Domestic Regulation and Service Trade Liberalization

Description

Trade in services, far more than trade in goods, is affected by a variety of domestic regulations, ranging from qualification and licensing requirements in professional services to pro-competitive regulation in telecommunications services. Experience shows that the quality of regulation strongly influences the consequences of trade liberalization. WTO members have agreed that a central task in the ongoing services negotiations will be to develop a set of rules to ensure that domestic regulations support rather than impede trade liberalization. Since these rules are bound to have a profound impact on the evolution of policy, particularly in developing countries, it is important that they be conducive to economically rational policy-making.
This book addresses two central questions: What impact can international trade rules on services have on the exercise of domestic regulatory sovereignty? And how can services negotiations be harnessed to promote and consolidate domestic policy reform across highly diverse sectors? The book, with contributions from several of the world's leading experts in the field, explores a range of rule-making challenges arising at this policy interface, in areas such as transparency, standards and the adoption of a necessity test for services trade. Contributions also provide an in-depth look at these issues in the key areas of accountancy, energy, finance, health, telecommunications and transportation services.

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 29 août 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 30
• EAN13: 9780821383438
• Langue: English

Extrait

“International barriers to services trade are deeply intertwined with national regulatory,
investment, and immigration policies. Accordingly, the liberalization of trade in services
is considerably more complex than the liberalization of trade in goods. Sector-specific
issues abound. This volume sheds much light on the challenges facing the trading
community in this area, with essays from a distinguished group of authors. Academics
and policymakers with an interest in this vitally important and dynamic area should
find the volume of great value.”
— ALAN O. SYKES
Frank and Bernice Greenberg Professor of Law and Director for Curriculum
University of Chicago Law School
“Services liberalization has been and will continue to be the engine of trade liberalization,
if that outcome is to occur at all. Mattoo and Sauvé provide one of the best guides to
services trade and all its technicalities, ups and downs. It is must reading for all those
concerned, as I am, about the future of the world trade order.”
— ROBERT LITAN
Vice President and Director Economic Studies Program
The Brookings Institution
“This book is a welcome and timely addition to the small but growing list of publications
on the vital subject of international trade in services. With a new trade negotiation
in process, the insights provided by this group of authors about the impact of the GATS
on domestic economic regulation will be extraordinarily useful.”
— JOHN H. JACKSON
University Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center (GULC),
Washington, D.C.; Editor in Chief, Journal of International Economic Law
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ISBN 0-8213-5408-6Domestic
Regulation and
Service Trade
LiberalizationDomestic
Regulation and
Service Trade
Liberalization
Aaditya Mattoo and Pierre Sauvé, Editors
A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press© 2003 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
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All rights reserved.
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A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.
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Cover artwork done by Karine Anglade.
ISBN 0-8213-5408-6CONTENTS
PART I INTRODUCTION
1.Domestic Regulation and Trade in Services:Key Issues1
Aaditya Mattoo
Pierre Sauvé
PART II HORIZONTAL PERSPECTIVES
2.Transparency in Domestic Regulation:Practices and Possibilities7
Keiya Iida
Julia Nielson
3.Addressing Regulatory Divergence through International Standards:27
Financial Services
Joel P. Trachtman
4.Regulatory Discrimination in Domestic United States Law:43
A Model for the GATS?
David W. Leebron
5.Lessons for the GATS from Existing WTO Rules on Domestic Regulation57
Joel P. Trachtmanvi Domestic Regulation and Service Trade Liberalization
PART III SECTORAL PERSPECTIVES
6.Domestic Regulation and Trade in Telecommunications Services:Experience83
and Prospects under the GATS
Daniel Roseman
7.GATS Regulatory Disciplines Meet Global Public Goods:109
