COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
INTERNATIONAL BUREAU
UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION
BERNE
SWITZERLAND
www.upu.int

 

UPU and WTO issues discussed
Bern, Switzerland, 11 April 2002 

Issues common to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) were discussed at a seminar held during the annual meeting of the UPU’s Postal Operations Council in Bern, Switzerland. The seminar hosted by the UPU’s Project Team on WTO Relations focussed on issues of interest to developing countries in the trade liberalization negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) currently underway in the WTO.  The seminar, entitled “Mind the GATS: Defining Developing Country Interests in the Services Negotiations” brought postal operators and regulators together with four experts on trade policy.  Approximately 50 UPU delegates, among them many representatives from developing countries, attended the event at UPU Headquarters. 

The Project Team fulfils the UPU objective of monitoring developments on trade in services, keeping UPU members informed on trade policy issues, and establishing formal relations with the WTO.   

The seminar featured four speakers who offered a wealth of knowledge and experience on GATS issues.   Ms. Lee Tuthill, Senior Counsellor in the Trade in Services Division of the WTO Secretariat, delivered a detailed presentation on the architecture of the GATS.   Ms. Tuthill’s presentation reviewed the coverage of the GATS and the nature of its obligations.  She also gave statistics showing the extent to which WTO Members have undertaken specific commitments in postal and courier sectors.   

Mr. Hugo Cayrús, Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Delegation of Uruguay to the WTO and other international organizations, offered an update on recent proposals submitted by WTO Members in the services negotiations. Mr. Cayrús discussed the contents of negotiating proposals offered in the current round by the European Communities, the United States, MERCOSUR and Bolivia, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, China, on postal, courier, express, and logistics services.  He also identified key themes that have emerged in the negotiations and offered fresh insights from the viewpoint of a developing country trade negotiator.  

Mr. Anton van der Lande, Vice President of Public Affairs International of United Parcel Service, presented the views of the International Express Carriers Conference. Mr. Van der Lande’s presentation addressed differences between express delivery and postal services, and advocated in favour of a separate industrial classification for express delivery services for negotiation purposes.  He also discussed the benefits associated with liberalization of express delivery services for developing countries, and suggested that the express industry, along with the UPU and other organizations, could support trade facilitation by collaborating to provide training, hardware, and software for developing countries.  

Mr. Scott Sinclair, Senior research fellow at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and former Canadian provincial trade advisor, delivered a presentation urging developing countries to approach the trade negotiations with caution.   Mr. Sinclair discussed how the implications of GATS obligations and classification proposals may not have been thoroughly understood or analysed, and suggested that commitments undertaken in the current round of negotiations could unwittingly deprive postal administrations of policy flexibility. He also commented that trade commitments undertaken outside domestic public policymaking processes may only suit a selected group of express industry players, rather than a wider range of interests.  

The speakers and the delegates engaged in extended and sometimes spirited discussions about the implications of trade liberalization for the postal sector. Mr. Thomas E. Leavey, the Director General of the UPU’s International Bureau, said that the seminar offered UPU developing county members “a key opportunity to build WTO disciplines into public policy debates on postal liberalization and regulatory reform.”   Mr. Leavey added that the seminar, along with other recent educational efforts on WTO trade disciplines, demonstrate the “urgent and pressing need for the UPU and the WTO to engage in further information sharing under more formal and frequent terms.”  The UPU has proposed that the WTO grant observer status to the UPU, and that the WTO exchange information and resources pursuant to the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding modelled on an agreement executed between the WTO and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  Mr. Leavey remarked that adoption of these measures would not only enable UPU Members “to better acquaint themselves with WTO obligations, but also to facilitate informed decision-making among WTO negotiators on postal sector commitments.” 

CONTACT
James Gunderson
Telephone +41 31 (031) 350 32 01
Telefax +41 31 (031) 350 31 10
james.gunderson@upu.int