Mapping the universe of services disciplines in Asian PTAs

Description

This paper analyses the relationship and dynamics between multilateral, regional and preferential trade rules and commitments in services across a sample of eight preferential trade agreements (PTAs) involving Asian countries. It examines the evolving framework of rules and negotiating architectures in services and the extent to which PTAs go beyond the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), including South–South (S–S) agreements. The analysis reveals that while countries tend to commit a larger number of sectors and subsectors under PTAs compared to the GATS, these commitments are not necessarily deeper within subsectors or modes and are often less liberal than existing policies. Where PTAs show improvement over the GATS is in their overall architecture, as they incorporate additional chapters and annexes that address a wide range of cross-cutting, sector-specific and emerging issues in detail. The study further finds that North–North agreements tend to address more complex issues such as government procurement, while North–South agreements focus on areas such as recognition of qualifications, reflecting the importance of Mode 4 (movement of natural persons) in such trade. South–South agreements, on the other hand, emphasise institutional cooperation and the development of mechanisms to strengthen capacity and institution building. Overall, there is considerable diversity among PTAs, indicating that they do not follow a uniform pattern and that negotiation dynamics vary across partner countries and agreements.

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Publisher

NCCR

Keywords

Service sector, Trade agreement, Trade regulations

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS