Evaluating alternative approaches to GATS negotiations: Sectoral, formulae and others

Henry Gao

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511494543.009

8 - Evaluating alternative approaches to GATS negotiations: Sectoral, formulae and others

from PART 3 - The limits of request–offer negotiations: Plurilateral and alternative approaches to services liberalisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2009

Edited by

Nicole Pohl and

Marion Panizzon: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Nicole Pohl: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Pierre Sauvé: Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science, Universität Bern, Switzerland

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Summary

In addition to the request–offer approach, which predominates in the current round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the WTO Members have experimented with some alternative approaches over the years. These include negotiations along sectoral and modal lines, as well as those based on certain formulae or quantitative benchmarks. This article will discuss the lessons learnt from the negotiating experiences relating to these alternative approaches, and offer some suggestions on how the current and future GATS negotiations could benefit from the use of these approaches.

Alternative approaches in services negotiations: Experiences from the Uruguay Round

As noted by many commentators, the United States was instrumental in bringing services on to the agenda of the multilateral trading system. In early 1980, the US successfully persuaded the Trade Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to conduct a study on trade in services, which laid the groundwork for including this area of trade in multilateral trade negotiations. This did not lead to automatic inclusion of services in the trade agenda, however, as the contracting parties became engaged in a heated debate over the next few years on the desirability of regulating services trade under the framework of the GATT.

Type: Chapter
Information: GATS and the Regulation of International Trade in Services
World Trade Forum
, pp. 183 - 208

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511494543.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

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8 - Evaluating alternative approaches to GATS negotiations: Sectoral, formulae and others

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