Brussels, 05/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - During the seventh round of talks in Geneva last week, the EU announced its support for Uruguay joining the plurilateral negotiations - on the sidelines of the WTO - for an international agreement on trade in services (TiSA).
“The EU welcomes Uruguay's interest in the TiSA negotiations and strongly supports its participation in the TiSA negotiations from now on”, said European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht on Friday 2 May. Uruguay has clearly confirmed in writing its interest in the negotiations, the Commission stated. “Uruguay shares the objectives of the TiSA negotiations and will respect the results of the negotiation achieved by other participants if it joins”, said Uruguay's minister for foreign affairs, Almagro Lemes.
Fifty WTO countries - Australia, Canada, Chile Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the USA and the 28 member states of the EU - have been engaged in talks since March 2013 to bypass the deadlock in the Doha round on the liberalisation of trade in services. Together, these countries represent two thirds of world trade in services.
The TiSA negotiations focus on all service sectors - including ICT, logistics and transport services, financial services and services for companies. However, the objective of the future agreement goes beyond just opening the services markets - it is also about developing new rules on trade in services, like those that apply to public procurement services, procedures for granting licences or access to communication networks. (EH)