RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGBT/14
29March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1226)
Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT ONTHE MEETING OF22MARCH 1996
1. TheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications held itsfourteenth meeting on
22March1996.TheagendaforthemeetingwascontainedinairgramWTO/AIR/294of12March1996.
2. Regarding requests forparticipation andobserver status, theChairman announced thatPeru
hadtaken thedecision tojointhenegotiations asfullparticipant. Asaresult, thenumber offull
participants inthenegotiations nowstood atthirty-seven1.Thenumber ofparticipants withobserver
status wasnowtwenty-six2.Approval wasrequested andobtained forobserver status ofoneregional
organization, theRegional Technical Commission forTelecommunications. TheChairman thanked
thedelegations fortheirdecisions andencouraged governments participating asobservers toconsider
joining inthenegotiations asfullparticipants assoonaspossible.
3. Under theagenda itemontheintroduction ofdraftoffers, theChairman announced thatthe
Dominican Republic hadsubmitted adraftoffer. Thisbrought thetotalnumber ofdraftoffers submitted
byparticipants thusfartotwenty-four.3Furthermore, Venezuela, Switzerland andJapan hadsubmitted
revisions totheirdraftoffers, bringing thenumber ofrevised offers toseven. Australia indicated its
intention topresent animproved offer shortly. TheChairman, thanked thedelegations whowere
preparing draftoffers aswellasthose whoexpressed theirintention toprovide improved offers and
encouraged other governments todothesame.
4. TheChairman invited delegations tocomment ontheprogress ofbilateral negotiations held
during theweek. Anumber ofparticipants recognized thatpositive improvements hadbeenachieved
interms ofnewandimproved offers being submitted inaddition tothepromises toprovide improved
offers. Some participants, however, expressed disappointment ontheabsolute quantity andquality of
offers tabled sofar.Participants agreed upontheneedtoexpand participation, tomaintain thenegotiating
timetable, toobtain improvements inoffers, andtoproduce anoutcome thathadMFN asitscentral
foundation. Many participants made anurgent appeal tomajor trading partners tosubmit improved
revised offers. Onerepresentative noted thattheuncertainty ontheregulatory principles should not
holddelegations backfrom submitting offers andcalled foranintensification ofcombined efforts in
order toaccelerate thenegotiation process. TheGroup expressed concern ontheamount ofwork yet
1Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, theCzech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Egypt, theEuropean Communities andtheirMember States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom), Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mauritius,
Mexico, Morocco, NewZealand, Norway, Peru, thePhilippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey,
theUnited States andVenezuela.
2Bolivia, Bulgaria, Brunei Darussalam, theRepublic ofChina, Chinese Taipei, Côted'Ivoire, Costa Rica, ElSalvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Latvia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Romania, Russian Federation,
Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad &Tobago, United Arab Emirates, andUruguay.
3Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, theEuropean Communities and itsMember States, Hong
Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, thePhilippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovak Republic,
Switzerland, Turkey, theUnited States and Venezuela.
./.S/NGBT/14
Page2
tobecompleted toreach asuccessful outcome within thespecified timetable. Nevertheless, participants '
hopes were raised duetotheoptimism demonstrated intheapparent determination toadvance the
negotiations. Thismood wasreflected intherepresentatives 'endorsement oftheDirector General 's
exhortation made inasession preceding thismeeting urging participants toconclude thenegotiations
successfully bytheagreed April deadline. TheChairman noted thatthetimehadcome fortheGroup
tobuildmomentum inthenegotiations interms ofincreasing thelevelofparticipation andencouraging
submission ofoutstanding, newandrevised offers assoonaspossible.
5. Under theagenda itemonoutstanding technical andconceptual issues, theSecretariat reported
ontheinformal meetings onregulatory issues heldduring themonth ofFebruary andMarch. The
Secretariat saidthatasaresult ofthedrafting exercises, thereference paper wasrelatively clear of
bracketed textandleftfewissues unresolved, though onsome unbracketed points certain delegations
hadsaidthatconsultation withcapitals would benecessary. Therevised version ofthepaper was
therefore transmitted tothenegotiating group, itbeing understood thatitremained without commitment.
Indiscussion ofthereference paper thepoint wasmade thatithadnolegalstatus andwastobeused
asaguideline forthescheduling ofadditional commitments. Theobservation wasalsomade thatthere
would benobinding commitment arising from thepaper "perse"; onlythatwhich wasexplicitly
inscribed intheschedule ofcommitments would beofalegally binding nature. Delegations alsonoted
thatinitspresent formthepaper wasincomplete andwassubject toconsultation withcapitals. Further
discussion toclarify some oftheconcepts inthepaper would beuseful. Itwasalsostated thatregulatory
principles ofthisnature should takeintoaccount thedifferent stages ofliberalization andthatthevaried
nature oftheregulatory systems andstructures ofeachcountry required thataflexible andgradual
approach should beadopted. Anumber ofparticipants indicated theirintention tousethepaper asthe
basis fortheadditional commitments theywould beundertaking. TheChairman concluded thatthe
paper would retain itspresent status asanon-paper, tobeusedasaguideline forthescheduling of
commitments. Itwould havenolegalstatus andwould bethesubject offurther multilateral discussion
ifitwasdeemed necessary toclarify theissues stillleftunresolved. Nonetheless, given theextreme
pressure oftimetocomplete thenegotiations, herequested delegations todotheirbesttoreflect the
principles itcontained inscheduling theircommitments.
6. Under theagenda itemonthereview ofparticipants 'responses tothequestionnaire onbasic
telecommunications, theChairman announced thatnonewresponses hadbeenreceived since thelast
meeting.
7. Indiscussion offuture work, theGroup agreed onarevised timetable forthecompletion of
thenegotiations aswellasthetwodraftagendas fortheApril meetings circulated before themeeting.
TheChairman announced thatthenextformal NGBT meeting wasscheduled for17April preceded
byaninformal meeting on15April. Issues tobediscussed inthese sessions include thedrafting of
theProtocol aswellasthedrafting ofaDecision bytheCouncil toadopt theProtocol. Itwasalso
agreed thatthedeadline forthesubmission ofschedules would be25April.