Background
While New
Zealand has traditionally relied on agriculture and industry for export
earnings, an emerging area of importance is trade in services. Services are a vital component of New
Zealand's economy, generating about 75% of GDP. Exports of services are also increasing in significance; 25%
of New Zealand's total export revenue
now comes from exporting services such as tourism, education, transport,
consulting, computing and engineering.
Moreover, access to efficient and cost-competitive services – ranging
from business services to transport – constitutes an important underpinning for
all domestic economic activity.
The WTO
services negotiations have the potential to improve access conditions for New
Zealand’s services trade. Begun in 2000 as
part of the Uruguay Round “built-in agenda”, resumed negotiations on services
have started to develop momentum since the launch of a broader-based round of
multilateral trade negotiations at Doha last year.
New Zealand’s chief objective for the services
negotiation is to improve New Zealand services exporters’ access to key markets
and the treatment given to our services and exporters in those markets. Other objectives are to pursue outcomes that
support New Zealand’s market access and other national policy objectives in
relation to the continued development of the framework of rules for services
trade in the WTO, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS.
New Zealand will seek to advance these objectives
through active engagement in the bilateral negotiating process and effective
participation in the ongoing work on rules and framework issues, to ensure
outcomes that are consistent with our national interests and objectives. If New Zealand were to reduce its level of
participation, a consequent risk would be that the negotiations might focus
only on sectoral and regulatory issues of importance to the biggest players,
and that New Zealand would have to struggle to see any negotiating impetus in
its key export sectors, and on regulatory issues of interest.
The
Request-Offer Process
The Doha
Ministerial Conference set two new deadlines for the services negotiations; 30
June 2002 for the submission of initial requests for expanded commitments on
market access and national treatment; and 31 March 2003 for submission of
initial offers. New Zealand met the
first deadline, as did a substantial group of other WTO members, and the market
access negotiation commenced with a first round of bilateral discussions in
July.
We have
submitted requests to over 20 trading partners, in
Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and the Pacific. These focus on our key exporting sectors, and we’ve asked for
fewer commitments from developing countries.
The main sectors covered by the requests are:
·
Business services
·
Communications
services
·
Construction and
related engineering services
·
Education services
·
Environmental
services
·
Tourism services
·
Recreational,
Cultural and Sporting Services
·
Transport Services
Some
typical examples of the kinds of restrictions that are the subject of our
requests include:
·
Requirements to establish particular types of
business entity in order to supply services to other markets, such as joint
ventures, which impact on our small and medium enterprises;
·
Failure to recognise New Zealand’s professional
qualifications and occupational registration;
·
Foreign equity caps which limit New Zealand
participation in overseas markets;
·
Restrictions on the numbers of foreign firms that can
establish in other markets;
·
Restrictions on the numbers of foreigners that may
work in certain services sectors.
In response, we’ve so far received requests from 17 WTO members, including 8 developing countries.
Since the 30 June deadline for the submission of requests
two rounds of bilateral discussions have been held in Geneva – in July and
October, with a third to take place in December. These meetings allow WTO members to explain their own requests in
more detail, and clarify the extent of further commitments that WTO members are
requesting in return. New Zealand’s
focus in these meetings has been to explain New Zealand’s own approach to the
request process, and in relation to requests received, to exchange information
on New Zealand’s regulatory framework for services trade.
Preparation
and submission of New Zealand’s initial offer
In
addition to reviewing our own requests to ensure that they cover New Zealand
services exporters’ interests, New Zealand is now working toward meeting the
second deadline set by the Doha Ministerial Conference, of 31 March 2003 for
the submission of initial offers.
Officials are undertaking a detailed analysis of the requests New
Zealand has received so far. Once
completed, an inter-agency process will commence on the drafting of an initial
offer, for submission to Cabinet for approval in early March.
In
January the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will use its website www.mfat.govt.nz as the basis for its
public consultation on New Zealand’s initial offer. This will include summaries of the requests of New Zealand made
by other WTO Members, without reference to their specific origin, given that
the requests are negotiating documents and their authors have asked New Zealand
to respect their confidenti*ality.
Exporters, industry bodies, non-governmental organisations and other
interested parties that have indicated an interest in the services negotiation
will be advised that the material has been placed on the website before
Christmas, and invited to submit any comments throughout January and
February.
Trade Negotiations Division
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
November 2002