REFERENCE PAPER ON SERVICES DOMESTIC REGULATION
SECTION I
- Members have agreed to the disciplines on Services Domestic Regulation in this Reference Paper ("disciplines") with the objective of elaborating upon the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services ("Agreement"), pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article VI of the 1
- Members recognize the difficulties which may be faced by service suppliers, particularly those of developing country Members, in complying with measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards of other Members and in particular, the specific difficulties which may be faced by service suppliers from least-developed country
- Members recognize the right to regulate, and to introduce new regulations, on the supply of services within their territories in order to meet their policy
- Members further recognize the existence of asymmetries with respect to the degree of development of services regulations in different countries, especially in the case of developing and least-developed country
- The disciplines shall not be construed to prescribe or impose any particular regulatory provisions regarding their
- The disciplines shall not be construed as diminishing any obligations of Members under the
Sectoral Coverage and Scheduling Modalities
- Members shall inscribe the disciplines in Section II in their Schedules as additional commitments under Article XVIII of the Members may choose to inscribe the alternative disciplines in Section III for their commitments in financial services.
- The disciplines inscribed pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Section apply where specific commitments are undertaken. In addition, Members are encouraged to inscribe in their Schedules additional sectors to which the disciplines
- Members may exclude the discipline set out in paragraph 22 (d) of Section II and paragraph 19 (d) of Section III from the additional commitments scheduled under paragraph 7 of this
Development
Transitional Periods for Developing Country Members
- A developing country Member may designate specific disciplines for implementation on a date after a transitional period of no longer than 7 years following the entry into force of these The scope of the designation may be limited to individual services sectors or subsectors. The transitional periods shall be inscribed in the respective Schedules of specific commitments. A developing country Member requiring an extended transitional period for implementation shall submit a request in accordance with relevant procedures.2 Members shall give sympathetic consideration to granting such requests, taking into account the specific circumstances of the Member submitting the request.
1 Members recognize that further disciplines may be developed pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article VI of the Agreement.
2 Relevant procedures include requests for a Waiver in accordance with paragraph 3 (b) of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement, or invocation of Article XXI of the GATS.
Participation of Least-Developed Country Members
- Least-developed country Members shall inscribe the disciplines pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Section in their Schedules of specific commitments, no later than 6 months in advance of their graduation from least-developed country status. Least-developed country Members may, at that time, designate transitional periods pursuant to paragraph 10 of this Section. Least- developed country Members are nonetheless encouraged to apply these disciplines before their graduation, to the extent consistent with their individual implementation
Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
- Developed and developing country Members, in a position to do so, are encouraged to provide specific technical assistance and capacity building to developing and in particular least- developed country Members, upon their request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions, aimed, inter alia, at:
- developing and strengthening institutional and regulatory capacities to regulate the supply of services and to implement these disciplines, especially provisions and sectors to which transitional periods apply;
- assisting service suppliers of developing and in particular least-developed country Members to meet the relevant requirements and procedures in export markets;
- facilitating the establishment of technical standards and facilitating participation of developing and in particular least-developed country Members facing resource constraints in the relevant international organizations; and
assisting, through public or private bodies and relevant international organizations, service suppliers of developing and in particular least-developed country Members in building their supply capacity and in complying with domestic regulation