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This chapter provides a case study of the processes described in a general way in the previous chapter. The purpose is to illustrate and explore in greater depth the operation of the technicalized legal imagination, the genesis of which was described in Chapter 8. More specifically, it is to describe and understand the processes by which particular forms of technical knowledge come to guide the elaboration, application, and interpretation of international trade law, and come to be sedimented within the background commonsense that sustains and informs the operation of the World Trade Organization's legal system. The case study used is that of trade in services. One of the major innovations of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations was the creation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. This agreement, which establishes a legal framework for the progressive liberalization of international trade in services, is in many respects an exemplary product of the formal-technical legal order described in Chapter 8.

This chapter starts with brief overviews of global trade flows in services, the barriers that restrict such trade, and the economics of service sector protection and liberalization. This is followed by a summary of the main elements of the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) and a discussion of the experience obtained in the first five years of the operation of the GATS in expanding the coverage of the agreement. The chapter ends with a brief assessment of the usefulness of the GATS as an instrument for the pursuit of service sector reform. The different sections are as follows: Conceptual and empirical issues; Barriers and potential gains from reform; The Uruguay Round negotiations; The GATS; Sector‐specific negotiations and agreements; Electronic commerce; The challenge of expanding the GATS; and Conclusion.

The Basic Telecommunications Agreement (BTA) marked a profound shift in the global governance regime for telecommunications. From a heavily regulated regime subject to cooperative arrangements under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), telecommunications was transformed into a globally traded service under the World Trade Organization (WTO). The BTA is a set of negotiated schedules that serves as the Fourth Protocol of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This chapter examines the WTO’s Agreement on Basic Telecommunications, and the GATS of which it is part, from the perspective of developing countries. Developing countries have more freedom that they have exercised under these agreements, but have suffered not only because of constraints imposed globally, but also because of their failure to organize themselves effectively and to pursue sound bargaining strategies.

This chapter examines the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in promoting the liberalization and globalization of financial services, along with its implications for global financial reform efforts. The financial crisis that began in 2007 has evoked various proposals for rethinking and reforming national and international governance and regulation of the financial sector. The general consensus is that reform of the financial sector, and a new global financial architecture, must include strong regulatory measures and their enforcement. In all these discussions, international trade and the trading system have figured, if at all, only somewhat peripherally—in terms of the effects of the credit crunch on trade finance and the need to resist “protectionist pressures”. The chapter first provides an overview of the WTO's 1997 Financial Services Agreement (FSA), part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It then considers the systemic reform processes being initiated in various forums to address the financial crisis, and argues that they are unlikely to succeed unless they involve the WTO and its ongoing Doha Round.

The various mechanisms allowing for the re‐imposition of trade barriers are discussed in this chapter, which summarizes the rules on––and the economics of––the use of instruments of contingent protection. These have been very important in dealing with domestic political pressures and allowing the pursuit of non‐economic objectives. In practice, they have often been abused, to the detriment of both national and global welfare. The chapter focuses mainly on the safeguards and exceptions embodied in GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade); those of the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) are very similar or still in development. The different sections are as follows: Renegotiation of concessions; Waivers; Emergency protection and VERs (voluntary export restraints); Antidumping actions; Measures to countervail subsidized imports; Trade restrictions for balance of payments purposes; Infant industry protection; General exceptions; and Conclusion.

An account is given of the organizational structure of the WTO (World Trade Organization), which was established as a multilateral trade organization on 1 January 1995 to encompass a modified GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), its sister bodies on services (GATS) and intellectual property (TRIPS), as well as all other agreements and arrangements concluded under the auspices of the Uruguay Round. The sections of the chapter are as follows: Scope, functions and structure of the WTO; Decision‐making; Transparency: notification and surveillance; Accession; The WTO and other international organizations; Nongovernmental actors and the WTO; and Conclusion.

This chapter examines how the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) treats international trade in audiovisual services. Negotiations in the WTO have pitted proponents of a trade perspective (which holds that audiovisual services should be subject to progressive trade liberalization like any other sector) against those advocating a cultural perspective (which rejects the trade perspective because of audiovisual services’ special cultural significance). The chapter considers the politics of these trade negotiations and other settings (bilateral, regional, multilateral) and argues that the cultural sector must be supported without causing undue distortions to international trade. After tracing trade disputes in the audiovisual sector, it discusses the current international trading regime for the cultural industry and looks at the status of the film industry in Canada, Mexico, and Korea.

This chapter deals with one of the most important exceptions to the most‐favoured‐nation (MFN) rule allowed by the WTO (World Trade Organization): regional integration agreements (RIAs). Almost all WTO members are participants in one or more RIA, thus raising serious questions about the relevance of the WTO's non‐discrimination principle. The sections of the chapter are as follows: Motivations for regional economic integration; GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Article XXIV: Preferential trade agreements; GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) Article V: Economic integration; Trading blocs and the trading system; and Conclusion.

This chapter documents the changing face of the services industry over the past three decades (1970–2000). It makes a special reference to two case studies – telecommunications and banking. Both are largely positive cases of reform leading to a more efficient provision of a range of services. There are other cases of successful reforms in the sector, including domestic shipping and civil aviation. This chapter also closely examines regulations that distort trade in services.

This chapter examines financial liberalization as measured by General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) commitments, and the effect of liberalization on economic growth. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 10.2 introduces the history of WTO commitments and describes the construction of the financial liberalization index. Section 10.3 discusses some interesting patterns of the financial liberalization under the WTO. Section 10.4 describes the empirical models and data, while Section 10.5 presents the empirical findings. Finally, Section 10.6 summarizes the conclusions that are drawn.

This chapter summarizes the previous chapters and gives an insight into future directions. It discusses the general characteristics of EU regulation of services, cross-border trade of services (mode 1, GATS), movement of natural persons (mode 4 GATS), and consumption abroad (mode 2 GATS).