CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ POVERTY ERADICATION – CONTROVERSIES BETWEEN UN AND WTO Part 3 of the paper gives an overview of relevant Ministerial Conferences (MC) that were held within the WTO covering trade in services amongst other topics. As noted during the Doha Ministerial Conference (Doha MC) “International trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of poverty”. 28 In this light, participants of the Doha MC further emphasized the importance of trade in services negotiations for promoting the economic growth of all trading partners (with a special focus on developing counties and LDCs’) and with due consideration of proposals submitted by members including the movement of natural persons among others. 29 Participants of the Doha MC reaffirmed “the right of Members under the GATS to regulate, and to introduce new regulations on the supply of services”. 30 The approach of the Doha MC has been maintained mostly unchanged throughout the years up until now. The right of members for domestic regulations on services results in the lack of progress in the negotiations . This was also evidenced in the Cancún Ministerial Conference (Cancun MC) with the conclusion “that despite considerable movement in consultations, members remained entrenched, particularly on the “Singapore” issues”. 31 The same line in terms of respecting the right of members to regulate and taking note of making negotiations more effective for meeting the interests of developing and least developed countries was adhered to during the Hong Kong MC as well. In so doing it referred to the GATS, the “Doha MC, the Guidelines and Procedures for the Negotiations on Trade in Services adopted by the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services on 28 March 2001 and the Modalities for the Special Treatment for Least-Developed Country Members in the Negotiations on Trade in Services adopted on 3 September 2003, as well as Annex C of the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004”. 32 The Geneva MC of 2011 referring to GATS has paid significant importance to the preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of least developed countries underlining the need for the liberalization of market access to least-developed countries in sectors and modes of supply of their export interest (this refers to both natural and juridical persons). 33 Interestingly enough, the waiver granting preferential treatment to least developed countries adopted in the Geneva MC was not used by any WTO member state and for this reason the decision was made during BALI MC in 2013 for the operationalization of the waiver in services sector. 34 Decision attempted to encourage members for the extension of preferences to LDCs’ services and service suppliers. 35 The Nairobi MC, encouraging the prioritization of the interests of LDCs’ during trade in services negotiations, 36 and considering that no remarkable progress has been made 28 WTO doc. WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1. 29 Ibid. para 15. 30 Ibid. para 7. 31 Fifth Ministerial Conference, Day 5 Ends without Consensus, 14 September 2003, is available on [accessed 23 August 2018]. 32 WTO doc. WT/MIN(05)/DEC para. 25. 33 WTO doc. WT/L/847. 34 WTO doc. WT/MIN(13)/DEC.

35 WTO doc. WT/MIN(13)/43 WT/L/918. 36 WTO doc. WT/MIN(15)/DEC para. 24.

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