Services Assessment and the Market Access Phase of the WTO Services Negotiations

A June 2002 joint statement by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and WWF International urging the WTO Council for Trade in Services (CTS) to integrate comprehensive sustainability assessments into the market access phase of services negotiations to protect the interests of developing countries.

• The authors argue that the market access phase of WTO services negotiations, starting with the June 2002 Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services (CTS), requires robust assessment tools to ensure that liberalisation results in net development gains and does not erode economic, developmental, or environmental benefits.
• CIEL and WWF critique the March 2002 WTO symposium on services assessment for failing to address the sustainability implications of trade in services, specifically in sectors like energy, health, and tourism where impacts on the environment, consumers, and employment can be significant.
• The statement calls for the WTO to extend the GATS negotiating timeline beyond 2005 and postpone the March 2003 deadline for initial offers. This extension is intended to prevent members, particularly developing and least-developed countries, from being pressured into commitments before they can fully analyze the domestic economic, social, and environmental implications of bilateral requests.
• The authors identify four primary responsibilities for the CTS: adjusting negotiations based on assessment results, facilitatingS collectively reviewing national or regional assessment experiences, providing members time to review domestic implications of requests, and providing financial and technical resources for these assessments.
• To support developing countries, the statement proposes a rapidly accessible funding mechanism for services trade assessments and the establishment of capacity-building modalities in collaboration with organisations such as UNDP and UNCTAD.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2002). Services Assessment and the Market Access Phase of the WTO Services Negotiations. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WWFCIEL_Assess_13Jun02.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Services Assessment and the Market Access Phase of the WTO Services Negotiations. 2002. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WWFCIEL_Assess_13Jun02.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Services Assessment and the Market Access Phase of the WTO Services Negotiations |date=June 2002 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WWFCIEL_Assess_13Jun02.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2002services, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Services Assessment and the Market Access Phase of the WTO Services Negotiations}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2002}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WWFCIEL_Assess_13Jun02.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }