ASEAN countries' amendments?to draft Ministerial text on services

Geneva, 30 Nov (Goh Chien Yen) -- A group of ASEAN countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand and the Philippines - has officially submitted their substantive amendments to the Services annex of the Draft Ministerial Text to the WTO.

According to trade diplomats, the submission of these ASEAN countries has also been specifically sent to the WTO Director-General (who is also the chair of theTrade Negotiations Committee), the Chair of the GC, and the Chair of the Special Sessions of the Council on Trade in Services (CTS-SS). Their submission was circulated to all members on 28 Nov 2005.

The negotiations over the last few weeks over the Services annex of the draft ministerial text prepared by Amb Mateo, Chair of the CTS-SS,