General Agreement on Trade in Services（GATS）

Article I: Scope and Definition 

1.       This Agreement applies to measures by Members affecting trade in services.

2.       For the purposes of this Agreement, trade in services is defined as the supply of a service:

(a)      from the territory of one Member into the territory of any other Member;

(b)      in the territory of one Member to the service consumer of any other Member;

(c)      by a service supplier of one Member, through commercial presence in the territory of any other Member;

(d)      by a service supplier of one Member, through presence of natural persons of a Member in the territory of any other Member.

 Article II: Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment 

1.       With respect to any measure covered by this Agreement, each Member shall accord（给予） immediately and unconditionally to services and service suppliers of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers of any other country.

2.       A Member may maintain a measure inconsistent with (与…不一致)paragraph 1 provided that such a measure is listed in, and meets the conditions of, the Annex（附录、附件） on Article II  Exemptions（豁免）.

3.       The provisions of this Agreement shall not be so construed（解释） as to prevent any Member from conferring（授予） or according advantages to adjacent（临近的、毗连的） countries in order to facilitate exchanges limited to contiguous（临近的、接壤的） frontier zones （边境地区）of services that are both locally produced and consumed.

Annex on Article II Exemptions  

Scope

1.       This Annex specifies（规定） the conditions under which a Member, at the entry into force of this Agreement, is exempted from its obligations under paragraph 1 of Article II.

2.       Any new exemptions applied for after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement shall be dealt with under paragraph 3 of Article IX of that Agreement.

Review

3.       The Council for Trade in Services shall review（审查） all exemptions granted for a period of more than 5 years.  The first such review shall take place no more than 5 years after the entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

4.       The Council for Trade in Services in a review shall:

(a)     examine whether the conditions which created the need for the exemption still prevail;  and
 (b)      determine the date of any further review.

Termination

5.       The exemption of a Member from its obligations under paragraph 1 of Article II of the Agreement with respect to a particular measure terminates（终止） on the date provided for in the exemption.

6.       In principle, such exemptions should not exceed a period of 10 years.  In any event, they shall be subject to negotiation in subsequent （随后的、后来的）trade liberalizing rounds.

7.       A Member shall notify the Council for Trade in Services at the termination of the exemption period that the inconsistent measure has been brought into conformity with paragraph 1 of Article II of the Agreement.

Lists of Article II Exemptions

[The agreed lists of exemptions under paragraph 2 of Article II will be annexed here in the treaty copy of the WTO Agreement.]

Article XIII: Government Procurement   

1.       Articles II, XVI and XVII shall not apply to laws, regulations or requirements governing the procurement（采购） by governmental agencies of services purchased for governmental purposes and not with a view to commercial resale or with a view to use in the supply of services for commercial sale.

2.       There shall be multilateral negotiations on government procurement in services under this Agreement within two years from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

Article III: Transparency   

1.       Each Member shall publish promptly and, except in emergency situations, at the latest by the time of their entry into force, all relevant measures of general application which pertain to（关于、属于、涉及到） or affect the operation of this Agreement. International agreements pertaining to or affecting trade in services to which a Member is a signatory(签署国、签字者) shall also be published.

2.       Where publication as referred to in paragraph 1 is not practicable, such information shall be made otherwise publicly available.

3.       Each Member shall promptly and at least annually inform the Council for Trade in Services of the introduction of any new, or any changes to existing, laws, regulations or administrative guidelines which significantly affect trade in services covered by its specific commitments （具体承诺）under this Agreement.

4.       Each Member shall respond promptly to all requests by any other Member for specific information on any of its measures of general application or international agreements within the meaning of paragraph 1. Each Member shall also establish one or more enquiry points （咨询点）to provide specific information to other Members, upon request, on all such matters as well as those subject to the notification requirement in paragraph 3. Such enquiry points shall be established within two years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (referred to in this Agreement as the “WTO Agreement”). Appropriate flexibility with respect to the time-limit within which such enquiry points are to be established may be agreed upon for individual developing country Members. Enquiry points need not be depositories（储存处、受托人） of laws and regulations.

5.       Any Member may notify to the Council for Trade in Services any measure, taken by any other Member, which it considers affects the operation of this Agreement.

Article III bis: Disclosure of Confidential Information   

Nothing in this Agreement shall require any Member to provide confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede（妨碍） law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.

Article VII: Recognition

1. For the purposes of the fulfillment（满足、实现）, in whole or in part, of its standards or criteria (标准、尺度)for the authorization, licensing or certification of services suppliers, and subject to the requirements of paragraph 3, a Member may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in a particular country. Such recognition, which may be achieved through harmonization（协调） or otherwise, may be based upon an agreement or arrangement with the country concerned or may be accorded autonomously.

