GATS: transport services

Abstract

The first proposals for the negotiations of a multilateral framework for trade in services were put forward in the early 1980s. Since then, it has been recognized that effective liberalization of trade in services would be difficult to achieve unless such a framework were to cover all traded services. An alternative view has been expressed that due to the heterogeneity of service sector, it would be difficult to construct a set of principles and disciplines, which could apply equally to trade in all service sub-sectors. The current multilateral framework for trade in services that is known as the general agreement on trade in services (GATS) has elaborated principles and disciplines for specific sectors taking into account the various service sub-sector that embody a variety of activities and have different characteristics.