GENERAL AGREEMENT TS/NGMTS/W/1
ONTRADE INSERVICES 2May1994
___________________________________________________________________________________
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
Negotiations onMaritime Transport Services
Note bytheSecretariat
1. Atitsmeeting atMinisterial levelinMarrakesh (12-15 April 1994), theTrade Negotiations
Committee adopted theDecision onNegotiations onMaritime Transport Services .TheDecision
establishesaNegotiatingGrouponMaritimeTransportServices(NGMTS)andcallsuponthenegotiating
group toholditsfirstmeeting nolaterthan16May1994. Thisnoteisprovided asbackground for
thefirstmeeting ofthenegotiating group (5May1994). Itsummarizes thecurrent stateofplaywith
respect towork onmaritime transport services.
2. Theachievementofsignificantliberalizationinmaritimetransportserviceswasacentralconcern
intheGNS negotiations. Attheendof1991, interested participants started aprocess ofinformal
discussions which aimed atsecuring liberalization commitments bya"critical mass" ofcountries. Such
discussions were viewed bymany asneeded inorder tonarrow thegapbetween those participants
whowere reluctant toaccept theapplication ofGATS disciplines tothesector andthose whowere
inprinciple inaposition tobindhighlevels ofliberalization under theGATS. Participants onboth
sidesofthespectrum agreed thatasatisfactory agreement inthesector required anoverall meaningful
levelofliberalization commitments. Interested participants hadaseries ofinformal consultations during
thelatter partof1992 and1993. From December 1992 discussions werebased onamodel schedule,
amodified version ofwhich wascirculated informally onJune1993. Bytheendofthenegotiating
process, some participants feltthatnotwithstanding thecommitments offered byasignificant number
ofcountries, further negotiations wereneeded inorder toensure higher levels ofliberalization inthe
sector. Asaresult, theGNSagreed toextend negotiations onmaritime transport services andincluded
theDecision onNegotiations onMaritime Transport Services andtheAnnex onNegotiations onMaritime
Transport Services intheFinal Act.TheDecision andtheAnnex areappended tothispaper, forease
ofreference.
3. TheDecision states thatthenegotiations "shall beentered intoonavoluntary basis" andthat
they"shall becomprehensive inscope, aiming atcommitments ininternational shipping, auxiliary
services andaccess toanduseofportfacilities, leading totheelimination ofrestrictions within afixed
timescale". Itestablishes theNGMTS tocarry outthismandate andsetsJune1996 asthedateby
whichthenegotiationsshouldbecompletedandafinalreportmade.TheDecisionstatesthatparticipation
intheNGMTS isopen toallgovernments, andtheEuropean Communities, which announce their
intention toparticipate. Todate, thefollowing delegations havestated theirintention totakepartin
thenegotiations: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Cyprus, European Community anditsMember States,
Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, NewZealand,
Norway, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey andtheUnited
States.
4. TheDecision andtheAnnex provide forthesuspension oftheapplication ofparagraph 1of
Article IIandparagraph 2oftheAnnex onArticle IIExemptions tothemaritime transport sector for
theduration oftheNGMTS negotiations. However, boththeDecision andtheAnnex provide thatduring
thenegotiations Article IIwillapply tomaritime transport activities forwhich acommitment hasbeen
made inaMember 'sschedule. TheAnnex provides thatArticle IIoftheGATS andparagraph 2of
94-0803TS/NGMTS/W/1
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theAnnex onArticle IIExemptions shallfullyapply tothesector onlyonthedateofimplementation
oftheresults ofthenegotiations mandated bytheMinisterial Decision, orshould thenegotiations not
succeed, onthedateofthefinalreport oftheNegotiating Group. Alsoatthattime, Members may
decidewhethertolistanymeasureinconsistentwithmost-favoured-nation(m.f.n.)treatmentformaritime
transport services. Byvirtue oftheseprovisions itwillbelegally possible forMembers tolistArticle II
exemptions thatwere notlisted attheconclusion oftheUruguay Round,notwithstanding paragraph
3ofArticle IXoftheAgreement Establishing theWTO. Onthisbasis some participants were able
toagree towithdraw, orinsome cases torefrain fromlisting, Article IIExemptions relating tomaritime
transport aspartoftheUruguay Round results. Itshould benoted thatgiven paragraph 5oftheDecision
andparagraph 1oftheAnnex, exemptions maintained byMembers havenolegaleffect untiltheend
oftheNGMTS negotiations.
5. TheDecision provides thatnoparticipant shallapply anymeasure affecting trade inmaritime
transport services insuchamanner aswould improve itsnegotiating position andleverage. However,
itpermits participants totakemeasures "inresponse tomeasures applied byother countries" and"with
aview tomaintaining orimproving thefreedom ofprovision ofmaritime transport services". The
NGMTS isresponsible forsurveillance ofthislimited standstill.
6. Since thebeginning oftheinformal process among "critical mass" participants, three areas
ofmaritime transport were addressed: thesupply ofinternational shipping services, thesupply of
auxiliary services andtheaccess toanduseofportfacilities. These came tobeknown asthethree
pillars ofthesector. Most participants feltthatthethree-way break-down ofthesector served avery
useful purpose inthediscussions. Anumber oftechnical issues wereaddressed ininformal consultations.
Participants agreed onthefollowing:
(i) Thedefinition oftheorigin ofamaritime service, asreflected inArticle XXVIII(f);
(ii) Thepossibleforschedulingpurposesofdetaileddefinitionsregardingthebreak-downofauxiliary
services;
(iii) Theneedtoindicate, possibly asanentry intheadditional commitments column orasanote
ofaconfirmatory nature, theirintention toensure theaccess toanduseofportservices not
covered byArticle XXVIII(c)(ii). Aninformal notebytheSecretariat wascirculated onthe
subject on2December 1993.
