TISA- Modalities and Approach for Negotiations: Implications for WTO and Developing Countries

The initiative was originally led by the US and Australia, and is backed by members of the Global Services Coalition. TISA negotiations were launched in December 2012 and have taken on speed since 2013, with plurilateral negotiations taking place in Geneva parallel to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The TISA negotiating parties, known as the Real Good Friends (RGF), consist of 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, the European Union, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States, and Uruguay. China's pending application to join TISA has not yet been formally approved. The RGF countries account for around 70% of global trade in services, almost 70% of World GDP, and 23% of the World Population. The BRICS countries, which account for 13% of global services exports, have expressed opposition to TISA, citing concerns that it would cover nearly 85% of global services trade if they were to join. The TISA agreement is structured around four pillars: basic GATS provisions, GATS plus provisions, regulatory disciplines, and institutional provisions. The basic GATS provisions include scope, definitions, market access, and national treatment, as well as exceptions. The GATS plus provisions include horizontal national treatment, standstill and ratchet, and market access standards. The regulatory disciplines include domestic regulation, ICT services, logistics, financial services, maritime transport, government procurement, and other areas. The institutional provisions include accession, multilateralization, dispute settlement, and other matters. As of the July 2015 meeting on the Trade in Services Agreement, the negotiations were ongoing, with a regular negotiating round and a stocktaking meeting that reviewed all negotiating topics, from offers to proposals to draft text. The 25-member group is set to meet two more times in 2015, with trade officials aiming to hold another stocktaking exercise in early 2016. The sectors being negotiated include international maritime transport services, air transport services, financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications services, movement of natural persons, professional services, competitive delivery services, and government procurement. Possible additional elements to include in the TISA agreement include liberalized temporary movement (Mode 4), stronger disciplines on regulatory coherence, government procurement, competition policy, mutual recognition, transparency, small and medium-sized enterprises, and global value chains. Progress in the TISA negotiations has been made in areas such as financial services and domestic regulation, telecommunications services, Mode 4, and e-commerce, but other areas, such as maritime transport, transparency, and environment services, have advanced to a lesser degree.