RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT S/NGMTS/W/2
21October 1994
ONTRADE INSERVICES
(94-2155)
Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
QUESTIONNAIRE ONMARITIME TRANSPORT SERVICES
Note bytheSecretariat
Asagreed atthesecond meeting oftheNegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services,
on13July1994, thisquestionnaire hasbeenprepared forcirculation toallparticipants andobservers
oftheGroup. Asagreed attheGroup 'sthird meeting on17October 1994, participants inthe
negotiations should provide written responses totheSecretariat by15January 1995.*Governments
withobserver status arealsoinvited toreply within thesame time-frame.
*Bothahardcopyandamachine-readable copyondiskette would beappreciated to
facilitate theprocessing ofdocumentation.S/NGMTS/W/2
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Introductory Comments
Thescope ofthequestionnaire iswithout prejudice tothescope ofthenegotiations assetout
inthemandate oftheNegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services. Itisunderstood that
informationprovidedinresponsetoquestionsnotdirectlyrelevanttothescopeofthecurrentnegotiations
(e.g., thesections oncompetition lawandshipping conferences) willserve thepurpose ofestablishing
factual background fortheconduct ofnegotiations anddoesnotimply inanywayabroadening of
thescope ofthenegotiations.
Theaimofthequestionnaire istofacilitate anexchange ofinformation onthebasisofacommon
format andnottoreflect inanywaytheposition participants maytakeinthenegotiations orintheir
finalschedules ofcommitments.
Thequestionnaire isdivided intotwoparts. Thequestions aredesigned tocapture, asfully
aspossible, theinformation onparticipants 'market andregulatory structures applying tothemaritime
transport services sector, including bothcargo andpassenger transportation where relevant. PartI
deals withthestructure ofmaritime transport markets forinternational shipping, auxiliary services
andaccess toanduseofportfacilities. Itseeks togather asmuch statistical information aspossible
onvessels, trade flows, organization ofcargo andports andauxiliary services. PartIIdeals with
regulatory structures andaimstoaddress bothoverall regulatory approaches aswellasspecific measures
applying tomaritime transport services. Itcontains questions which arebased ontwoelements: the
GATS approach toliberalization which centres ontheprinciples ofmarket access, national treatment
andmost-favoured-nation treatment; andissues which arenotnecessarily covered byGATS disciplines
butwhich haveaspecial relevance tothemaritime transport services sector. Thequestions inboth
Parts IandIIapply onlytointernational maritime transport services. Cabotage isexcluded fromthe
scope ofthisquestionnaire.
Thedefinitions adopted inthisquestionnaire areinaccordance withthose contained inArticle
XXVIII oftheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices.S/NGMTS/W/2
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I.Market Structure
Mostcurrent date(calendar year) available should bespecified. Answers broken down
bylarge categories oftrade could alsobeprovided where deemed appropriate (e.g.,
largedifferences inthelevelofcontainerisation between North/North trades asopposed
toNorth/South trades). Itisunderstood thatparticipants mayusedifferent definitions,
ordiffer inthedefinitions theyapply toterms used, inthissection (e.g., "tonnage",
"nationally-owned oroperated"). Intheinterest oftransparency, itwould bedesirable
thatparticipants should provide theirownnational definitions wherever applicable.
Vessels
1. What isthestructure ofthenationally-owned oroperated fleet, interms oftotalnumber of
vessels, tonnage, andflagsbytheprincipal types ofvessels?
STRUCTURE OFNATIONALLY-OWNED OROPERATED FLEET
Types ofVessels1Number ofVessels Deadweight Tonnage
National Flag2Foreign Flag National Flag2Foreign Flag
OilTankers
Liquified GasCarriers
Chemical Tankers
Combination Carriers
Ore/Bulk Carriers
General Cargo
Container Ships
Refrigerated carriers
Specialized Cargo
Ro-Ro
Ferries andPassenger
Other
AllVessels
1Vessels of1,000 grtandabove, excluding fishing andother non-commercial vessels.
2Where applicable, separate datashould beprovided onvessels andtonnage registered under second orinternational registers.
Trade
2. Howmuch oftotalinternational trade, byquantity and/or value, iscarried bysea?What are
therespective percentage shares?
3. What aretheestimated shares oftotalinternational trade carried bysea,byquantity and/or
value, which areexports andimports (ifimport/export customs dataarenotavailable, loading/unloading
porttraffic datacould beprovided instead)?S/NGMTS/W/2
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4. What istheestimated share oftotalinternational tradecarried byseainterms ofquantity and/or
valuewhichiscarriedbynational-flagvessels(informationcouldbeusefullybrokendownintobulk/liner
shipping and/or national-flag vessels, thepartner 'sflagsvessels andcross-trading vessels)?
