Selected WPDR Resources

Documents of the WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation

and Other Items Relevant to the Issue of Developing WTO Disciplines

that Could Apply to Legal Services

Professor Laurel S. Terry, Penn State Dickinson School of Law

LTerry@psu.edu

Return to Laurel Terry Homepage:  http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/l/s/lst3/

 

Introduction:  One of the issues currently facing WTO Member States, including the U.S., is whether to agree to extend a WTO document entitled Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector (S/L/64) to the legal profession.  This work, which I have referred to elsewhere as “Track 2” of the GATS, currently is scheduled to be completed by the end of the Doha negotiations.  (Despite the results of the Cancun Ministerial, this deadline is still January 1, 2005.)  The WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation [WPDR] is the primary forum in which the issue of Disciplines currently is discussed.  Although most of these documents are available on the WTO website (www. wto.org), this webpage represents my efforts to collect those WPDR documents most relevant to the legal profession and make them widely available.  For additional information on the GATS and legal services, visit the GATS page of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility.  The ABA GATS webpage includes, among other things, links to the IBA GATS Handbook which provides a useful introduction to the GATS and legal services.

 

Key “Action” Documents Issued by the GATS Council for Trade in Services in Response to GATS Article VI: 4 (Based on the Work of the WPDR’s Predecessor)

 

GATS Article 6(4)

 

Decision on Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector,  S/L/63 (15 Dec. 1998)

Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector, S/L/64 (17 Dec. 1998)

Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration ¶27 and Ministerial Declaration Annex C, ¶ 5 (Dec. 2005)(reflecting WTO Members’ agreement to develop additional disciplines)

 

Sources to Locate WPDR Disciplines Proposals:

 

WTO Documentation Regarding the Ongoing Work of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation [WPDR]

 

Annual Reports of the WPDR

 

Minutes of the WPDR Meetings

 

“Working Documents” of the WPDR

 

Selected WTO Secretariat Papers [Analyses]

Selected Papers of the WTO Secretariat Relevant to the Development of the Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector and the Guidelines for Mutual Recognition

 

U.S. and ABA Positions Regarding Proposed WTO Disciplines (GATS Track #2)

 

ABA GATS Resolution 8-06

 

Current U.S.T.R. Webpage about the WTO Disciplines Issue

 

Communication From the United States: Horizontal Transparency Disciplines in Domestic Regulation, JOB(06)/182 (9 June 2006)

 

Communication from the U.S.: Outline of U.S. Position on a Draft Consolidated Text in the WPDR, Job 06/223 (July 11, 2006)

 

Note also: Memo to the Chair of IGPAC regarding the 2-07 Disciplines Working Draft

 

 

Additional “Research” Tools Regarding the GATS Track #2 Disciplines Issues

 

Reported March 2009 Working Draft by the WPDR Chair of Disciplines on Domestic Regulation Pursuant to GATS Article VI:4

 

Reported Feb. 2007 Working Draft by the WPDR Chair of Disciplines on Domestic Regulation Pursuant to GATS Article VI:4

 

Disciplines on Domestic Regulation Pursuant to GATS Article VI:4, Consolidated Working Paper, Note by the Chairman (Job (06)/225( July 2006) (reportedly a July 18 version)

 

WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation, Report of the Chairman of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation to the SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES, JOB(05)/280 (Nov. 15, 2005)

 

WPDR Chairman’s Statements about the Four Questions to Ask When Examining Regulatory Provisions [from W/WPDR/M/18 (3 Dec. 2002) at ¶ 8]

 

“Summary of Discussion on the Checklist of Issues for WPDR,” (attached to S/WPDR/M/13 (2 Oct. 2001))

[Unfortunately, this is the most recent summary available because WTO Member States agreed thereafter to keep make this document a “JOB”, which is not publicly available.  As of 6-2005, the most recent version was JOB(02)/20/Rev.7, dated 22 September 2003), as cited in  Working Party on Domestic Regulation - Report on the Meeting Held on 3 December 2003 - Note by the Secretariat, S/WPDR/M/24 (22 Jan. 2004)

 

“Examples of Measures to be Addressed by the Disciplines Under GATS Article VI:4”

[Unfortunately, because this document is a “JOB”, it is not publicly available. The link on this website is to the second revision of this memo, which was leaked and placed on the website of Public Citizen.  This “Examples” paper was cited in Working Party on Domestic Regulation - Report on the Meeting Held on 3 December 2003 - Note by the Secretariat, S/WPDR/M/24 (22 Jan. 2004) at ¶35, is JOB(02)/20/Rev.7, dated 22 September.]

 

Synthesis of Results to Date of the Domestic Consultations in Professional Services, JOB(02)/204/Rev.1, 21 February 2003.

[No link is available to this document because this document is a “JOB” and therefore not publicly available.  This document was referred to in Report of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation to the Council for Trade in Services (2003), S/WPDR/6 (3 December, 2003) at ¶ 10.]

