RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGBT/W/18
23January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0228)
Original: English Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES
Scheduling Regulatory Principles
Theattached communication iscirculated attherequest oftheUnited States tomembers of
theNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications.
_______________S/NGBT/W/18
Page2
Scheduling Regulatory Principles
Participants intheNGBT havediscussed making commitments onregulatory principles not
subject toscheduling under Articles XVI(market access) orXVII(national treatment). These principles
arealsonototherwise covered bytheGATS ortheGATS Annex onTelecommunications (Telecom
Annex). These principles include, butarenotlimited to,interconnection, competition safeguards,
transparency andindependent regulatory bodies.
Participants haveasked howtomake thesecommitments binding andtherefore subject todispute
settlement. Anumber ofmethods havebeendiscussed. TheUnited States delegation believes that
themost effective wayistoinclude theprinciples inthe"Additional Commitments" column ofa
Member 'sschedule.
Theattached tabledescribes various ways inwhich theregulatory principles could appear on
aschedule.
1. Acover noteoranexplanatory noteattached toaschedule would notbebinding andcould
onlybeusedfortransparencypurposes,forexample,toprovideinformationaboutaMember'sregulatory
regime.
2. Headnotes andfootnotes donothaveaclearlegalstatus intheGATS andwould notnecessarily
result inalegally enforceable obligation.
3. Members havealsoreferred toadding additional obligations totheGATS ortheTelecom Annex
through amendment. Those obligations would certainly bebinding onanyMember whomakes a
commitment intheService sector. Butanamendment isnotafeasible alternative because oftheWTO
requirements fortextual amendments. Pursuant toArticle XoftheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing
theWorld Trade Organization, anamendment affecting Member rights andobligations under theGATS
onlybecomes effective upon ratification bytwo-thirds ofWTO Members. TheNGBT participants
cannot amend theGATS ortheTelecom Annex bythemselves. Inaddition, anamendment doesnot
permit thepossibility oftailoring theprinciples toacountry 'sparticular regime orstateofdevelopment.
Asshown intheattached table, themost feasible wayofensuring thebinding nature of
commitments toapply certain regulatory principles istoschedule theprinciples intheAdditional
Commitments column, either bylisting themindividually orincorporating theprinciples byreference
toanattached text.S/NGBT/W/18
Page3TYPE OFENTRY NATURE OFCOMMITMENT ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Cover Note orExplanatory
Notenon-binding Provides transparency.
Headnote binding TheModel Schedule ofCommitments onBasic Telecommunications ("Model
Schedule") contained intheNote bytheSecretariat (TS/NGBT/W/1) states that
explanatory information regarding theregulatory environment maybeprovided ina
headnote forpurposes oftransparency butshould beremoved once schedules are
finalized. Headnotes maycontain binding commitments, iftheheadnote follows the
entry inthesector/subsector column (e.g. 2.C. Telecommunications Services).
Footnote non-binding During theUruguay Round, negotiators expressed aclear preference thatfootnotes
containing binding undertakings beremoved andtherelevant material beentered
directly intotherelevant columns oftheschedule. Furthermore, footnotes forthe
sakeoftransparency (e.g. tociteorexplain related laws) were strongly discouraged
aspossibly confusing andsubject, inanyevent, toArticle IIItransparency
obligations.
Amendment toGATS
Telecom Annexbinding Anamendment totheGATS Annex onTelecommunications would bindall
Members oftheWTO andcould notbealtered toreflect thestate ofthemarket in
aparticular country. Such anamendment canonlybeaccomplished byfollowing
theprocedures inArticle XoftheMarrakesh Agreement Establishing theWorld
Trade Organization.
Additional commitments binding Article XVIII oftheGATS provides thatMembers maynegotiate commitments
withrespect tomeasures affecting trade inservices notsubject toscheduling under
Articles XVIorXVII. Such commitments shall beinscribed inaMember 's
Schedule. UseofArticle XVIII isdescribed intheModel Schedule. The
additional commitments column could include detailed commitments orcould
incorporate such commitments byreference toanattached text. Participants inthe
NGBT could agree upon atextofprinciples thatcould beincorporated intoa
Member 'sschedule through areference intheAdditional Commitments column.
Alternatively theprinciples could betailored specifically toeach country.