ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS
TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES (2023)

Since its 2022 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services[1], the Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC) held four formal meetings, on 5 December 2022, 10 March 2023, 15 June 2023 and 2 October 2023 respectively.[2] At these meetings, the Committee considered four items: Implementation of Specific Commitments, Classification Issues, Scheduling Issues, and the Functioning of the Committee in the Context of WTO Reform.

1  implementation of specific commitments

1.1.  During the reporting period, the Committee continued to consider a proposal (_S/CSC/W/73) from the delegation of Türkiye on implementation issues related to specific commitments and Article II (MFN) on cross-border supply of road transport services under the GATS. The proposal mainly raised three issues for discussion in the Committee: 1) the compatibility of imposing truck quotas with full market access commitments in Mode 1 on road transport services; 2) the understanding of "Unbound" in market access and "None" in national treatment with respect to cross-border supply of road transport; and 3) the MFN obligation with respect to all measures affecting international road transport including truck quotas, passage fees, customs measures, etc. At the meeting on 5 December 2022, the Turkish delegation made a detailed presentation providing more clarity on its proposal with a view to helping Members better understand the issues raised.

1.2.  At the meeting on 15 June 2023, as agreed, the representatives from the UNESCAP, the World Bank and the International Transport Forum (ITF) of OECD were invited to present their work on cross-border road transport with a focus on the quota system, the core issue raised in the Turkish proposal. The purpose of these presentations was to facilitate further discussions on the Turkish proposal.

1.3.  At the meeting on 2 October 2023, the delegation of Türkiye suggested that the Committee consider a formal “Understanding on Interpretation of Obligations in Cross Border Supply of Road Freight Transport Services”. According to Türkiye, such document would include three elements: 1) an updated assessment on the current international outlook of international road freight transportation services; 2) a comparison of multilateral quota schemes with bilateral arrangements; 3) an analysis or a depiction of the scheduling methods by Members on international road freight transportation.

1.4.  Engagement in the discussion on the Turkish proposal has been limited. Some Members noted the complexity of the issues involved, while others cautioned that the interpretation of specific commitments would go beyond the mandate of the Committee. The Chairperson would hold consultations on how to move forward under this agenda item.

2  classification issues

2.1.  At the meeting on 5 December 2022, the UN Statistics Division and the WTO Secretariat presented a new functionality of the visualization tool that enabled the navigation between the W/120 and the different CPC versions. This visualization tool is now accessible through the trade in services portal at the WTO website.

2.2.  At the meeting on 15 June 2023, the WTO Secretariat made a presentation on Version 2 of the Handbook on the Measurement of Digital Trade. The presentation highlighted the latest developments in the measurement of digital trade by the international statistical community with a focus on the conceptual framework, trade in services, and related classification challenges.

3  scheduling issues

3.1.  At the meetings on 15 June and 2 October 2023, the Committee discussed the idea of inviting APEC to present its Model Schedule of Commitments for Environmental and Environmentally Related Services. While this idea received general support from delegations, one delegation advised that the presentation be made by an AEPC member given that APEC was not an observer of this Committee. The Chairperson would hold consultations on how to move forward under this agenda item.

4  functioning of the Committee in the context of wto reforM

4.1.  At the meeting on 2 October 2023, the Committee started to consider the functioning of the Committee in the context of WTO Reform. The Chairperson would hold consultations to seek Members' contribution in this respect.

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