Annual Report of the Working Party on GATS Rules to the Council for Trade in Services (2005)

1.Since its annual report for 2004, the Working Party on GATS Rules held three formal meetings: on 24 November 2004, on 7 February 2005, and on 20 June 2005. The three negotiating mandates the Working Party is entrusted with were put on the agenda of each meeting: emergency safeguard measures (Article X), government procurement (Article XIII), and subsidies (Article XV). The Working Party also held one informal meeting.
2.In the three areas, discussions referred to the need to consider work priorities in the context of upcoming key timelines and the current state of discussions, including as mentioned by the Chairperson in the annotated agenda circulated as JOB(05)/115. Various delegations expressed concerns regarding the lack of progress across the three areas of negotiations as well as the information exchange foreseen in paragraph 1 of Article XV.