2. A Member that is a party to an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1, whether existing or future, shall afford adequate opportunity for other interested Members to negotiate their accession（加入） to such an agreement or arrangement or to negotiate comparable ones with it. Where a Member accords recognition autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for any other Member to demonstrate that education, experience, licenses, or certifications obtained or requirements met in that other Member’s territory should be recognized.

3. A Member shall not accord recognition in a manner which would constitute a means of discrimination between countries in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of services suppliers, or a disguised（变相、伪装） restriction on trade in services.

Article XIV: General Exceptions   

Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary（武断的） or unjustifiable（不公正的） discrimination between countries where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in services, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any Member of measures:

(a)      necessary to protect public morals or to maintain public order;

(b)      necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;

(c)      necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement including those relating to:

(i)      the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices （欺骗及欺诈行为）or to deal with the effects of a default（不履行） on services contracts;

(ii)     the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation to the processing and dissemination（传播） of personal data and the protection of confidentiality of individual records and accounts;

(iii)    safety;

(d)      inconsistent with Article XVII, provided that the difference in treatment（差别待遇） is aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of direct taxes（直接税的课税和征收） in respect of services or service suppliers of other Members; 

(e)      inconsistent with Article II（MFN）, provided that the difference in treatment is the result of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation （双重征税）or provisions on the avoidance of double taxation in any other international agreement or arrangement by which the Member is bound.

 Article XIV bis: Security Exceptions 

1.       Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:

(a)      to require any Member to furnish any information, the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or

(b)      to prevent any Member from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:

(i)      relating to the supply of services as carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military establishment（军事设施）； 

(ii)     relating to fissionable（可分裂的） and fusionable（可融化的） materials or the materials from which they are derived;

(iii)    taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations;  or

(c)      to prevent any Member from taking any action in pursuance of （依据、按照）its obligations under the United Nations Charter （UN宪章）for the maintenance of international peace and security.

2.       The Council for Trade in Services shall be informed to the fullest extent possible of measures taken under paragraphs 1(b) and (c) and of their termination.

Part III: Specific Commitments

Article XVI: Market Access 

1.       With respect to market access through the modes（模式） of supply identified in Article I, each Member shall accord services and service suppliers of any other Member treatment no less favourable than that provided for under the terms（条款）, limitations and conditions agreed and specified in its Schedule.（承诺表）

2.       In sectors where market-access commitments are undertaken, the measures which a Member shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:

(a)      limitations on the number of service suppliers whether in the form of numerical（数字的） quotas（限额、配额）, monopolies, exclusive service suppliers （专营服务提供者）or the requirements of an economic needs test（经济需求测试）;

(b)      limitations on the total value of service transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test; 

(c)      limitations on the total number of service operations（服务网点） or on the total quantity of service output （服务产出总量）expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;

(d)      limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular service sector or that a service supplier may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
 

(e)      measures which restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service;  and
 

(f)      limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign shareholding （外资持股）or the total value of individual or aggregate（合计的） foreign investment.

Article XVII: National Treatment 

1.       In the sectors inscribed in its Schedule, and subject to any conditions and qualifications set out therein, each Member shall accord to services and service suppliers of any other Member, in respect of all measures affecting the supply of services, treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers.

2.       A Member may meet the requirement of paragraph 1 by according to services and service suppliers of any other Member, either formally identical treatment or formally different treatment to that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers.

3.       Formally identical or formally different treatment shall be considered to be less favourable if it modifies the conditions of competition in favour of services or service suppliers of the Member compared to like services or service suppliers of any other  Member.

Article XX: Schedules of Specific Commitments   

1.       Each Member shall set out in a schedule the specific commitments it undertakes under Part III of this Agreement.  With respect to sectors where such commitments are undertaken, each Schedule shall specify:

(a)      terms, limitations and conditions on market access;

(b)      conditions and qualifications on national treatment;

(c)      undertakings relating to additional commitments;

(d)      where appropriate the time-frame for implementation of such commitments;  and

(e)      the date of entry into force of such commitments.

 

Article XXIII: Dispute Settlement and Enforcement   

1.       If any Member should consider that any other Member fails to carry out its obligations or specific commitments under this Agreement, it may with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter have recourse to the DSU（The Dispute Settlement Understanding）.

2.       If the DSB considers that the circumstances are serious enough to justify such action, it may authorize a Member or Members to suspend the application to any other Member or Members of obligations and specific commitments in accordance with Article 22 of the DSU.

3.       If any Member considers that any benefit it could reasonably have expected to accrue to it under a specific commitment of another Member under Part III of this Agreement is being nullified or impaired as a result of the application of any measure which does not conflict with the provisions of this Agreement, it may have recourse to the DSU.  If the measure is determined by the DSB to have nullified or impaired such a benefit, the Member affected shall be entitled to a mutually satisfactory adjustment on the basis of paragraph 2 of Article XXI, which may include the modification or withdrawal of the measure.  In the event an agreement cannot be reached between the Members concerned, Article  22 of the DSU shall apply.