5. What istheestimated share ofcross-trading interms ofquantity and/or value compared with
home trading carried bynational-flag vessels?
Organization ofCargo
6. What isthevalue and/or quantity oftotalinternational trade carried bylinershipping? By
drybulkshipping? Byliquid bulkshipping?
7. What istheestimated share, interms ofquantity and/or value, oflinershipping which iscarried
byconferences andconsortia inyourexternal trade?
8. What istheestimated share, interms ofquantity and/or value, ofconference shipping towhich
theUnited Nations Code ofConduct forLiner Conferences applies?
9. What istheestimated share, interms ofquantity and/or value, ofcargo carried bytrades under
bilateral agreements other thanthose applied inaccordance withtheUnited Nations Code ofConduct
forLiner Conferences?
10. What istheestimated share, interms ofquantity and/or value, ofliner cargo which is
containerized?
11. What istheestimated share, interms ofquantity and/or value, oflinercargo which iscarried
bymeans ofmultimodal transport arrangements (door-to-door)?
Ports andAuxiliary Services
12. What isthetotalnational porttraffic forinternational tradecargoes? What istheinternational
trade porttraffic inthemajor national ports -i.e.,those which together account foratleast90per
centoftotalcargo throughput? What istheestimated share ofthistraffic (orthroughput) which is
containerized (where possible distinguish between bulkandliner/container porttraffic)?
13. Indicate whether foreign suppliers (i.e.,companies withforeign controlling interest) arepresent
inthemarket ascompared tonational suppliers inthefollowing auxiliary services (asdefined inthe
draftmodel schedule where appropriate):
Container station anddepot services
Maritime Agency Services
Maritime Freight Forwarding Services
Maritime Cargo Handling Services
Storage andWarehousing Services
Customs Clearance Services
Maintenance andrepair ofvesselsS/NGMTS/W/2
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14. Indicatewhetherwholly-ownedforeignsuppliersarepresentinthemarketascomparedtonational
suppliers operating intheinland movement bytruck, railorwater ofinternational waterborne trade
cargoes.
II.Regulatory Structure
Theterm"measures" inthissection refers to"measures taken bycentral, regional or
local governments andauthorities and/or non-governmental bodies intheexercise of
powers delegated bysuchgovernments andauthorities", inaccordance withArticle
I:3(a) oftheGATS.
General
1. What aretheinstitutional arrangements (e.g., competent ministries, administrations, agencies)
applying totheinternational maritime transport sector? Specify, ifrelevant, whether measures are
specific tothesector orofhorizontal application toallsectors, including maritime transport.
2. Describe theoverall regulatory approach applied tobulk(dryandliquid) shipping.
3. Describe theoverall regulatory approach applied tolinershipping.
4. Describe theoverall regulatory approach applied tomultimodal transport (including interms
ofauxiliary services andtreatment atports andbeyond). Arethere anyrestrictions ontheability of
multimodal transport operators, general andbulkshipping lines, shippers andintermediaries torent
orleasetrucks, railway carriages, orbarges andrelated equipment forthepurpose ofinland forwarding
ofcargoes ortohavereasonable andnon-discriminatory access to,anduseof,theseforms ofmultimodal
activities?
5. Describe theoverall regulatory approach applied toportmanagement, andtotheundertaking
ofauxiliary services activities byprivate persons inportareas (andifapplicable, procedures and
conditions forallocation ofscarce resources, suchaswaterfront space, tocommercial operators.
6. What isthenational definition ofwhatisunderstood by"international maritime transport" and
whatisexcluded from it?
7. What isthenational definition ofwhatisunderstood by"national shipping enterprise"?S/NGMTS/W/2
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Market Access
Thissub-section isbased onArticle XVIoftheGATS where anexhaustive listof
measures considered aslimitations tomarket access isprovided. Other types of
measures which maylimitinsome other manner access toaparticular market are
addressed inother parts ofthisquestionnaire.
8. Forthefollowing items, indicate whether measures limiting access tothenational shipping
market exist(yes/no). Ifso,describe therelevant measures indetail:
(a) thenumber ofmaritime transport service suppliers intheformofnumerical quotas, monopolies,
exclusive service suppliers (e.g., number ofshipping linesthatmayserve aroute, monopolies
withrespect toportservices, licensing requirements fortheestablishment offirms supplying
auxiliary services) ortherequirements ofeconomic needs test;
(b) thetotalvalue ofmaritime transport service transactions, thetotalnumber ofmaritime transport
service operations orthetotalquantity ofmaritime transport service output (e.g., cargo
reservation measures based onfreight tonsoronquantity ofcargo carried) intheform of
numerical quotas ortherequirement ofaneconomic needs test;
(c) inthecaseoflimitations oncargo, whatare,ifapplicable, theinstitutional arrangements for
cargo allocation? Describe theallocation mechanism applied.
