE
Secretary-GeneralR. RUGGIERO
Director-General