A Study On Specific Commitments In GATS

As an important result of the Uruguay Round, the GATS is one of the three pillars of the WTO. The obligations of every WTO member in respect of service trade are governed by the GATS and at the same time depend on its schedule of specific commitments. The specific rights and obligations which effect service trade directly are all regulated by specific commitments. Hence the interpretation of the GATS and the schedules of specific commitments is a matter that determines the degree and pace of opening service market. Nevertheless, the GATS is a new system, thus there is still a lot of uncertainty in the interpretation and application of the provisions in practice. US-Gambling case is one of the few cases that directly involve the GATS. As such, it has drawn great attention of the international community. By using methods of comparative analysis and case-to-case analysis, this dissertation is, through discussing the panel and Appellate Body reports of the US-Gambling Case, to research the specific commitments in GATS comprehensively and systematically.Firstly, from the point of the meaning and feature of specific commitments in GATS, the article illustrates that as a selective obligation, specific commitments is on the core of GATS. Because of this character, the interpretation of schedules of specific commitments which contain specific commitment is vital important. Schedules of specific commitments form an integral part of GATS, the rules of interpretation that apply with respect to GATS schedules are the same as the general rules to the conventions, including ordinary meaning, context, subsequent practice and supplementary means. Furthermore, the author examined the relationship between specific commitments and market access. The extent and conditions of market access depends on the specific commitments ofthe Members. When the Members made full commitment in their schedules of specific commitments, it meant they should not impose any limited measures. And the market access limitation also overrides domestic regulation which intervenes the liberalization of service trade by the government of WTO members. Members of WTO should invoke the exceptions in a manner to evade the committed obligations. The last part of this article analyzed the feature of exception clauses, the standards of invocation, the requirements of "necessary" and the rules of interpretation. The author expected the above analysis could reflect the challenges of the GATS and the policy choice available to the WTO members, and benefit for our country in the new round negotiation of service trade.