CrossBorder Supply of Services Pattern of specific commitments

1
Cross-Border Supply of Services Pattern of
specific commitments

• WTO Symposium on Cross-Border Supply of Services
• Geneva, 28-29 April 2005
• Mireille Cossy
• Counsellor
• Trade in Services Division

2
Economic importance of each mode

• The share of individual modes in world services
  trade has been roughly estimated at
• Mode 1 35 per cent
• Mode 2 10 15 per cent
• Mode 3 50 per cent
• Mode 4 1 2 per cent

Source WTO Secretariat, 2005
3
Distribution of commitments across sectors -
Overview
Number of WTO Members
Source WTO, Trade in Services Division
4
Level of MA commitments in selected sectors for
all Members
Source R. Adlung M. Roy, Turning Hills Into
Mountains? Current Commitments Under the GATS
and Prospects for Change, Staff Working Paper
ERSD-2005-01, WTO.
5
Level of NT commitments in selected sectors for
all Members
Source Trade in Services Division, WTO, 2005
6
Type of MA commitments in selected sectors Mode
1
Source R. Adlung M. Roy, Turning Hills Into
Mountains? Current Commitments Under the GATS
and Prospects for Change, Staff Working Paper
ERSD-2005-01, WTO
7
Type of MA commitments in selected sectors Mode
1
Source R. Adlung M. Roy, Turning Hills Into
Mountains? Current Commitments Under the GATS
and Prospects for Change, Staff Working Paper
ERSD-2005-01, WTO.
8
Commitments under mode 1 general observations

• Overall, mode 1 has attracted less commitments
  than modes 2 and 3.
• Larger share of Unbound
• In general, mode 1 is consolidated as None or
  Unbound (or Unbound).
• Few limitations are used
• The level of bindings does not differ
  significantly between developed and developing
  countries
• Except recent accessions

9
Why such a low level of commitments for mode 1?

• Possible explanations
• Cross-border supply is irrelevant, i.e. not
  feasible, for a number of activities
  (Unbound)
• Hair-dressing services, for instance.
• However, assumptions regarding lack of technical
  feasibility have changed in various sectors.
• Uncertainties with regard to how to enforce
  regulatory measures with respect to suppliers
  situated abroad (?)

10
Specific commitments and actual market conditions

• Absence of specific commitments does not mean
  absence of trading opportunities!
• Access regimes are in fact relatively liberal for
  services provided over the Internet
• But specific commitments would add transparency
  and predictability.

11
Do conditional offers propose substantial
improvement for mode 1?

• Overall, initial offers are modest
• Number of Members, sectoral coverage and levels
  of commitments
• As of 15 April 2005, fifty-two offers were tabled
  (EC counted as one)
• Mode 1 remains largely unbound

12
Number of offers in selected sectors/sub-sectors
Source Trade in Services Division, 2005
13
Number of Members with commitments and offers in
selected sectors/sub-sectors
Source Trade in Services Division, 2005
14
Level of treatment of Unboundin additional
sectoral entries (MA)
of unbound in additional sectoral entries
included in offers
Source Trade in Services Division, 2005
15
In what modes are improvements to existing
sectoral entries made?
Offers of existing sectoral entries improved
Source Trade in Services Division, 2005