A Study On The Issue Of Determining "Likeness" Under The GATS System

In the GATS system,"like services and service suppliers"is a basic concept companying with Non-discrimination Principle. Because of the ambiguity of the GATS text and the absence of the WTO judicature, the issue of"like services and service suppliers"stirs up great controversies and uncertainties. Using other scholars'researches and the reports of the DSB for reference, the thesis focuses on the issue of the likeness of services and brings forward some methods in determining"like services and service suppliers".The full text of the article is divided into three main parts: Introduction, Text and Conclusion. The text consists of four chapters.Chapter one focuses on the general issue of likeness under the GATS system. The author analyzes not only the important role of"like services and service suppliers"as to the GATS, but also the complexity of the issue of determining likeness of services. And then, the author describes the status quo of determining"like services and service suppliers".Chapter two deals with the application of the objective approach in determining"like services". The author tries to examine whether the BTA approach can be transposed to services trade and how far they may contribute to establishing likeness under the GATS system. Besides, the author discusses the relevance and role of the modes of supply in determining likeness.Chapter three emphasizes on the application of"Aim and Effects"test in determining"like services". The author tries to expound whether"Aim and Effects"test can be applied to determining"like services"and how it should be applied.Chapter four concerns with the determination of"like service suppliers"and the relationship between it and"like services". First, the author recognizes that the approach applied by DSB in determining"like service suppliers"is improper and then brings forward the correct approach to deal with this issue. Furthermore, the author analyzes the relationship between"like services"and"like service suppliers".