Whats Next for Services in the Doha Round?
WTO members negotiated on trade in services in a general council meeting in Geneva, December 2003. The chair of the General Council expressed disappointment that there was relatively little progress made in Geneva and that negotiations were not back on track. Services will likely remain in the background as the WTO focuses on reaching a consensus on agriculture, TRIPS, and the Singapore issues. As a consequence, RTAs will become the preferred method of negotiating liberalization of services. Because regional agreements will compete with WTO obligations, the proliferation of RTAs may pose a significant barrier to forming a multilateral agreement. Last updated December 2003.
