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| Illustration of various Modes of Supply of a Service under GATS |
Economic Migration and Mode 4
Economic Migration can be achieved under Mode 4
through:[1]
1. Covering Services Activities - This is
very important because the size of the Service Sector today is immense. It
constitutes a bulk of Mode 4 related movement of natural persons.
2. Focusing on Temporary Movement - This
will help in alleviating immigration related fears and reducing brain drain.
3. Covering Dual Categories - The dual
categories of higher and lower skilled individuals need to be given separate
treatment and both need to be included within the GATS regime comprehensively.
4. By placing movement of persons on a
multi-lateral footing - More multilateral commitments need to exist with
respect to Mode 4 commitments.
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration on GATS and Mode 4
1. It talked about delinking Commercial Presence completely from Movement of Natural Persons.[2]
2. It talked about prescribing requirements for duration of stay and possibility of renewal.
3. It also talked about various imbalances that exist in Mode 4.
4. It talked about developing appropriate mechanisms for according special priority to LDCs including to sectors and modes of interests to LDCs. This is also mentioned in Article IV of GATS.[3]
Mode 3 implies supply of a service by a service supplier of one Member, through
commercial presence in the territory of any other Member. Today, internet and
technology have reduced the distances. By use of Video Conferencing and Data
Transfer Technologies, today the personnel of an organization do not have to
physically carry data or information from one country to another. The data can
simply by transferred on air. When such persons visit the territory of another
member, a confusion persists as to whether the supply of the service comes
under the Mode 3 or the Mode 4. Clear guidelines need to exist in this regard
so that the developed countries are not able to restrict the market access
on technical grounds.[4]
Future of Mode 4 and Some Suggestions
1. FTAs should be promoted to include a broader
set of issues on Mode 4.
2. Marion Panizzon states that 'the strength of the WTO lies in the fact that
it encourages states, for the benefit of mutual gains from liberalization, to
be less restrictive with regard to allowing access to their markets. In
contrast to bilateral agreements, commitments under the WTO are binding for its
Members, are applied in a non-discriminatory manner and most importantly, can
be disputed over if differences emerge under the WTO dispute settlement
mechanism'.
3. WTO members need to agree to inscribe
regulatory obligations into Mode 4 Commitments. This should include guidelines
on Voluntary Return and Readmission Guarantees.
4. Comprehensive guidelines need to exist on
Anti-Brain Drain Recruitment Policies.
5. Specific Interests and difficulties of LDCs
must be taken into account in the development of GATS since LDCs form a major
chunk of immigrants today.
6. Targeted and Coordinated technical assistance
and capacity building programmes should be provided to build institutional and
human capacity to undertake appropriate regulatory reforms.
International Trade Law Notes
[1] Elisabet Tuerk, WTO Negotiations to Liberalize Temporary Movement of Persons, A Document on Trade Negotiations under UNCTAD (2003), Available on UNCTAD Website.I
[2]
[3] India & the WTO, Ministry of Commerce, available at http://commerce.nic.in/dec05/main.htm
[4]
Sungjoon Cho, Development by Moving People: Unearthing the Development
Potential of a GATS Visa, available at http://www.law.umn.edu/uploads/pT/5h/pT5h5wJiFZ_yQ4m4E9c-dQ/wto-cho.pdf
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