New disciplines on regulation of services trade enter into force for four more members
A total of 72 economies — comprising 70 WTO members and two acceding members (Timor-Leste and Comoros) — are committed to implementing the new disciplines. Ecuador is the latest WTO member to have confirmed its commitment, requesting to become a participant in the Declaration on the Conclusion of Negotiations on Services Domestic Regulation.
With the latest additions of Albania, Canada, El Salvador and the Republic of Korea, the disciplines are now in force for 49 WTO members. In addition, eight more members will notify the entry into force of the disciplines when they complete their domestic procedures. These are Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Paraguay and Ukraine.
The disciplines on services domestic regulation seek to mitigate unintended trade-restrictive effects of measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and procedures and technical standards. By promoting transparency, predictability and due process, their goal is to make the regulatory environment of participating economies more conducive to business, especially for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as women entrepreneurs.
The disciplines will be part of WTO members' schedules of specific commitments. They will be applied on a “most-favoured nation” basis, meaning that they will benefit all WTO members. Research by the WTO finds that their implementation will help to reduce services trade costs by 10 per cent for lower-middle income economies and 14 per cent for upper‑middle income economies, with overall savings of USD 127 billion. If all WTO members implement the disciplines, large welfare and trade increases are projected, especially for developing economies. By 2032, global real income is projected to increase by at least 0.3 per cent, representing USD 301 billion and global service exports are expected to rise by 0.8 per cent, amounting to USD 206 billion.
The 2021 Declaration setting out the disciplines on services domestic regulation can be found here. The full list of schedules incorporating the disciplines on services domestic regulation can be accessed here.
A factsheet on Services Domestic Regulation can be found here and a video explaining the outcome on services domestic regulation is available here.
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