Mar 7, 1984
LITTLE PROGRESS ON SERVICES.
GENEVA, MARCH 5 (IFDA/CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN) – There has been little advance on the "trade in services" issue in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, following last week's informal consultations, according to some of the participants.-The informal meeting, summoned at the instance of the U.S.A. and Canada has scheduled for two days, actually ended on the first day itself.- While all the OECD countries were present, some Third World countries were present while others stayed away.- Even the developing countries who attended "listened" but did not "participate actively", according to one participant.- Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Jamaica, Tunisia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Hong Kong were reported to have been present.- According to one of the participants, both Canada and the United States presented their own studies, and answered a number of questions raised by others.- However the U.S. study, presented to others through GATT, is reported to be "incomplete", and the annexure, listing the various "obstacles" that the U.S. faces in various countries over trade in services is yet to be submitted and circulated.- The U.S. study, now available to various GATT delegations, is no than an "academic exercise", and real implications would be only when it presents its annexures, and it becomes clear to what the U.S. wants them to do through negotiations, one source said.- The EEC, which was originally "cool" to the U.S. moves, has been participating in these meetings, viewing it as "a learning exercise" and without prejudice to any actual decision that the Community might take later this year on the U.S. moves.- The U.S.A. has been applying pressure at Third World capitals to persuade governments to give in over U.S. demand to negotiate services in GATT, and the EEC has been trying recently to "persuade" Third World opponents to attend the informal meetings, "at least as a learning process".- One Third World delegate present at last week’s "informal consultations" said that the presence of some of them could not be interpreted to mean that their basic opposition has been given up.-