ONLY FEW SERVICES OFFERS TRICKLE IN BY END-MARCH DEADLINE

A few countries have recently submitted their initial offers of services liberalisation, adhering to an end-March deadline. According to the negotiating mandate on services that WTO Members agreed at Doha in 2001, "participants shall submit initial requests for specific commitments by 30 June 2002 and initial offers by 31 March 2003". The countries presenting their offers to the Council on Trade in Services (CTS) by the deadline -- mainly developed countries -- included the Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. The EU was not yet able to agree on its offer, but is expected to present it over the next few weeks. Switzerland said it would submit its proposal by 15 April. The offers are not publicly available. The WTO Secretariat indicated it expected offers to trickle in up until the next WTO Ministerial in September.
The fact that only a few Members presented their services offers, with developing countries notably absent, is seen by some as a reaction to the many other deadlines missed in the current round of negotiations (i.e. TRIPS and health, implementation issues and concerns, special and differential treatment for developing countries, and agriculture). While many countries -- both developed and developing -- are interested in the current services negotiations, developing countries have seen no rush in this area, as deadlines essential to their interest have lapsed. Up to date, only about 30-plus developing countries have presented their services requests and none have presented offers. The US services offer is, according to some trade sources, becoming an important benchmark for other countries engaged in the services request- offer exercise, that have yet to submit their offers. The US services offer has politically kicked the ball of the request phase pushing other countries to do the same, and showing the intent to go ahead in the services area even when overall negotiations are stalling.

Regarding its content, the US proposal covers sectors such as financial services, legal services, telecommunications, express delivery, energy services, healthcare, higher education, and environmental services. The proposal consolidates much of existing liberalisation in US law, and goes further in certain particular areas. The US request does not make offers in certain monopoly supply services, including the US postal services, or in certain sub-sectors, such as water supply services. All subsidies delivered under modes 1 and 2 (cross border supply and consumption abroad) were not committed under national treatment column (unbound), and the same holds for many of the subsidies under mode 3 (foreign commercial presence). According the US Trade Representative interpretation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the proposed offer will not interfere or affect: regulatory interests; specific assistance programmes to US citizens or minorities; or the autonomy of US educational institutions. Some US NGOs have reacted negatively to the US proposal. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has indicated its concern that the US services offer, "affects US state law. Trade negotiations could rewrite wide swaths of local law without the knowledge or vote of state legislatures and state attorneys general" and noted a lack of about consultations during the preparation of the services offer. Informally, various NGOs are celebrating that Canada, the US and the EU have made or plan to make their respective offers public, and call for full transparency as a rule in negotiations rather than an isolated incident.

ICTSD reporting; "Trade Facts", USTR, 31 March 2003; "Bush prepares to put U.S. Service Sectors on the negotiations table at WTO", PUBLIC CITIZEN and IATP, 31 March 2003.