The World economy is dominated by service sector. The importance of services sector can be judged by the fact that 64.2% of world GDP in 2009 is contributed by services. The contribution of the services sector in India is 55.2% to its GDP providing employment for 25.4% of the India’s work...

The World economy is dominated by service sector. The importance of services sector can be judged by the fact that 64.2% of world GDP in 2009 is contributed by services. The contribution of the services sector in India is 55.2% to its GDP providing employment for 25.4% of the India’s work...

Malaysia's higher education sector expanded rapidly in the late 1990s, with the number of institutions peaking in 2001 and the number of international students peaking in 2017. Following improvements in the quality of local universities and the establishment of branches of international campuses...

Market access is the most important liberalizing principle in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It entails a general prohibition of quantitative restrictions, which however is conditional on commitments undertaken by Members in their respective Schedules of Commitments. Case-law...

Recent advances in quantifying the effect of services sector bindings in trade agreements based on the extent of reduction of “water in the GATS” – measured as the difference in openness under applied services trade regimes as measured by the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) and...

This study investigates the effect of GATS, a service-specific trade agreement, on the survival of service exports from Kenya to 176 countries between 1995 and 2019. Services are classified at a 1-digit level: travel, transport, computer and information, construction, financial, insurance,...

When it comes to services traded through the international movement of individuals (mode 4), Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have increasingly adopted trade-facilitating disciplines that both build upon and innovate the GATS framework. By analysing relevant provisions of RTAs, we are able to...

Research on trade in education services intensified at the beginning of the 21st century after the proposal to include these services into the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of WTO. The proposal triggered controversy among many academics, arguing that education...

Agreed commitments under GATS — both general and specific — amount to substantial qualifications to the exercise of sovereignty and powers in shaping domestic regulation of services. Members therefore agreed to introduce security exceptions aimed to preserve Members’ freedom of action in...

This contribution offers a comprehensive analysis of Art. XIX GATS, entitled “Negotiation of Specific Commitments”, which clarifies the manner in which negotiations under the GATS should proceed in order to progressively achieve higher levels of liberalization. This provision also identifies...

This paper identifies regulators’ increasing discretionary practices in the innovation sectors and examines whether international economic law is prepared for this supervisory evolution. As demonstrated by the three cases studied, very often technology laws themselves do not entail sufficient...

The general and specific obligations undertaken under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) by Members in relation to non-discrimination and market access and a level playing field in services, may under certain circumstances, considerably restrict the pursuit of equally legitimate,...

This paper considers liberalization of trade in both inter-temporal intermediation services and goods in a joint spatial-intertemporal trade model. Joint multi-commodity spatial intertemporal models are not (to our knowledge) used in the trade literature as general comparative statics results...

This paper reviews the Philippines' participation in services trade agreements to date at the multilateral (WTO GATS), regional (ASEAN and dialogue partners), and bilateral levels (PJEPA and PH-EFTA FTA). It also discusses the government's institutional arrangements for trade in services...

Measures restricting data flows outside one's borders, including mandatory data/server localization measures, are not only a barrier to trade, but also largely ineffective in achieving better internet security or trust. Nevertheless, governments deploy such measures, primarily on grounds of...

This is an updated commentary of Article IX of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on business practices, including a textual analysis of the provision, as well as an examination of the pertinent WTO case law and of other related international and regional rules and practices

Rising global terror concerns at the turn of the century brought about a sweeping set of security measures on the international stage. Among them were Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreements, which require airlines to share passenger data with destination countries days before a flight takes off....

Services have long been perceived as playing a secondary role in world trade. In particular, the role of services trade policies and multilateral services commitments often tends to be downplayed. However, in value added terms, services account for about 50% of world trade and are significant in...

This paper quantifies the economic implications of reducing barriers to services trade in the context of the Trade in International Services Agreement (TISA) using an extension of the GTAP model which incorporates a dynamic mechanism, a MONASH-style investment function, and disaggregated...

Experience has shown there has been a need for prudential measures to be imposed on financial services. The global financial crisis of 2007-08 is quite an emblematic example. Therefore, states and financial institutions have united to establish standards as for financial services like the Basel...

The number of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have increased markedly over the last decade, with many addressing market openness and rule-making for services trade. Recent RTAs are breaking down existing barriers: on average, removing between 10% and 40% of services restrictions present in the...

Following the 2008 financial crisis the EU reformed the regulatory regime pertaining to clearinghouses (or CCPs), and in particular the clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. This paper evaluates whether the EU regime for CCPs is consistent with WTO Law and discusses how regulatory and...

This article removes the ambiguity surrounding the GATS classification of digital services and provides a technical analysis that might guide this (heavily politicized) debate. Digitization principally impacts trade in services, enabling the widespread use of digital services and enabling...

This paper examines how services trade and policies contribute to connectivity. It highlights the economic relevance of services and identifies some key channels through which trade in services contributes to physical and digital connectivity. The paper examines the impact of services trade...

Services have a direct impact on the competitiveness of the goods sector. This paper illustrates the importance of logistics services, their trade dimension, and how regulatory issues act as perhaps one of the most significant barriers to competitiveness. The paper discusses recent developments...

Trade and investment in services are inhibited by a range of policy restrictions, but the best offers so far in the Doha negotiations are on average twice as restrictive as actual policy. They will generate no additional market opening. Regulatory concerns help explain the limited progress. This...

Can a WTO Member discriminate against foreign suppliers of services located in jurisdictions that refuse to share information with a government to permit it to determine if its nationals engage in tax evasion? Does it matter if the Member uses standards developed by an international body as the...

One of the most important and difficult issues in international trade is the relationship between international trade liberalization and domestic regulatory autonomy. This issue has been addressed in a variety of ways in the goods sector, and is still being worked out according to a dynamic...

This article presents a new interpretation of the Chapeau of Article XX of the GATT. The basis for this interpretation is a structural analysis of Article XX according to which this provision establishes a right to adopt measures for specific purposes that is subject to specific conditions set...

“The WTO Analytical Index” is an article-by-article guide to the interpretation and application of the WTO agreements by WTO bodies. It covers the jurisprudence of the WTO Appellate Body, panels and arbitrators as well as related decisions and other significant actions taken by other...