7. Technical issues which wereraised ininformal discussions andwhich mayneedtobeaddressed
bytheGroup withaviewtothefulfilment oftheGroup 'smandate include thefollowing:
(i) Therelationship between theactivities under thethreepillars andwhether adifferent approach
maybewarranted inorder toreflect withgreater accuracy theoperational andregulatory
situation inthesector;
(ii) Theneedforgreater precision inthedefinition ofspecific auxiliary services withaviewto
greater clarity interms ofcommitments inthemultimodal area.
8. Asaresult oftheUruguay Round negotiations, thirty schedules nowcontain commitments
inthemaritime transport services sector. Twenty-one Members havechosen tomaintain theirrequest
form.f.n. exemptions covering activities inthesector.
Note: Theheading ofthisdocument, andthesymbol, aretoberegarded asprovisional pending general
decisions ondocument series andsymbols. Ifnecessary theywillberevised andthedocument re-issued.TS/NGMTS/W/1
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DECISION ONNEGOTIATIONS ONMARITIME TRANSPORT SERVICES
Ministers,
Noting thatcommitments scheduled byparticipants onmaritime transport services atthe
conclusion oftheUruguay Round shallenter intoforce onanMFN basis atthesame timeasthe
Agreement Establishing theWorld Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to
asthe"WTO Agreement"),
Decide asfollows:
1. Negotiationsshallbeenteredintoonavoluntarybasisinthesectorofmaritimetransportservices
within theframework oftheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices. Thenegotiations shall be
comprehensive inscope, aiming atcommitments ininternational shipping, auxiliary services andaccess
toanduseofportfacilities, leading totheelimination ofrestrictions within afixed timescale.
2. ANegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services (hereinafter referred toasthe"NGMTS")
isestablished tocarry outthismandate. TheNGMTS shallreport periodically ontheprogress ofthese
negotiations.
3. ThenegotiationsintheNGMTSshallbeopentoallgovernmentsandtheEuropeanCommunities
which announce theirintention toparticipate. Todate,thefollowing haveannounced theirintention
totakepartinthenegotiations:
Argentina, Canada, European Communities andtheirmember States, Finland, Hong Kong,
Iceland, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, NewZealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland,
Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States.
Further notifications ofintention toparticipate shall beaddressed tothedepositary oftheWTO
Agreement.
4. TheNGMTS shallholditsfirstnegotiating session nolaterthan16May1994. Itshallconclude
these negotiations andmake afinalreport nolaterthanJune1996. Thefinalreport oftheNGMTS
shallinclude adatefortheimplementation ofresults ofthese negotiations.
5. Until theconclusion ofthenegotiations Article IIandparagraphs 1and2oftheAnnex on
Article IIExemptions aresuspended intheirapplication tothissector, anditisnotnecessary tolist
MFN exemptions. Attheconclusion ofthenegotiations, Members shallbefreetoimprove, modify
orwithdraw anycommitments made inthissector during theUruguay Round without offering
compensation, notwithstanding theprovisions ofArticle XXIoftheAgreement. Atthesame time
Members shallfinalize theirpositions relating toMFN exemptions inthissector, notwithstanding the
provisions oftheAnnex onArticle IIExemptions. Should negotiations notsucceed, theCouncil for
Trade inServices shalldecide whether tocontinue thenegotiations inaccordance withthismandate.
6. Anycommitments resulting fromthenegotiations, including thedateoftheirentry intoforce,
shallbeinscribed intheSchedules annexed totheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices andbe
subject toalltheprovisions oftheAgreement.
7. Commencing immediately andcontinuing untiltheimplementation datetobedetermined under
paragraph 4,itisunderstood thatparticipants shallnotapply anymeasure affecting trade in
maritime transport services except inresponse tomeasures applied byother countries andwithaview
tomaintaining orimproving thefreedom ofprovision ofmaritime transport services, norinsucha
manner aswould improve theirnegotiating position andleverage.TS/NGMTS/W/1
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8. Theimplementation ofparagraph 7shall besubject tosurveillance intheNGMTS. Any
participant maybring totheattention oftheNGMTS anyaction oromission which itbelieves to
berelevant tothefulfilment ofparagraph 7.Suchnotifications shallbedeemed tohavebeensubmitted
totheNGMTS upon theirreceipt bytheSecretariat.TS/NGMTS/W/1
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ANNEX ONNEGOTIATIONS ONMARITIME TRANSPORT SERVICES
1. Article IIandtheAnnex onArticle IIExemptions, including therequirement tolistintheAnnex
anymeasure inconsistent withmost-favoured-nation treatment thataMember willmaintain, shallenter
intoforce forinternational shipping, auxiliary services and
access toanduseofportfacilities onlyon:
(a) theimplementation datetobedetermined under paragraph 4oftheMinisterial Decision
onNegotiations onMaritime Transport Services; or,
(b) should thenegotiations notsucceed, thedateofthefinalreport oftheNegotiating Group
onMaritime Transport Services provided forinthatDecision.
2. Paragraph 1shallnotapply toanyspecific commitment onmaritime transport services which
isinscribed inaMember 'sSchedule.
3. Fromtheconclusionofthenegotiationsreferredtoinparagraph1,andbeforetheimplementation
date,aMember mayimprove, modify orwithdraw allorpartofitsspecific commitments in
thissector without offering compensation, notwithstanding theprovisions ofArticle XXI.