./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/236
6 July 1999
(99-2813)
General Council Original:  English
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1999 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Negotiations on Trade in Services
Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures
Communication from Norway
The following communication, dated 6 July 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Norway.
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1. In most Member countries the service sector plays an increasing role for economic activity
and ultimately as source of income and welfare for populations.  Norway therefore welcomes the
opportunity to start a new round of negotiations on trade in services within the framework of the
WTO.  It is important that we on the global level develop further the legal instruments and national
commitments in international trade in services to meet the needs of markets and governments, within
the scope of sustainable development.
2. The following points pertaining to the negotiating guidelines and procedures are proposed to
be covered by the ministerial mandate.
3. WTO Members should aim at establishing clear negotiating guidelines and procedures at the
1999 Ministerial Conference so that negotiations can start at the very beginning of the year 2000.  The
mandate for negotiations on trade in services lies in GATS Article XIX.  This Article touches upon all
the relevant issues of why (objectives), when , and how  to negotiate.  The following points concern
additions to this text that will help steer negotiations in a timely and rational manner.
4. Norway takes as a point of departure that there is agreement between all WTO Members on a
broad coverage, in the sense that neither any service sector nor any mode of supply will be excluded
from the negotiations.  Negotiations will encompass both specific commitments and MFN
exemptions.
5. There is a large amount of work on rules remaining from the Uruguay Round:  government
procurement (Article XIII), subsidies (Article XV) and emergency safeguard measures (Article X),
and disciplines on domestic regulations (Article VI).  The Ministerial Decision on Trade in Services
and the Environment relating to modifications to Ar ticle XIV has also not entirely been dealt with.
To the extent that negotiations on these are not completed by the end of 1999, they should be finalized
by negotiations in the new round.WT/GC/W/236
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6. Issues related to the understanding of the framework agreement should also be dealt with,
with a view to giving greater clarity to the text.  Some of these are substantial in nature, i.e. issues
related to the scope of the Agreement remain unresolved after prolonged negotiations in 1994, while
problems related to the interpretation of Economic Integration (Article V) have come up during
reviews of regional agreements.  Other horizontal issues, such as the relationship between modes 1and 2, are of a more technical nature, but need to be resolved before or during negotiations so that
countries’ commitments can be made as clear as possible.
7. The guidelines should reflect the general obligation of facilitating and increasing the
participation of developing countries in trade in services and taking their development situation into
account.
8. In addition to market access and national treatment commitments, members should be
encouraged to take steps to implement necessary domestic regulations.  The potential benefits ofgreater market access might otherwise be undermined.  Due consideration of this will thus have to be
taken in the negotiations.  Although the responsibility for these matters primarily rests on the nations
themselves other countries and multilateral organizations can contribute by offering technical
assistance in this process.
9. Environmental concerns should be taken into account, translating what seems to be an
emerging consensus in the Committee on Trade and Environment to the effect that trade and
environmental policies should be mutually supportive and legally consistent in order to promote the
objectives of sustainable development.  To establish what environmental effect the removal of
specific trade restrictions will have, environm ental reviews should be conducted early in the
negotiation process and/or near the end of the process, when draft agreements and draft schedules areavailable.  Members should be encouraged to share their experiences and relevant international
organizations should be invited to provide contributions, in order to take into account horizontal
aspects.
10. The time-frame for the negotiations on trade in services will be contingent upon the time-
frame for negotiations as a whole.  However, a deadline should be set during the first half of 2000 forinitial requests and offers on specific commitments.
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