The Case of Transportation Services
Richard Janda
8.Regulatory Reform and Trade Liberalization in Financial Services129
Stijn Claessens
9.Regulatory Reform and Trade Liberalization in Accountancy Services 147
Claude Trolliet
John Hegarty
10.Strengthening WTO Member Commitments in Energy Services:167
Problems and Prospects
Peter C. Evans
11.Regulation ofHealth Services and International Trade Law 191
David Luff
PART IV LOOKING AHEAD: THE GATS WORK PROGRAM
12.Domestic Regulation and Trade in Services:Looking Ahead221
Aaditya Mattoo
Pierre Sauvé
Authors and Their Affiliations231
Index233ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the British government’s This volume benefited greatly from the insight-
Department for International Development, the ful comments of the discussants at the conference.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Their contributions could unfortunately not be
Development, and the World Bank for their gener- included in this volume for reasons of space but
ous financial and administrative support. We are can be accessed through the OECD website. Our
grateful to Anders Ahlind, Dale Andrews, David profound thanks are due to Johannes Bernabe,
Hartridge, Ken Heydon, Bernard Hoekman, and Roberto Bosch, Thomas Chan, Elbey Borrero Del-
Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh for their guidance on dif- gado, Ambassador Torbjorn Froysnes, Scott Gal-
ferent aspects of the project. Kamal Saggi and Mau- lacher, Ulriche Hauer, Ambassador Alejandro Jara,
rice Schiff provided valuable comments on the Hugo Cayrus Maurin, Malcolm McKinnon, Jan-
manuscript. Julia Nielson made numerous contri- Peter Mout, Jose F. Poblano, Vincent Sachetti,
butions and played a central role in organizing the Sebastian Saez, Sergio Rodrigues dos Santos,
conference in March 2002 where the papers were Andrea Spear, and Pimchanok Vonkhorporn.
first presented. Ann Katoh set up and managed the
conference website with remarkable efficiency.
Thanks are due to Susan Graham for being a
superb production editor and Santiago Pombo- Aaditya Mattoo
Bejarano for his wise guidance on the publication Pierre Sauvé
process. June 18, 20031
DOMESTIC
REGULATION AND
TRADE IN SERVICES:
KEY ISSUES
Aaditya Mattoo
Pierre Sauvé
Background
The General Agreement on Trade in Services
Trade in services, far more than trade in goods, is (GATS) explicitly recognizes “the right of Members
affected by a variety of domestic regulations, rang- to regulate, and to introduce new regulations on,
ing from qualification and licensing requirements the supply of services within their territories in
and procedures in professional services, procom- order to meet national policy objectives and, given
petitive regulation in telecommunications, and asymmetries existing with respect to the degree of
other network services, to universal access require- development of services regulations in different
ments in health and education services. The quality countries, the particular need of developing coun-
of regulation may strongly influence the social and tries to exercise this right.” Despite such language
economic effects of trade and investment liberal- and the deference to regulatory autonomy and
ization, as the recent experience in financial ser- national preferences embedded in it, the interface
vices so clearly demonstrated. between domestic regulation and trade and invest-
Members of the World Trade Organization ment liberalization in services has spawned a lively
(WTO) have agreed that a central task in the ongo- public policy debate, particularly in developed
ing set of services negotiations will be to further countries.
develop rules to ensure that domestic regulations The progressive liberalization, not deregulation,
support rather than impede the opening of services of services trade is the goal of the GATS. A common
markets to trade and investment. Because these misunderstanding in the public policy debate over
rules are bound to have a significant effect on the the GATS is use of the terms “liberalization” and
evolution of domestic services policy, it is impor- “deregulation” interchangeably, as if they were syn-
tant that they be conducive to economically onyms. They are not, and it is simply wrong to
rational policymaking while preserving the regula- equate regulations with trade restrictions. Services
tory autonomy required to pursue and achieve liberalization, indeed, often requires regulation
domestic policy objectives. or re-regulation, but such regulation, whether for
The authors are grateful to Anders Anhlid, Ken Heydon, and Julia Nielson for helpful comments and suggestions in
drafting this chapter.
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