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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 Jul 2003

Vol. 570 No. 2

Written Answers. - Trade in Services.

Ciarán Cuffe

Ceist:

115 Mr. Cuffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the Government will instruct Ireland's ambassador to the WTO to use its position to ensure that the WTO Services Council carries out the assessment of trade in services stipulated in the General Agreement on Trade in Services as a matter of urgency. [18599/03]

The assessment of trade in services is mandated by Article XIX.3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Since the commencement of the current round of negotiations in 2000, this has been a standing item on the agenda of the special session of the Council for Trade in Services and is therefore being carried out on an ongoing basis. The importance of this issue to a large section of the WTO membership also led to its continuation to be enshrined in paragraph 14 of the negotiating guidelines adopted by that body on 28 March 2001. There has been a large number of contributions to the discussions from interested members. The position of Ireland and the European Union as a whole has been to encourage and engage in the discussion on the assessment issue to the fullest extent possible.

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