THE MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES INVOLVED

The GATS is a relatively new agreement. National administrations thus have less experience in dealing with GATS-related issues than with “traditional” trade problems under the GATT, and they do not normally have a central structure for co-ordinating their services-related policies. A wide range of ministries and agencies at various government levels may be involved.

Regulation of services often occurs in fact at sub-federal levels (state/province/municipality or parish) or, in some instances (e.g., professional licensing), has been delegated to private-sector organizations. A related challenge is the fact that there are some 160 service sub-sectors involved, which would be difficult for any central agency to oversee. In order to ensure compliance with existing obligations, and to participate effectively in the new round, national administrations may find it useful to create sector- or issue-related working groups. Table 2 suggests how such groups might be composed.

Given the regulatory intensity of many service activities and the range of sectors involved, proper co-ordination and information across agencies and government levels is critical for at least three purposes:

1. (i) ensuring awareness of the types of GATS-related measures falling under a ministry's or agency's jurisdiction;

2. (ii) ensuring that each ministry/agency has properly identified and analyzed – against the background of existing GATS obligations, including specific commitments – its current use of measures; and

3. (iii) ensuring that, in preparing new measures, relevant GATS obligations – including notification requirements – are taken into account and complied with.

As noted before, apart from specific commitments, there are in principle two types of legal obligations under the Agreement: unconditional obligations that apply across all services covered by the GATS, and conditional obligations that apply only to sectors where specific commitments have been made.