RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGBT/15
22April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1535)
Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
REPORT ONTHE MEETING OF17APRIL 1996
1. TheNegotiatingGrouponBasicTelecommunicationshelditsfifteenthmeetingon17April1996.
Theagenda forthemeeting wascontained inairgram WTO/AIR/308 of3April 1996.
2. Under theagenda itemonpresentation oflatest offers, revisions andschedules, theChairman
noted thatnonewrequests forparticipation orobserver status hadbeenreceived. Therefore, thenumber
offullparticipants inthenegotiations remained atthirty-seven1while thenumber ofparticipants with
observer status stood attwenty-six2.TheChairman announced thatPeruandEcuador hadsubmitted
draftoffers bringing thetotalnumber ofdraftoffers submitted byparticipants thusfartotwenty-six.3
Inaddition, Australia, Canada, Japan, thePhilippines, Korea, Hong Kong, NewZealand, theSlovak
Republic, andMexico hadsubmitted revisions totheirdraftoffers. Taking intoaccount thatthree of
thepreviously mentioned revised offers constituted second revisions, thenumber ofrevised offers was
nowthirteen. These delegations thenprovided abriefintroduction oftheirnewandrevised draftoffers.
Finally, Argentina, Iceland, Thailand, Colombia, andPoland notified theGroup oftheirintentions
totable newrevised offers shortly. TheChairman welcomed these encouraging developments and
thanked thedelegations fortheirdecisions. Furthermore, heurged other governments tointensify
theirefforts andcontribute positively withadditional newandrevised offers.
3. TheChairman invited delegations tocomment ontheprogress ofbilateral negotiations held
during theweek. Inanassessment made ofthestateofthenegotiations, themajority ofthedelegations
characterized thebilaterals conducted sofarasgenerally positive interms oftheincreased number
ofnewandrevised offers submitted. Participants recognized thatnotable improvements hadtaken place
andwelcomed theintentions expressed byseveral delegations atthemeeting topresent newandrevised
offers which further confirmed thispromising trend. Nevertheless, anurgent appeal wasmade tomajor
trading partners toassume aleadership rolebytabling substantive andmeaningful commitments in
order toprovide impetus inthefinalphase ofthenegotiating process. Several delegations stressed the
needtoincluderegulatoryprinciplesbasedonthereferencepaperasadditionalcommitments.Participants
agreed upon theneedtoexpand participation andtoimprove thequality andthequantity ofnewand
revised offers submitted. TheChairman noted thatparticipants haddemonstrated astrong determination
toadvance thenegotiations successfully within thespecified timetable andthatsignificant progress
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, Ecuador, theEuropean Communities anditsMember
States, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, thePhilippines, Poland, Singapore,
Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Turkey, theUnited States andVenezuela.
./.S/NGBT/15
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hadbeen accomplished. Finally, heurged other delegations tofollow thisexample andsubmit
outstanding, newandrevised draftoffers assoonaspossible.
4. Under theagenda itemonthedraftProtocol andthedraftDecision oftheCouncil, participants
approved theindicative dates proposed bytheChairman, agreed atMonday 'sinformal meeting, of
30June1997 asthedeadline foracceptance oftheProtocol and1January 1998 asthedateofentry
intoforceoftheProtocol anditsattached schedules ofcommitments. TheCommittee thenconsidering
thedraftDecisionoftheCouncilforTradeinServicestoadoptthisProtocol.Aproposalwasputforward
regarding theestablishment ofaTelecommunications Committee tooversee theProtocol. TheGroup
agreed totakethisintoconsideration asanissue forfuture discussion.
5. Indiscussion offuture work, theGroup thenrevised thetimetable forthecompletion ofthe
negotiations. TheChairman announced thatthenextformal NGBT meeting wasscheduled for26April,
possibly preceded byaninformal meeting inthefirsthalfoftheweek. TheChairman alsoreminded
theGroup thatthedeadline forthesubmission ofschedules would be25April.