(d) thetotalnumber offoreign natural persons thatmaybeemployed inthemaritime transport
service sector orthatamaritime transport services supplier mayemploy andwhoarenecessary
for,anddirectly related to,thesupply ofaspecific maritime transport service intheformof
numerical quotas ortherequirement ofaneconomic needs test,interms of
(i) keypersonnel employed inrelation toacommercial presence foracompany supplying
bothtransport services, including cargo solicitation aswellasrelated auxiliary services
(e.g., handling);
(ii) keypersonnel employed inrelation toacommercial presence foracompany not
necessarily supplying bothtransport services alongside related auxiliary services (i.e.,
acompany supplying auxiliary services only).
Adefinition ofwhatisunderstood by"keypersonnel" should beprovided.
9. Aretheremeasures(yes/no)whichrestrictorrequirespecifictypesoflegalentityorjointventure
through which amaritime transport service supplier maysupply aservice interms of
(a) acommercial presence foracompany supplying bothtransport services aswellasrelated
auxiliary services (e.g., handling)?
(b) acommercialpresenceforacompanynotnecessarilysupplyingbothtransportservicesalongside
related auxiliary services (i.e., acompany supplying auxiliary services only)?
Ifso,describe therelevant measures indetail.S/NGMTS/W/2
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10. Aretheremeasures (yes/no) which limittheparticipation offoreign capital interms ofmaximum
percentagelimitonforeignshare-holdingorthetotalvalueofindividualoraggregateforeigninvestment?
Ifso,describe therelevant measures indetail.
11. What aretheminimum conditions forgranting therighttoflythenational flag?
(a) Dotheyinvolve quantitative requirements suchastheonesreferred toinquestion 8above?
(b) Dotheyinvolve quantitative requirements other thanthose referred inquestion 8above?
(c) Dotheyinvolve licensing/permit requirements relating totypeofcommercial presence orthe
participation offoreign capital inaparticular investment?
National Treatment
Thissection isbased onArticle XVIIoftheGATS which defines national treatment
tobetreatment nolessfavourable thanthataccorded tonational services andservice
suppliers. TheArticle alsostates thatthenational treatment requirement maybemet
through formally identical orformally different treatment. Treatment isconsidered
aslessfavourable ifit"modifies theconditions ofcompetition infavour" ofnational
services orservice suppliers .
12. Arethere measures which discriminate infavour ofnational maritime transport services or
services suppliers, withrespect tointernational shipping, auxiliary services andtreatment atport,
including thefollowing:
(a) Direct preferential treatment granted exclusively tonational shipping enterprises (e.g., operating
subsidies granted tonational shipping enterprises, discriminatory portorauxiliary services
fees,taxes onfreight orshipping services)?
(b) Indirect preferential treatment granted exclusively tonational shipping enterprises (e.g., loans
atlowinterest ratesorinterest-free, preferential taxtreatment including, reimbursement to
national shipping enterprises oftaxes levied oninternational services)?
Ifso,describe therelevant measures indetail.
Access toandUseofPortFacilities
13. Which ofthefollowing services areavailable totheuserattheport(indicate differences at
thenational andsub-national levels whenever relevant)?
Pilotage
Towing andtugassistance
Provisioning, fuelling andwatering
Garbage collecting andballast waste disposal
Navigation aidsS/NGMTS/W/2
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Shore-based operational services essential toshipoperations, including communications, water
andelectrical supplies
Emergency repair facilities
Anchorage, berth andberthing services
14. Forwhich oftheservices listed above -which areavailable -istheusemandatory?
15. Which oftheservices listed above areavailable onanon-discriminatory basis?
16. Aretherediscriminatorymeasureswhichrestrictaccesstosea-portsonthesametermsasnational
services suppliers (yes/no)? Arethere anyports involved ininternational traffic which areclosed or
restricted forentrance ofvessels owned oroperated byforeign nationals? Ifso,describe therelevant
measures indetail.
17. Aretheremeasures which discriminate between foreign andnational (national-flag ornationally-
owned oroperated) vessels withrespect totheaccess anduseofportandharbour facilities (yes/no)?
Inrespect towhatspecific facilities? Describe therelevant measures indetail.
18. Arethere measures which mandate theuseofterminal facilities (i.e., facilities/services other
thanthoselisted above)? Forwhich specific facilities? Isthereanydiscrimination inthisrespect between
foreign andnational maritime transport services suppliers? Describe therelevant measures indetail.
