WORLD TRADE GATS/SC/121
2April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1172)
Trade inServices
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Schedule ofSpecific Commitments under the
General Agreement onTrade inServices
Theattached communication iscirculated attherequest oftheGovernment ofTheUnited Arab
Emirates.WORLD TRADE GATS/SC/121
April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0000)
Trade inServices
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Schedule ofSpecific Commitments
(This isauthentic inEnglish only)UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -SCHEDULE OFSPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
I. HORIZONTAL COMMITMENTS
ALL SECTORS INCLUDED
INTHIS SCHEDULE3) Commercial presence willbethrough either
(i)arepresentative office or(ii)an
incorporation asacompany withmaximum
foreign equity participation of49% subject
toUAE law.3) (i)Acquisition oflandandrealestate is
notpermitted toforeigners ortocompanies
inwhich foreign nationals have ashare
holding.
(ii)Foreign nationals orcompanies with
foreign share holdings mayberequired to
paydirect taxes onincome derived from
work oroperations intheUAE, whereas
local services suppliers orlocal UAE
companies maynotberequired topay
similar taxes keeping inview the
provisions ofparagraph (d)ofArticle XIV.
(iii) Government subsidized services may
onlybeextended toUAE nationals.
GATS/SC/121
Page1UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page2
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
4) Unbound except formeasures concerning
entry andtemporary stayofnatural persons
whofallintooneofthefollowing
categories:
(i)Business visitors: persons notbased in
theterritory oftheUAE andreceiving no
remuneration from asource within the
UAE, whovisittheUAE onbehalf ofa
service supplier forbusiness negotiations
(andnotforselling services directly tothe
public) orfordoing preparatory work for
establishing commercial presence inthe
UAE. Entry forpersons inthiscategory
shall notbeformore thanninety days.
(ii)Intra-corporate transferees: managers,
executives andspecialists (asdefined
below) whohave been intheemployment
ofajuridical person ofanother Member
outside theUAE, foraperiod ofnotless
thanoneyearprior tothedateof
application forentry intotheUAE andare
being transferred toabranch oraffiliate in
theUAE oftheaforesaid juridical person.
Entry willbesubject tothefollowing
conditions:UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
a)Thenumber ofmanagers,
executives andspecialists shall be
limited to50% ofthetotalnumber of
managers, executives andspecialists of
each service supplier.
b)Their entry shall beforaperiod of
oneyearsubject torenewal fortwo
additional years withamaximum of
three years.
c)Their stayintheUAE willbe
subject toUAE labour and
immigration laws.
Definitions:
Managers: persons within anorganization who
primarily direct theorganization oradepartment
orsubdivision oftheorganization, supervise
andcontrol thework ofother supervisory,
professional ormanagerial employees, have the
authority tohireorfireorrecommend hiring,
firing, orother personnel actions (such as
promotion orleave authorization), andexercise
discretionary authority over day-to-day
operations. Does notinclude first-line
supervisors unless theemployees supervised are
professionals nordoes itinclude employees who
primarily perform tasks necessary forthe
provision oftheservice.
GATS/SC/121
Page3UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page4
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
Executives: persons within anorganization who
primarily direct themanagement ofthe
organisation, establish thegoals andpolicies of
theorganisation, exercise wide latitude in
decision making, andreceive onlygeneral
supervision ordirection from higher-level
executives, theboard ofdirectors or
stockholders ofthebusiness. Executives would
notdirectly perform tasks related totheactual
provision ofservice orservices ofthe
organization.
Specialists: persons within anorganization who
possess knowledge atanadvanced level of
continued expertise andwhopossess proprietary
knowledge oftheorganization 'sservices,
research, equipment, techniques ormanagement.UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
II. SECTOR-SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
1. BUSINESS SERVICES
A. Professional Services
b) Accounting, auditing and
book-keeping services
(CPC 862)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
c) Taxation services: the
following:
- Business taxplanning
andconsulting
(CPC -86301)
- Business taxpreparation
andreview services
(CPC -86302)
GATS/SC/121
Page5UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page6
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
d) Architectural services
(CPC 8671)
e) Engineering Services
(CPC 8672)
g) Urban planning and
landscape services
(CPC -8674)
i) Veterinary services
(CPC -9320)UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
B. Computer andRelated
Services
a) Consultancy services
related totheinstallation
ofcomputer hardware
(CPC -841)
b) Software implementation
services
(CPC -842)
c) Data processing services
(CPC -843)
d) Data baseservices
(CPC -844)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
GATS/SC/121
Page7UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page8
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
C. Research and
Development Services
a) R&Dservices on
natural science
(CPC -851)
b) R&Dservices onsocial
science andhumanities
(CPC -852)
c) Interdisciplinary R&D
services (CPC -853)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal sectionUNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
F. Other Business Services
a) Advertising services
(CPC 871)
b) Market research services
(CPC -864)
c) Management consulting
services
(CPC 8650)
e) Technical testing and
analysis services
(CPC -8676)
s) Convention services
(CPC 87909)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
GATS/SC/121
Page9UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page10
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
2. COMMUNICATION
SERVICES
B. Courier Services
(CPC 7512)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal sectionUNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
3. CONSTRUCTION AND
RELATED
ENGINEERING
SERVICES
A. General Construction
Work forBuilding
(CPC 512)
B. General Construction
Work forCivil
Engineering
(CPC 513)
C. Installation andAssembly
Work
(CPC 514+516)
D. Building Completion and
Finishing Work
(CPC 517)
E. Other
(CPC 511+515+518)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
GATS/SC/121
Page11UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)GATS/SC/121
Page12
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
6. ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES
A. Sewage Services
(CPC 9401)
B. Refuse Disposal Services
(CPC 9402)
C. Sanitation andSimilar
Services
(CPC 9403)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None, except asindicated inthehorizontal
section
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
D. OtherUNITED ARAB EMIRATES (continued)
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
7. FINANCIAL SERVICES
B. Banking andOther
Financial Services
Items a)tol)butnot
including item j)
(Settlement andclearing
services forfinancial
assets)1) None
2) None
3) (i)Nolimitations forestablishment of
representative offices;
(ii)Unbound fornewlicences for
operating bank branches;
(iii)Unbound fortheexpansion of
activities ofexisting financial entities.
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section.1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section
GATS/SC/121
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Page14
Modes ofsupply: 1) Cross-border supply 2) Consumption abroad 3) Commercial presence 4) Presence ofnatural persons
Sector orsubsector Limitations onmarket access Limitations onnational treatment Additional commitments
9. TOURISM AND
TRAVEL RELATED
SERVICES
A. Hotels andRestaurants
(CPC 641-643)
C. Travel Guide Services
(CPC 7472)1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound except asindicated inthe
horizontal section1) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound, except asindicated inthe
horizontal section