Section 150p. 150

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

(i) the nature and extent of the balance-of-payments and

the external financial difficulties;

(ii) the external economic and trading environment of the

consulting Member;

(iii)

alternative

corrective

measures

which

may

be

available.

(d) The consultations shall address the compliance of any

restrictions with paragraph 2, in particular the progressive

phaseout of restrictions in accordance with paragraph

2(e).

(e) In such consultations, all findings of statistical and

other facts presented by the International Monetary Fund

relating to foreign exchange, monetary reserves and

balance of payments, shall be accepted and conclusions

shall be based on the assessment by the Fund of the

balance-of-payments and the external financial situation

of the consulting Member.

6. If a Member which is not a member of the International

Monetary Fund wishes to apply the provisions of this

Article, the Ministerial Conference shall establish a review

procedure and any other procedures necessary.

ARTICLE XIII

Government Procurement

1.

Articles

II,

XVI

and

XVII

shall

not apply to laws,

regulations or requirements governing the procurement

by governmental agencies of services purchased for

governmental

purposes

and

not

with

a

view

to

commercial resale or with a view to use in the supply of

services for commercial sale.

2. There shall be multilateral negotiations on government

procurement in services under this Agreement within

two years from the date of entry into force of the WTO

Agreement.

ARTICLE XIV

General Exceptions

Subject to the requirement that such measures are not

applied in a manner which would constitute a means of

arbitrary

or

unjustifiable

discrimination

between

countries where like conditions prevail, or a disguised

restriction on trade in services, nothing in this Agreement

shall

be

construed

to

prevent

the

adoption

or

enforcement by any Member of measures:

(a) necessary to protect public morals or to maintain

public order; 5

(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or

health;

(c)

necessary

to

secure

compliance

with

laws

or

regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions

of this Agreement including those relating to:

(i) the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or

to deal with the effects of a default on services contracts;

(ii) the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation

to the processing and dissemination of personal data and

the protection of confidentiality of individual records and

accounts;

(iii) safety;

(d)

inconsistent

with

Article

XVII, provided that the

difference

in

treatment

is

aimed

at

ensuring

the

equitable or effective 6 imposition or collection of direct

taxes in respect of services or service suppliers of other

Members;

(e)

inconsistent

with

Article

II,

provided

that

the

difference in treatment is the result of an agreement on

the avoidance of double taxation or provisions on the

avoidance of double taxation in any other international

agreement or arrangement by which the Member is

bound.

ARTICLE XIV bis

Security Exceptions

1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:

(a) to require any Member to furnish any information, the

disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential

security interests; or

(b) to prevent any Member from taking any action which

it considers necessary for the protection of its essential

security interests:

(i) relating to the supply of services as carried out directly

or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military

establishment;

(ii) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the

materials from which they are derived;

(iii)

taken

in

time

of

war

or

other

emergency

in

international relations; or

(c) to prevent any Member from taking any action in

pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations

Charter for the maintenance of international peace and

security.

2. The Council for Trade in Services shall be informed to

the fullest extent possible of measures taken under

paragraphs 1(b) and (c) and of their termination.

ARTICLE XV

Subsidies

1. Members recognize that, in certain circumstances,

subsidies may have distortive effects on trade in services.

Members shall enter into negotiations with a view to

developing the necessary multilateral disciplines to avoid

such trade-distortive effects. 7 The negotiations shall also

address

the

appropriateness

of

countervailing

procedures. Such negotiations shall recognize the role of

subsidies in relation to the development programmes of

developing countries and take into account the needs of

Members, particularly developing country Members, for

flexibility

in

this

area.

For

the

purpose

of

such

negotiations,

Members

shall

exchange

information

concerning all subsidies related to trade in services that

they provide to their domestic service suppliers.

2. Any Member which considers that it is adversely

affected by a subsidy of another Member may request

consultations with that Member on such matters. Such

requests shall be accorded sympathetic consideration.

PART III Specific Commitments

ARTICLE XVI

Market Access

1. With respect to market access through the modes of

supply identified in Article I, each Member shall accord

services and service suppliers of any other Member

treatment no less favourable than that provided for under

the

terms,

limitations

and

conditions

agreed

and

specified in its Schedule. 8

2. In sectors where market-access commitments are

undertaken, the measures which a Member shall not

maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional

subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless

otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:

(a) limitations on the number of service suppliers whether

in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive

service suppliers or the requirements of an economic

needs test;

(b) limitations on the total value of service transactions or

assets

in

the

form

of

numerical

quotas

or

the

requirement of an economic needs test;

(c)limitations on the total number of service operations or

on the total quantity of service output expressed in terms

of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or

the requirement of an economic needs test; 9

(d) limitations on the total number of natural persons that

may be employed in a particular service sector or that a

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