WTO Countries Support Advancing Services Trade Deal; USTR Agrees

July 5, 2012 by Mike Feazel|USTR

"It is time" to bring talks aimed at a World Trade Organization agreement in trade in services "back to Geneva with the ultimate aim of reinforcing and strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system," a group of WTO member nations, including the U.S., said in a statement.

"We plan to move our exploratory discussions to a new phase aimed at clearly defining the contours of an ambitious agreement on trade in services to allow us to undertake any necessary consultations or procedures prior to any negotiations," the statement said: "Such an agreement would aim to capture a substantial part of the liberalization achieved in other negotiations on trade in services. The outcomes of the agreement could then be brought into the multilateral system."

In addition to the U.S., signatories include Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the European Union, Hong Kong China, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and Turkey.

The parties said an agreement on trade in services should:

Be comprehensive, including substantial sectoral coverage with no a priori exclusion of any sector or mode of supply.
Include market access commitments that correspond as closely as possible to actual practice and provide opportunities for improved market access.
Contain new and enhanced rules developed through negotiations.

The group said it would encourage other WTO Members who support their goals to join the effort: "We are considering how to further broaden participation of developing countries and how to take into account the interests of least-developed countries." They said they plan to intensify their work on the services trade agreement beginning in September.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said "the services discussion is one of the most constructive and productive activities happening in Geneva right now -- a hopeful counterpoint to recent years of impasse in the Doha talks -- and it is good news that they are moving forward. ... I'm confident that this effort has the potential to expand, succeed, and ultimately strengthen the multilateral trading system, facilitating global trade in services and supporting jobs for workers in this vital sector."