WTO Working Group

Officers
Objectives
Resources


Officers

• Steve Nelson (Hong Kong SAR) - Chair
• Hans-Jurgen Hellwig (Germany)
• Juan Javier Negri (Argentina)
• Gunther Horvath (Austria)
• Russell Miller (Australia)
• Michael Adcock (South Africa)
• Laurel Terry (USA)
• Kimitoshi  Yabuki (Japan)
• Jonathan Goldsmith (Belgium)
• Brian Wallace (Canada)
• Claus von Wobeser (Mexico)
• Mfon Ekong Usoro (Nigeria)
• Akintunde Williams (Nigeria)
• Bernard Vatier (France)
• Ken Reisenfeld (USA)
• Akira Kawamura (Japan)

Objectives

To monitor the work of the WTO Globally and provide information and guidance to Bar Associations and Law Societies to answer questions potentially raised by trade negotiators from their own countries.

Resources

GATS Background Information

The GATS, http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/26-gats.doc 

General Agreement on Trade in Services: A Handbook for International Bar Association Member Bars
Click here to download

Powerpoint Presentation  Introduction to the GATS and Legal Services (presented at 5-05 Lisbon BIC Business Meeting)
Click here to download

WTO Council for Trade in Services, Background Note by the Secretariat: Legal Services, S/C/W/ 43 (July 6, 1998) http://www.abanet.org/cpr/gats/bkground_note.pdf

Documents related to GATS Track 1 - the Doha Market Access Negotiations
  
DOHA ROUND REQUESTS and OFFERS

WTO Summary of State of Play of Doha Round Services Offers – July 2005

WTO Summary of the State of Play of the Doha Round – July 2005

Links to Doha Round initial offers and revised offers -

http://www.esf.be/003/004.html and

 http://www.esf.be/003/008.html

Chart summarizing content of  legal services offers  [coming soon]

Click here for OECD, Managing Request-Offer Negotiations Under The GATS: The Case Of Legal Services (June 14, 2004)

Click here for the WTO Predefined Reports showing 1994 Legal Services Commitments

CLASSIFICATION ISSUES:

IBA resolution on Legal Services Terminology, http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/WTO_Resolution_in_Support_of_System_of_Terminolog_for_Legal_Services.pdf

WTO Joint Statement on Legal Services Classification, http://www.abanet.org/cpr/gats/final_statement.pdf

Materials Submitted to the Technical subgroup (TSG) of the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications by Prof. Laurel S. Terry, representing the International Bar Association http://unstats.un.org/unsd/class/intercop/techsubgroup/04-10/papers/27-IBA%20documents.pdf , (191 page pdf file collecting classification information for legal services)

Documents related to GATS Track 2 - the "Disciplines" Issue

Click here to read a report on the about the WTO Working Group's meeting in Geneva that provides even greater detail about the ongoing GATS Track 2 "disciplines" negotiations

IBA Resolution on the Accountancy Disciplines, http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/WTO_Resolution_on_Disciplines_for_the_Accountancy_Sector.pdf

Annotated Copy of the WTO Accountancy Disciplines Showing the IBA's Recommended Changes, http://www.abanet.org/cpr/gats/iba_disp.pdf

WTO Proposed Legal Services Disciplines Paper presented by Australia, http://www.abanet.org/cpr/gats/aus_disp.pdf


Relevant IBA Resolutions

IBA Statement of General Principles for the Establishment and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers (Adopted at IBA Council Meeting, Vienna, June 1998)http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/Statement%20of%20General%20Principles%20for%20Regulation%20of%20Foreign%20Lawyers%201998.pdf

Standards and Criteria for Recognition of the Professional Qualifications of Lawyers (Adopted/Agreed at IBA Council Meeting, Istanbul, June 2001)
http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/Standards%20and%20Criteria%for%20Recognition%20of%20Qualifications%20of%20Lawyers%202001.pdf

IBA Resolution in Support of a System of Terminology for Legal Services for the Purposes of International Trade Negotiations (Adopted at IBA Council Meeting, San Francisco, September 2003) http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/WTO_Resolution_in_Support_of_System_of_Terminolog_for_Legal_Services.pdf

Communication to the World Trade Organisation on the Suitability of Applying to the Legal Profession the WTO Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector (Adopted at IBA Council Meeting, San Francisco, September 2003) http://www.ibanet.org/images/downloads/WTO_Resolution_on_Disciplines_for_the_Accountancy_Sector.pdf

Relevant Links

WTO Links

    1.  Links to WTO Services Documents http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/serv_e/s_coun_e.htm

    2.  Links to the WTO Document Search Engine http://docsonline.wto.org/gen_home.asp?language=1&_=1

BAR ASSOCIATION GATS Webpages

  1. Click here for the ABA GATS-Legal Services Webpage 

  2.   Click here for the Canadian Bar Association GATS page 

  3.  CCBE GATS Committee, http://www.ccbe.org/en/comites/gats_en.htm