Section 149p. 149

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

5. Wherever appropriate, recognition should be based on

multilaterally

agreed

criteria.

In

appropriate

cases,

Members

shall

work

in

cooperation

with

relevant

intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations

towards the establishment and adoption of common

international standards and criteria for recognition and

common

international

standards

for the practice of

relevant services trades and professions.

ARTICLE VIII

Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers

1. Each Member shall ensure that any monopoly supplier

of a service in its territory does not, in the supply of the

monopoly service in the relevant market, act in a manner

inconsistent with that Member's obligations under Article

II and specific commitments.

2. Where a Member's monopoly supplier competes, either

directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of

a service outside the scope of its monopoly rights and

which is subject to that Member's specific commitments,

the Member shall ensure that such a supplier does not

abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a

manner inconsistent with such commitments.

3. The Council for Trade in Services may, at the request of

a Member which has a reason to believe that a monopoly

supplier of a service of any other Member is acting in a

manner inconsistent with paragraph 1 or 2, request the

Member establishing, maintaining or authorizing such

supplier to provide specific information concerning the

relevant operations.

4. If, after the date of entry into force of the WTO

Agreement, a Member grants monopoly rights regarding

the

supply

of

a

service

covered

by

its

specific

commitments, that Member shall notify the Council for

Trade in Services no later than three months before the

intended

implementation

of the grant of monopoly

rights and the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of

Article XXI shall apply.

5. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to cases of

exclusive service suppliers, where a Member, formally or

in effect, (a) authorizes or establishes a small number of

service

suppliers

and

(b)

substantially

prevents

competition among those suppliers in its territory.

ARTICLE IX

Business Practices

1. Members recognize that certain business practices of

service suppliers, other than those falling under Article

VIII, may restrain competition and thereby restrict trade

in services.

2. Each Member shall, at the request of any other

Member,

enter

into

consultations

with

a

view

to

eliminating practices referred to in paragraph 1. The

Member addressed shall accord full and sympathetic

consideration to such a request and shall cooperate

through the supply of publicly available non-confidential

information of relevance to the matter in question. The

Member addressed shall also provide other information

available

to

the

requesting

Member,

subject

to

its

domestic

law

and

to

the

conclusion

of satisfactory

agreement

concerning

the

safeguarding

of

its

confidentiality by the requesting Member.

ARTICLE X

Emergency Safeguard Measures

1. There shall be multilateral negotiations on the question

of emergency safeguard measures based on the principle

of non-discrimination. The results of such negotiations

shall enter into effect on a date not later than three years

from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

2. In the period before the entry into effect of the results

of

the

negotiations

referred

to in paragraph 1, any

Member

may,

notwithstanding

the

provisions

of

paragraph 1 of Article XXI, notify the Council on Trade in

Services of its intention to modify or withdraw a specific

commitment after a period of one year from the date on

which the commitment enters into force; provided that

the

Member

shows

cause

to

the

Council

that the

modification or withdrawal cannot await the lapse of the

three-year period provided for in paragraph 1 of Article

XXI.

3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall cease to apply three

years after the date of entry into force of the WTO

Agreement.

ARTICLE XI

Payments and Transfers

1. Except under the circumstances envisaged in Article XII,

a Member shall not apply restrictions on international

transfers and payments for current transactions relating

to its specific commitments.

2. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and

obligations of the members of the International Monetary

Fund under the Articles of Agreement of the Fund,

including the use of exchange actions which are in

conformity with the Articles of Agreement, provided that

a Member shall not impose restrictions on any capital

transactions inconsistently with its specific commitments

regarding such transactions, except under Article XII or at

the request of the Fund.

ARTICLE XII

Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance of Payments

1.

In

the

event

of

serious balance-of-payments and

external financial difficulties or threat thereof, a Member

may adopt or maintain restrictions on trade in services on

which it has undertaken specific commitments, including

on payments or transfers for transactions related to such

commitments. It is recognized that particular pressures

on the balance of payments of a Member in the process

of economic development or economic transition may

necessitate the use of restrictions to ensure, inter alia , the

maintenance of a level of financial reserves adequate for

the

implementation

of

its

programme of economic

development or economic transition.

2. The restrictions referred to in paragraph 1:

(a) shall not discriminate among Members;

(b) shall be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of

the International Monetary Fund;

(c) shall avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial,

economic and financial interests of any other Member;

(d) shall not exceed those necessary to deal with the

circumstances described in paragraph 1;

(e) shall be temporary and be phased out progressively as

the situation specified in paragraph 1 improves.

3. In determining the incidence of such restrictions,

Members may give priority to the supply of services which

are more essential to their economic or development

programmes. However, such restrictions shall not be

adopted or maintained for the purpose of protecting a

particular service sector.

4.

Any

restrictions

adopted

or

maintained

under

paragraph 1, or any changes therein, shall be promptly

notified to the General Council.

5. (a) Members applying the provisions of this Article shall

consult

promptly

with

the

Committee

on

Balance-of-Payments Restrictions on restrictions adopted

under this Article.

(b) The Ministerial Conference shall establish procedures

4 for periodic consultations with the objective of enabling

such recommendations to be made to the Member

concerned as it may deem appropriate.

(c)

Such

consultations

shall

assess

the

balance-of-payment situation of the Member concerned

and the restrictions adopted or maintained under this

Article, taking into account, inter alia , such factors as:

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