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7 December  2023 
(23-8328) Page: 1/3 
Council for Trade in Services    
 
  
REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON IMPROVEMENTS IN THE  
FUNCTIONING OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  This report  has been prepared by the Council for Trade in Services (CTS) pursuant to the 
mandate on WTO Reform set out in paragraph 3 of the "MC12 Outcome Document"1, which instructs 
the General Council and its subsidiary bodies to "conduct the work, review progress, and consider 
decisions, as appropriate, to be submitted to the next Ministerial Conference".  
1.2.  This report  provides information on the ongoing efforts to improve the functioning of the CTS 
by highlighting the improvements realised since the conclusion of MC12 . Section  2 describes the 
process followed by the CTS in implementing this mandate. Section  3 takes stock of  the main 
outcomes the discussion has yielded to date . 
2  PROCESS  
2.1.  The CTS addressed the Ministerial mandate related to WTO reform at all its meetings following 
MC12.  
2.2.  In the lead -up to the CTS meeting in October 2022, the first formal meeting following MC12, 
the then-Chairperson held bilateral consultations to gather Members' views on the  implementation 
matters relevant to the CTS as per the MC12 Decisions and Declarati ons. 
2.3.  At the formal CTS  meeting  in October 2022 , the then-Chairperson  reported on the views he 
had heard from delegations relevant  to WTO reform .2 He conveyed that several delegations had 
emphasised the need for transparent, open, inclusive, pragmatic, and  Member -driven discussions. 
Regarding potential reform elements in the CTS, many delegations referred to its monitoring and 
deliberative function , while others mentioned its working practices . Learning from the experience of 
other WTO bodies was also deeme d valuable by certain Members . 
2.4.  At the formal CTS meeting in December 2022, some Members reiterated  the suggestion  that 
the CTS could draw inspiration from the practices of  other WTO bodies. Specific re quests for 
organising meetings of the  CTS and its subsidiary bodies back -to-back, to facilitat e Capital -based 
participation, and that the Chairperson issue an annotated agenda for future meeting s of the CTS 
were met with support.  
2.5.  Following further consultations organised by the then-Chairperson3, at its March meeting, the 
Council agreed to task the Secretariat with mapping the practices of the CTS and its most active 
subsidiary body, the Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC), in a similar manner to what had 
been done for the Council for Trade in Goods ( CTG) and its subsidiary bodies but taking due account 
of the specificities of the services context.  Additionally, Members also welcomed  the readiness of the 
Secretariat to resume its practice of organising training sessions for n ew delegates , and specifically 
requested that the session also address GATS notifications.  
 
1 WT/MIN(22)/24  
2 The Chair person 's report was subsequently circulated in document JOB/SERV/CTS/6  and 
JOB/SERV/CTS/6/Add.1 . 
3 The Chair person 's report was circulated in document  JOB/SERV/CTS/9 . S/C/65  
 
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  2.6.  The Secretariat Note mapping the CTS and CSC practices was considered at  the formal CTS 
meeting in  June.4 Delegations put forward a number of suggestions for improving the functioning of 
the CTS, and the CTS agreed that the Secretariat would compile and circulate a list of these 
suggestions for further consideration.  
2.7.  At the formal CTS meeting in October, Memb ers addressed the Secretariat compilation5 and 
considered a communication from the United Kingdom6 outlining proposals to improve the 
functioning of the CTS and its subsidiary bodies. Delegations also shared additional suggestions for 
possible improvemen ts at the meeting . It was agreed that the Chairperson would prepare, under 
her own responsibility, a report summarising the reactions to the various proposals Members had 
put forward and that an informal CTS meeting will be convened around mid -November to discuss 
next steps on the way forward.  
2.8.  At the informal CTS meeting in November, Members shared  their views  on the Chairperson's 
report7 and deliberated on the way forward. While a handful of  reform elements saw general 
convergence among Members, there was  acknowledgement that further discussion was needed 
concerning other reform proposals  summarised  in the Chairperson's report . 
2.9.  In addition, the Secretariat  gave a presentation on the use of eAgenda in the TBT Committee , 
which was well -received by Members, o ffering valuable insights for considering the use of eAgenda 
in the CTS.  Members conveyed overall support for the CTS to produce a report on reform efforts to 
the General Council.  
2.10.   At the formal CTS meeting in December, Members agreed to implement a number of further 
improvements, as detailed in Section 3.  
3  IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CTS  
3.1.  As a result of the above -mentioned process, the following improvements to the CTS  functioning  
have been introduced  or implemented , including changes which have been formally adopted and 
changes where the Secretariat has taken action following discussions in the CTS . 
3.2.  The improvements can be categorized into three broad areas : assistance to delegations to 
participate in the work of the CTS ; planning , organization  and conduct  of CTS meeting s; use of 
digital tools . This Section lists the improvements in these areas. It should not be interpreted as an 
inventory of the practices currently applied, but rather as a list of the changes that have been agreed 
or implemented since MC12.  
3.3.  With a view to assisting delegates to better participate in the work of the CTS : 
a. In Septembe r 2023, the Secretariat resumed its practice of organising training sessions 
for new delegates, covering the state of play of services discussions, other areas of work 
the Trade in Services and Investment Division is involved in, and GATS notifications. Th e 
presentations and a recording of the session were made available on a dedicated WTO 
website for Members to consult .8 
3.4.  With a view to improving the planning , organization  and conduct  of meetings:  
a. The Secretariat will maintain its practice of circulat ing the schedule of services meetings 
for the year ahead and communicates, at least three weeks in advance of each cluster, 
the schedule of the upcoming meetings with the indication of the date of the closure of 
the respective agendas . 
 
4 S/C/W/433  
5 JOB/SERV/CTS/14/Rev.1  
6 S/C/W/452  
7 JOB/SERV/CTS/19  
8 WTO | Briefing session for new delegates on the state of play of Services work and GATS notifications  S/C/65  
 
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  b. The Secretariat  makes i ts utmost efforts  to organise meetings of the CTS and its subsidiary 
bodies back -to-back to facilitate Capital -based participation.  
c. Since the beginning of 2023 , the CTS Chairperson circulates a communication containing 
an annotated agenda for the formal me etings  of the CTS . It was stressed that the 
annotated agenda needed to be factual and should be circulated at the same time as the 
airgram.  
d. The minutes of the CTS should be circulated in a timely manner, subject to delegations 
promptly sharing their statem ents with the Secretariat. The current approach for the CTS 
minutes, which are drafted in reported style and reflect all discussions, should be 
maintained.  
e. The CTS decide d that its airgram  will be circulated 15 days prior to the formal meetings 
of the CTS, instead of the current ten days , on a trial basis until  the end of 2024.  
3.5.  With a view to  improving work by  making  use of digital tools:  
a. The CTS will introduce  eAgenda on a trial basis unti l the end of 2024. 
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