 

Results of the Consultations with International Professional Organizations, JOB(03)/126. Rev.1 dated 22 Sept. 2003

[No link is available to this document because this document is a “JOB” and therefore not publicly available.  This document was referred to in Report of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation to the Council for Trade in Services (2003), S/WPDR/6 (3 December, 2003) at ¶ 8.]

 

Note:  The WPDR has discussed at length several informal papers, which are not publicly available.  These include papers from Japan and Singapore, among others.  Many documents that have not been made public officially are available on the Trade Observatory website, see http://www.tradeobservatory.org/.

 

Commentary About Applying to the Legal Profession the Disciplines on the Accountancy Sector

The International Bar Association's Resolution on "Disciplines" and Supporting Documents

In December 2002, on behalf of WTO Member States, the WTO Secretariat solicited a response from the International Bar Association regarding the suitability of applying to the legal profession the Disciplines for Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector, S/L/64. On May 30, 2003, the IBA held an all-day "GATS Forum" in Brussels. The purpose of the GATS Forum was to find out if IBA Member Bars could reach a consensus on two issues: 1) a recommendation concerning the suitability of applying to the legal profession the "Disciplines for Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector"; and 2) a recommendation concerning the legal services classifications to use in the ongoing GATS negotiations. On September 18, 2003, the IBA Council voted unanimously to approve the resolution below. Also reproduced below are the accompanying documents that were sent to the WTO Secretariat in December 2003. For additional information about this consultation and the IBA resolutions, see Laurel S. Terry, Lawyers, GATS, and the WTO Accountancy Disciplines: The History of the WTO’s Consultation, the IBA GATS Forum and the September 2003 IBA Resolutions, 22 Penn State Int’l L. Rev 695 (2004).

•Letter from the WTO to the IBA Asking for Input on the "Disciplines" issue

•IBA Resolution Concerning the "Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector (S/L/64)"

•Exhibits A and B to the IBA Resolution — Proposed Changes to the S/L/64 and Explanatory Memorandum [begins at pdf page 83]

•Unofficial Annotated Copy of the WTO Disciplines (Shows the IBA's Proposed Changes)

Other Entities' Analyses of the Suitability of Applying the WTO Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector to the Legal Profession

•Canadian Bar Association, Submission the General Agreement on Trade in Services and the Legal Profession: The Accountancy Disciplines as a Model for the Legal Profession (Aug. 2000)

•Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Meeting Canada's Current Obligations for the Legal Profession under the General Agreement (Adopted Feb. 24, 2001)

•CCBE Position Paper on Disciplines

·        The Union Internationale des Avocats’ (UIA) November 10, 2004 Letter about the Accountancy Disciplines

o       Exhibit 1 to the UIA Letter - the Turin Principles Of Professional Conduct For The Legal Profession In The 21st Century

o       Exhibit 2 to the UIA Letter - the UIA MDP Resolution

o       Exhibit 3 to the UIA Letter - UIA Standards For Lawyers Establishing A Legal Practice Outside Their Home Country

 

Other Resources and Materials

 

WTO Documents Online Search engine

 

WTO Search page for documents of the WTO Working Party on Domestic Regulation (WPDR)

 

WTO Search Page for documents related to the Accountancy Sector [and links to the documents of the WPDR’s predecessor the WPPS]

 

WTO Analytical Index – Guide to WTO Law and Practice

 

The IBA GATS Handbook (see pdf pages 40-52 for a discussion of the “Disciplines” issue)

 

Excerpts related to “Disciplines” from Laurel S. Terry, GATS' Applicability to Transnational Lawyering and its Potential Impact on U.S. State Regulation of Lawyers, 34 Vanderbilt J. Transnational Law 989 (2001) as revised 35 Vanderbilt J. Transnational Law 1387 (2002)

 

IBA WTO Working Group Webpage

 

ABA GATS Track 2 webpage

 

March 2004 WTO Workshop on Domestic Regulation

 

Southern Centre March 2006 Workshop on Trade in Services (for least developed countries, includes discussion of domestic regulation)

 

Trade Observatory Library (for leaked copies of WPDR documents, select GATS from the left-hand drop down menu)

 

WTO “Decisions” and Documents that Created the Relevant Bodies

 

Decision on Professional Services, Annexed to the Agreement Creating the WTO [directing the Council for Trade in Services to delegate the issue of Disciplines]

 

Decision on Professional Services, S/L/3 (1 March 1995)[creating the Working Party on Professional Services(WPPS), delegating to WPPS the issue of  Disciplines, and directing WPPS to begin with the Accountancy Sector]

 

Decision on Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector,  S/L/63 (15 Dec. 1998) [Adopting the WTO Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector, S/L/64, 17 Dec. 1998]

 

Decision on Domestic Regulation, S/L/70 (28 April 1999)[Replacing the Working Party on Professional Services with the Working Party on Domestic Regulation]

 

 

Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2009

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