19. Arethere anymeasures listed above (inquestions 8-18) thatareimposed bynon-government
entities?
Most-favoured-nation treatment
Thissection isbased onArticle IIoftheGATS which defines most-favoured-nation
treatment tomean theimmediate andunconditional granting toservices andservice
suppliers ofanyother Member treatment nolessfavourable thanthataccorded to
services andservice suppliers ofanyother country.
20. Arethere measures which provide forsome form ofcargo-sharing withpartner countries?
Towhich categories ofcargo (liner, bulk, in-oroutbound, limited tocertain items orextending even
tocargoes notoriginating from thecountries involved) doesanyexisting cargo-sharing mechanism
apply?
21. Ifso,howarethese measures applied (e.g., unilaterally orthrough bilateral orplurilateral
agreements)? Onthebasis ofwhatcargo shares? What countries arecovered bycargo-sharing?
22. Iscargo-sharing permitted onthebasis ofArticle 2oftheCode ofConduct forLiner
Conferences? Arethere government measures which apply thisprovision? Describe, ifapplicable,
howtheCode'scargo-sharing provision isapplied.
23. Arethereanyothermeasuresregardingthesupplyofinternationaltransportandauxiliaryservices
which grant some countries some form ofpreferential treatment (e.g., taxbreaks)? What countries
arethebeneficiaries? Describe therelevant measures indetail.S/NGMTS/W/2
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24. Arethere measures which grant preferential treatment tosome countries withrespect tothe
access toanduseofportandharbour facilities? Inrespect towhatspecific facilities? What countries
arethebeneficiaries? Describe therelevant measures indetail.
25. Arethere counter-measures which enable thegovernment toretaliate unilaterally intheface
ofperceived restrictions bypartner countries? Areanysuchcounter-measures specific tothemaritime
transport services sector? Dotheyapply toallaspects ofthesector? Ifnot,towhich aspects dothey
apply? Arethesemeasures onlyavailable tonational-flag vessels orvessels which areowned oroperated
bynationals? Describe therelevant measures indetail.
26. Aretheremeasures which enable thegovernment toimpose selective restrictions onthesupply
ofmaritime transport andrelated services forwhatever reason, including reciprocity conditions? Do
theyapply toallaspects ofthesector? Ifnot,towhich aspects dotheyapply? Describe therelevant
measures indetail.
Government Procurement
27. Aretheremeasures relating toaccess tonon-commercial cargoes? Ifso,describe therelevant
measures indetail. Howarenon-commercial cargoes defined? Provide examples ofcargoes defined
asnon-commercial.
28. Arethere measures relating totheprocurement ofmaritime transport auxiliary services? If
so,describe therelevant measures indetail.
Competition Law
29. What isthescope ofapplication ofcompetition orantitrust lawsandregulations tothemaritime
transport sector?
(a) Whatistherelationshipbetweensuchlawsandregulationsandtheregulationoflinerconferences
andconsortia (e.g., individual orblock exemption)?
(b) What istherelationship between suchlawsandregulations andtheregulation ofmultimodal
transport services (door-to-door)?
(c) What istherelationship between suchlawsandregulations andtheregulation ofservices
suppliers withsubstantial market power ordominant position?
(d) What istherelationship between suchlawsandregulations andtheregulation ofshippers '
councils?
Shipping Conferences
30. Arethere measures which render theadmission ofnewmembers toaparticular conference
subject totheapproval ofexisting members? Mayamember withdraw from aparticular conference
without incurring anypenalty?S/NGMTS/W/2
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31. Areconference agreements required tobefiledornotified? Ifso,towhich entity? Cansuch
anentity oppose agreements orwithdraw anexemption (relating tocompetition orantitrust laws) that
hasbeengranted? Onwhatbasis? What criteria mustbeapplied inassessing aconference agreement?
32. Aretariffs applied byconferences required tobefiledornotified? Does themonitoring entity
havethepower toensure orenforce compliance withtariffs which havebeenfiledornotified?
33. Areconferences required toallow independent rateaction ("IRA")?
34. Ifapplicable, describe theinstitutional arrangements andspecific measures dealing with:
(a) loyalty arrangements between conferences andshippers;
(b) agreements entered intobetween conferences andoutsiders;
(c) services contracts between conferences andshippers.
Shipper/Carrier Relations
35. What kindofarrangements existconcerning therelations between shippers andcarriers?
36. What aretherelevant requirements withregard tofreight ratenegotiations andconsultations
onmatters ofcommon interest (e.g., whether carriers arerequired toconsult withshippers orshippers
councils ontheterms andconditions ofservices supplied)? Withregard todispute settlement? What
istherôleofgovernments inthisprocess?