| Member countries are now considering other negotiating methods in addition to the present request-offer method. These include bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral approaches and quantitative assessment of offers. |
| A fresh date for submission of outstanding initial offers and second round of revised offers is also to be decided. Countries like India and the US have formed a "friends of service" group to take negotiations forward. |
| India |
| Wants to retain the present request-offer approach in negotiations but supports sectoral and modal targets at the plurilateral and multilateral level to attain higher level of ambition. It has offensive interests in Mode 1 where it is seeking removal of restrictions in BPOs. Is cautious in sectors like finance and telecom since it does not allow full capital account convertibility. |
| Does not favour opening social sectors under Mode 1. Is liberal in Mode 2 barring finance and telecom. Wants the US and the EU to open up in sectors like R&D and health under Mode 1. |
| United States |
| Shares India's position on retaining request-offer approach and having plurilateral approach to attain higher levels of ambition. Supports need for developing clear disciplines on domestic regulations. |
| Has defensive interests in Mode 1 particularly impact of BPOs. It wants clarity on whether new services like BPOs are covered under the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Is liberal in Mode 2 but has issues regarding insurance portability in sectors like health and finance. |
| European Union |
| It wants mandatory numerical benchmarking to be introduced along with the request-offer approach under which a quantitative target would be made applicable to the offers of all WTO members except for Least Developing Countries and small and vulnerable countries. |
| A lower target would apply to developing countries which is equal to two-thirds of the target for developed members. Shares the US position in seeking clarity on inclusion of services like BPO under GATS. It is seeking launch of sectoral negotiations in key sectors like construction, computer and related services, distribution and environmental services, financial and telecommunications. What's at stake? |
| The core issue is agri-culture. Unless the subsidy regime is rationalised, the developing countries are not going to get the gains which were promised when the WTO was formed. |
| What should Kamal Nath do? |
| The coalitions have strengthened the voice of the developing countries and one hopes the unity of purpose and approach is maintained. |
| LEXICON |
| Mode 1: Cross-border supply where services flow electronically from one country to another. For instance, an Indian call centre handling the back-office operations of a foreign company |
| Mode 2: Consumption abroad where consumers move from one territory to another. For example, tourism or ship repair |
| Mode 3: Commercial presence through subsidiaries or branch offices of US companies in India |
| Mode 4: Movement of natural persons. For example, Indian software engineers going to the US for onsite jobs |
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