Since its 2024 annual report to the Council for Trade in Services[1], the Committee on Specific Commitments (CSC) held four formal meetings, on 5 December 2024, 11 March 2025, 11 June 2025 and 1 October 2025 respectively.[2] At these meetings, the Committee considered two items: Classification and Scheduling Issues; and the Functioning of the Committee in the Context of WTO Reform. On 30 September 2025, the Committee held a thematic session on services classification related to the environment.[3]

1  Classification and scheduling issues

1.1.  Under this agenda item, the Committee focused on the classification of environmental services and engaged in substantive discussions.

1.2.  At the meetings on 5 December 2024, 11 March and 11 June 2025, the Committee considered a Communication (_S/CSC/W/77) from the delegation of Canada which proposed that a thematic session be held to share experience and information on services classification related to the environment with a view to advancing the discussions on the critical role of services trade in environmental sustainability and deepening Members' collective understanding of broader perspectives in this area.

1.3.  Following the discussions at the meetings of 11 March and 11 June 2025 and the agreement reached at the meeting of 11 June 2025, the proposed thematic session took place on 30 September 2025 in informal mode. The session comprised three parts – a Secretariat overview of past CSC discussions on environmental services classification, information sharing by four international institutions (UNSD, OECD, EUROSTAT, APEC) on their relevant work, and experience sharing by Members in recent relevant policy initiatives. At the meeting on 1 October 2025, the Chairperson debriefed Members on the thematic session. The valuable information and insights shared at the thematic session were recognized.

1.4.  At the meeting on 11 March 2025, the Committee considered a Communication (_S/CSC/W/79) from Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Switzerland with respect to their Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). The Communication highlighted the ACCTS' contribution in defining and classifying environmental and environmentally related services and its relevance to the Committee's work. The Communication generated strong interest in the innovative approach of the ACCTS and gained broad support for further discussions. However, some Members raised concerns on further discussions.

1.5.  At the meeting on 11 June 2025, the Committee discussed a Communication (_S/CSC/W/80) from the United Kingdom which reviewed the latest classifications of environmental and environmentally related services recently referred to in the Committee, namely, the APEC Reference List and the ACCTS list. The UK Communication provided a detailed comparison between the two classification lists and led to substantive discussions on suggested questions.

1.6.  At the meeting on 1 October 2025, the Committee also discussed potential future work. In this respect, willingness was expressed to continue the discussion in line with the MC13 mandate to reinvigorate work on trade in services. However, some Members raised concerns on further discussions and future work. The UK delegation indicated that it would update its Communication based on the feedback in the Committee and information shared at the thematic session.

2  Functioning of the Committee in the context of wto reforM

2.1.  At the meeting on 5 December 2024, the Committee agreed to continue to implement the 15‑day convening notice and "eAgenda" for formal meetings.

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