RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/M/64
20 February 2003
(03-1076)
Council for Trade in Services
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 6 DECEMBER 2002
Note by the Secretariat1
1. The Council for Trade in Services held a meeting on 6 December 2002 chaired by
Ambassador Mary Whelan (Ireland).  The agenda for the meeting is contained in document
WTO/AIR/1988/Rev.1.
2. The Chair informed the Council that she intended to make a brief statement regarding the
Council's work on Article XX:2 under "Other Business" and, based on a request from Brazil,
suggested that any other statements on this issue be made at that juncture.
3. Based on a suggestion from Australia, the Chair suggested that item D of the agenda be
deleted and that the agenda be adopted as amended.
4. It was so agreed.
A. ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES
5. In accordance with the annual reporting procedure of subsidiary bodies to the Council for
Trade in Services, the Chair drew the Council's attention to the reports which had been adopted earlier
in the week, namely, the Report of the Committee on Trade in Financial Services (S/FIN/8), theReport of the Committee on Specific Commitments (S/CSC/7), the Report of the Working Party on
Domestic Regulation (S/WPDR/4), and the Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules
(S/WPGR/8).  She suggested that the Council take note of the four reports on the understanding that
they would be annexed to the report of the Council for Trade in Services and form an integral part of
it.
6. It was so decided.
B. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL
7. The Chair drew the Council's attention to the draft Annual Report of the Council for Trade in
Services on its activities in 2002, contained in document S/C/W/220.  She recalled that the annual
reports of the subsidiary bodies would be annexed to this Report for submission to the General
Council.
8. The representative of the United States stated that although the report did not appear to
contain any controversial items, he needed to consult further with capital on the draft.  His delegation
                                                     
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.S/C/M/64
Page 2
sought the opportunity to come back with possibl e comments.  He noted an apparent incomplete
sentence in paragraph 33 of the draft.
9. A representative of the Secretariat clarified that the typographical error in paragraph 33 was a
mistake in punctuation.  He stated that the stop at the end of the penultimate sentence should be a
comma and that this correction would appear in the final version.
10. As no Member sought substantive changes, but because the United States needed time to
review the report, the Chair proposed that the Annual Report be adopted ad referendum .
11. It was so decided.
C. NOTIFICATIONS MADE TO THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO GATS ARTICLES III:3 A ND V:7
12. The Chair drew the Council's attention to seven notifications pursuant to Article III
(Transparency) by Albania, contained in document s S/C/N/194-200, as well as to five notifications
from Japan, contained in documents S/C/N/201-205.  She suggested that the Council take note of
these notifications.
13. The Council so agreed.
14. The Chair further drew the Council's attention to two notifications pursuant to Article V
(Economic Integration) from Japan and Singapor e, contained in document S/C/N/206, and from
EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switze rland), contained in document S/C/N/207.  She
suggested that the Council take note of the notifications and that the agreements notified be referred to
the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements for examination in terms of their consistency with the
provisions of Article V of the GATS.
15. It was so decided.
16. The representative of Japan recalled the notification requirement under Article III for trade in
services, which stated that "[e]ach Member shall promptly and at least annually inform the Council
for Trade in Services of the introduction of any new, or any changes to existing, laws, regulations or
administrative guidelines […]".  He reminded Members of the need to review any such changes on anannual basis, and he urged them to do so for the sake of transparency as foreseen in the GATS
structure.
17. The representative of Poland informed the Council that Poland had transmitted notifications
to the Secretariat, but that for technical reasons, they had not been included on the present agenda but
would appear on the agenda of the next meeting.
18. The Chair suggested that the Council take note of the statements made.
19. It was so agreed.
D. REVIEW OF THE UNDERSTANDING ON ACCOUNTING RATES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
20. Discussion on this item was postponed. 2
                                                     
2  Please see paragraphs 3 and 4 of this report.S/C/M/64
Page 3
E. OTHER BUSINESS
21. The Chair recalled that at the end of the Council's discussion under the item "Proposals for a
Technical Review of GATS Provisions – Article XX:2" at the last meeting, the Council had agreed
that an informal meeting would be held in order to  allow delegations to engage in a more interactive
exchange of views of the issues involved.  She noted that the discussion had revealed the intricacies
and complex nature of the questions raised in relation to paragraph 2 of Article XX, and hence there
was a need to adequately explore these issues in an  informal setting.  She regretted that, due to the
heavily-loaded agenda of meetings in the WTO and the scarcity of rooms and interpretations facilities,
it had not been possible to organise such an informal meeting.  It was therefore considered that, until
such informal discussions took place, it might not be useful to have the item on the agenda of the
current formal meeting of the Council.  In order to  achieve progress on the issue at the Council's next
formal meeting, she proposed that an informal meeting be held on Tuesday 14 January 2003.
22. The Council so agreed.
23. The representative of Canada sought clarification regarding the "short note" referred to in
paragraph 24 of document S/C/W/220.
24. A representative of the Secretariat responded that this referred to an informal note which had
been circulated at the previous meeting, contai ned in document Job(02)/153.  It was his understanding
that there had been no new request for a Secretariat note.
25. The representative of Brazil thanked the Secretariat for this note, and stated that because
Job(02)/153 had been circulated one day prior to the last formal meeting, he had hoped that the item
would have appeared on the agenda at the present meeting for further discussion.  He noted that his
capital had reflected on this note and had drafted a contribution which was available as a room
document and which he requested be circulated as an informal document.  Briefly introducing the
submission, he noted that it sought to contribute some elements to the clarification of Article XX:2 in
the context of a possible technical review of this provision.  It attempted to categorise which measurescould be scheduled under market access and national treatment in terms of their overlap.  Based on
the two scenarios presented in Job(02)/153, he expressed the opinion that Article XX:2 would need to
be clarified in order to eliminate a grey area.  He underscored that the last paragraph of the
submission, based on the arguments presented, su ggested that the ambiguity arising from Article
XX:2 be clarified.  He hoped that this issue would be taken up at the Council's next formal meeting.
26. The Chair noted that this new submission, in addition to the documents previously circulated
on this item, would allow for an interactive discussion at the informal meeting with a view to
reverting to it at the next formal meeting.
27. Noting that the Council had reached the end of the agenda, the Chair suggested that the
Council take note of the meeting's proceedings and adjourn.
28. It was so agreed.
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