GATS, Water and the Environment

This research paper by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and WWF International examines the potential conflicts between the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and domestic water management policies. The authors argue that while water management requires flexibility and adaptive planning to protect ecosystems, the GATS favors legal predictability and 'locking in' policy choices, which may constrain a state's ability to regulate water rights, pollution, and resource extraction.

• The GATS applies to a wide array of regulatory entities beyond central governments, including regional authorities, municipalities, and non-governmental bodies exercising delegated authority, which may leave many water management entities unaware that their actions are subject to WTO rules.
• The GATS market access provision (Art. XVI) may prohibit domestic policies that use quantitative limitations—such as caps on the number of service providers or the total quantity of service output—to prevent the over-exploitation of water resources.
• There is legal uncertainty regarding whether quantitative caps on water use as an input for services (e.g., for power plants or tourism) constitute prohibited quantitative limitations under GATS Art. XVI, as safeguards exist for some sub-paragraphs but not all.
• The GATS national treatment obligation (Art. XVII) prohibits both de jure and de facto discrimination, meaning neutral environmental regulations could be challenged if they indirectly disadvantage foreign service suppliers.
• The GATS environmental exception (Art. XIV) is considered inadequate because it lacks a specific provision for the conservation of natural resources, unlike the GATT, and requires a more difficult 'necessity' test rather than a 'relating-to' standard.
• The 'lock-in' effect of GATS commitments makes it difficult for WTO Members to adapt water allocation policies to changes in climate or scientific evidence once a commitment has been made.
• The GATS may be used to pressure countries to eliminate policies that restrict the ownership of land containing water sources to national citizens.

APA

Ostrovksy, A., Speed, R., & Tuerk, E. (2003). GATS, Water and the Environment. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GATS_WaterEnv_Nov03.pdf

Chicago

Ostrovksy, Aaron, Robert Speed, and Elisabeth Tuerk. GATS, Water and the Environment. Center for International Environmental Law, 2003. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GATS_WaterEnv_Nov03.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ostrovksy |first1=Aaron |last2=Speed |first2=Robert |last3=Tuerk |first3=Elisabeth |title=GATS, Water and the Environment |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=October 2003 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GATS_WaterEnv_Nov03.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ostrovksy2003gats, author = {Ostrovksy, Aaron and Speed, Robert and Tuerk, Elisabeth}, title = {{GATS, Water and the Environment}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2003}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GATS_WaterEnv_Nov03.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }