Section 151p. 151

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

service supplier may employ and who are necessary for,

and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in

the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an

economic needs test;

(e) measures which restrict or require specific types of

legal entity or joint venture through which a service

supplier may supply a service; and

(f) limitations on the participation of foreign capital in

terms

of

maximum

percentage

limit

on

foreign

shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate

foreign investment.

ARTICLE XVII

National Treatment

1. In the sectors inscribed in its Schedule, and subject to

any conditions and qualifications set out therein, each

Member shall accord to services and service suppliers of

any other Member, in respect of all measures affecting

the supply of services, treatment no less favourable than

that it accords to its own like services and service

suppliers. 10

2. A Member may meet the requirement of paragraph 1

by according to services and service suppliers of any

other Member, either formally identical treatment or

formally different treatment to that it accords to its own

like services and service suppliers.

3. Formally identical or formally different treatment shall

be considered to be less favourable if it modifies the

conditions of competition in favour of services or service

suppliers of the Member compared to like services or

service suppliers of any other Member.

ARTICLE XVIII

Additional Commitments

Members may negotiate commitments with respect to

measures

affecting

trade

in services not subject to

scheduling under Articles XVI or XVII, including those

regarding qualifications, standards or licensing matters.

Such commitments shall be inscribed in a Member's

Schedule.

PART IV Progressive Liberalization

ARTICLE XIX

Negotiation of Specific Commitments

1. In pursuance of the objectives of this Agreement,

Members

shall

enter

into

successive

rounds

of

negotiations, beginning not later than five years from the

date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement and

periodically

thereafter,

with

a

view

to

achieving

a

progressively

higher

level

of

liberalization.

Such

negotiations

shall

be

directed

to

the

reduction

or

elimination of the adverse effects on trade in services of

measures as a means of providing effective market

access. This process shall take place with a view to

promoting the interests of all participants on a mutually

advantageous basis and to securing an overall balance of

rights and obligations.

2. The process of liberalization shall take place with due

respect for national policy objectives and the level of

development of individual Members, both overall and in

individual sectors. There shall be appropriate flexibility for

individual

developing

country

Members

for opening

fewer sectors, liberalizing fewer types of transactions,

progressively extending market access in line with their

development situation and, when making access to their

markets available to foreign service suppliers, attaching

to

such

access

conditions

aimed

at

achieving

the

objectives referred to in Article IV.

3. For each round, negotiating guidelines and procedures

shall be established. For the purposes of establishing

such guidelines, the Council for Trade in Services shall

carry out an assessment of trade in services in overall

terms and on a sectoral basis with reference to the

objectives of this Agreement, including those set out in

paragraph 1 of Article IV. Negotiating guidelines shall

establish modalities for the treatment of liberalization

undertaken autonomously by Members since previous

negotiations, as well as for the special treatment for

least-developed country Members under the provisions of

paragraph 3 of Article IV.

4.

The

process

of

progressive liberalization shall be

advanced

in

each

such

round

through

bilateral,

plurilateral or multilateral negotiations directed towards

increasing the general level of specific commitments

undertaken by Members under this Agreement.

ARTICLE XX

Schedules of Specific Commitments

1. Each Member shall set out in a schedule the specific

commitments

it

undertakes

under

Part

III

of

this

Agreement.

With

respect

to

sectors

where

such

commitments

are

undertaken,

each

Schedule

shall

specify:

(a) terms, limitations and conditions on market access;

(b) conditions and qualifications on national treatment;

(c) undertakings relating to additional commitments;

(d) where appropriate the time-frame for implementation

of such commitments; and

(e) the date of entry into force of such commitments.

2. Measures inconsistent with both Articles XVI and XVII

shall be inscribed in the column relating to Article XVI. In

this case the inscription will be considered to provide a

condition or qualification to Article XVII as well.

3. Schedules of specific commitments shall be annexed to

this Agreement and shall form an integral part thereof.

ARTICLE XXI

Modification of Schedules

1.

(a)

A

Member

(referred

to in this Article as the

"modifying

Member")

may

modify

or

withdraw

any

commitment in its Schedule, at any time after three years

have elapsed from the date on which that commitment

entered into force, in accordance with the provisions of

this Article.

(b) A modifying Member shall notify its intent to modify

or withdraw a commitment pursuant to this Article to the

Council for Trade in Services no later than three months

before

the intended date of implementation of the

modification or withdrawal.

2. (a) At the request of any Member the benefits of which

under this Agreement may be affected (referred to in this

Article

as

an

"affected

Member")

by

a

proposed

modification or withdrawal notified under subparagraph

1(b), the modifying Member shall enter into negotiations

with a view to reaching agreement on any necessary

compensatory

adjustment.

In such negotiations and

agreement, the Members concerned shall endeavour to

maintain

a

general

level

of

mutually

advantageous

commitments not less favourable to trade than that

provided for in Schedules of specific commitments prior

to such negotiations.

(b)

Compensatory

adjustments shall be made on a

most-favoured-nation basis.

3. (a) If agreement is not reached between the modifying

Member and any affected Member before the end of the

period provided for negotiations, such affected Member

may refer the matter to arbitration. Any affected Member

that wishes to enforce a right that it may have to

compensation must participate in the arbitration.

(b) If no affected Member has requested arbitration, the

modifying

Member

shall

be free to implement the

proposed modification or withdrawal.

4.

(a)

The

modifying

Member

may

not

modify

or

withdraw

its

commitment

until

it

has

made

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