Twenty-first Round (4 – 8 December)
Australia chaired the 21st round of TiSA negotiations, from 4 to 8 December 2016. Parties agreed to a comprehensive stocktake of the negotiations, identifying progress made and areas which require ongoing technical work. Intersessional meetings on Financial Services also took place during this round, with progress being made in a number of areas. Parties agreed to reconvene in 2017.
Twentieth Round (2 – 10 November)
The European Union chaired the 20th round of TiSA negotiations. Parties made significant progress in the negotiations on transparency, maritime transport and financial services. Parties discussed revised market access offers, a number of which included significant and commercially meaningful improvements.
Nineteenth Round (19 – 25 September)
The United States chaired the 19th round of TiSA negotiations from 19 – 25 September. Parties made significant progress on identifying and addressing outstanding issues, and in the negotiations on financial services, transparency, and localisations (FTA disciplines including local presence, senior management and board of directors and performance requirements). Parties agreed to a roadmap towards stabilising further parts of the text – including through intersessional work. Parties also agreed to table revised offers by 21 October.
Eighteenth Round (10 July – 17 July)
Australia chaired the 18th round of TiSA negotiations, which included a detailed stocktake of progress and next steps on all outstanding text proposals. The focus of the discussions on the text was on institutional provisions and proposed annexes on financial services, telecommunications, e-commerce, localisation, domestic regulation and transport. Progress was made across the board and negotiations on the localisation disciplines moved ahead significantly. Parties also discussed market access in both plenary and bilateral formats. The United States will chair the nineteenth round of TiSA negotiations, to be held from 19 – 25 September.
Seventeenth Round (26 May – 3 June)
The European Union chaired the 17th round of TiSA negotiations from 26 May to 3 June. Parties presented their revised market access offers during plenary sessions. Negotiators also progressed texts on e-commerce, financial services, localisation, telecommunications, transport and temporary entry of business persons. Parties agreed to participate in a stocktake session during the eighteenth round of TiSA negotiations.
Sixteenth Round (10 April – 15 April)
Australia chaired the 16th round of Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiations from 10 – 15 April. Intensive intersessional work resulted in substantial progress in negotiations on financial services, telecommunications, temporary entry of business persons, transport and localisation (FTA disciplines including local presence, senior management and board of directors, and performance requirements). Good progress was also made on market access negotiations. Parties are due to table revised offers by 6 May.
Fifteenth Round (31 January – 5 February 2016)
The US chaired the February round. Parties made substantial progress in negotiations on e commerce, financial services, localisation, telecommunications and temporary entry of business persons. Parties also agreed a work plan to guide negotiations in the coming months and committed to intensified intersessional work and market access negotiations, including presentation of revised offers, towards a stocktake of progress in July 2016.
Fourteenth Round (29 November-4 December 2015)
The European Union chaired the December round. Following an active program of intersessional work, Parties made good progress in negotiations on domestic regulation, transparency and financial services, stabilising substantial parts of the text. Parties also held productive discussions on temporary entry of business persons and continued market access negotiations. Pakistan became the final TiSA Party to table its market access offer. With all offers now on the table, Parties committed to intensified market access discussions in 2016 to move negotiations closer to conclusion.
Thirteenth Round (6-13 October 2015)
The United States chaired the October Round. The round was the first attended by Mauritius, which joined in July as the 23rd TiSA Party. Building on the July stocktaking exercise, Parties continued market access negotiations and held productive discussions on e-commerce, telecommunications, temporary entry of business persons, domestic regulation, financial services and delivery services. A proposal on state-owned enterprises was also introduced, the final new annex notified in accordance with the 31 July deadline agreed to by Parties in July. Parties also agreed to a work plan to guide negotiations for the next six months, including intensified intersessional work to move negotiations on annexes closer to conclusion.
Twelfth Round (6-10 July 2015)
Australia chaired the July round, which included a stocktaking exercise – a milestone on the path toward concluding the TiSA negotiating process. Negotiators continued to make good progress on streamlining the disciplines (trade rules) in the core text of the agreement, as well as in the annexes on domestic regulation and financial services. Parties also had productive discussions on e-commerce, telecommunications, temporary entry of business persons and maritime and road transport services and committed to undertake additional inter-sessional work in these areas. Parties also agreed to a deadline for notifying any new annexes (31 July 2015), and a timeframe for tabling completed market access offers (15 September 2015). At an Ambassadors' session on the final day of negotiations, Mauritius joined as the 25th TiSA Party.
Eleventh Round (13-17 April 2015)
The European Union chaired the April Round. Negotiators made good progress on further streamlining the disciplines (trade rules) in the domestic regulation and financial services annexes. Parties had productive discussions on telecommunications, temporary entry of business persons and maritime transport services and committed to undertake additional intersessional work in these areas. Australia's delegation, including Australia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO, Hamish McCormick, met industry representatives from the Global Services Coalition in the margins of the Round.
Tenth Round (9-13 February 2015)
The United States chaired the February Round. The Round was the first attended by Uruguay, which became the 24th Party to join the TiSA negotiations. Parties continued to focus on advancing the enhanced disciplines (trade rules) for temporary entry of business persons, domestic regulation and transparency, e-commerce and telecommunications, financial services, professional services, maritime and air transport services. There was also a discussion of new proposals for government procurement, delivery services, patient mobility and road transport. The Round was characterized by increased attention on bilaterals and small group meetings, with Parties participating in a series of sectoral and market access meetings to facilitate progress in the negotiations.
Ninth Round (1-5 December 2014)
Australia chaired the December Round. It was attended by more than 200 negotiators and sector-specific government experts. Good progress was made in advancing the enhanced disciplines (trade rules) for e-commerce and telecommunications, domestic regulation and transparency, financial services, temporary entry of business persons, professional services, maritime and air transport services and delivery services. There was also further discussion of proposals on government procurement, environmental and energy services, and the facilitation of patient mobility. Parties reported on progress in bilateral market access discussions held since the September Round and committed to advance these further in 2015.
Eighth Round (21-25 September 2014)
The EU chaired the September Round. Negotiators made positive progress on further developing new and enhanced disciplines (trade rules) for temporary entry of business persons, financial services, maritime and air transport services, domestic regulation and transparency, e-commerce and telecommunications and professional services. There was also a discussion of new proposals, including on environmental services, government procurement and direct selling services. Following on from the commitment made by Parties' at the June Round to enhance the focus on market access negotiations, negotiators discussed raising the level of ambition in various sectors. Parties agreed to progress market access discussions intersessionally.
Seventh Round (23-27 June 2014)
The United States chaired the June round. The negotiations focused on advancing the new and enhanced disciplines (trade rules) for e-commerce and telecommunications, financial services, professional services, domestic regulation and transparency, air and maritime transport and temporary entry of business persons. Solid progress was made in all of these areas. Negotiators also held further discussions on the competitive delivery services and road transport proposals. Market access discussions continued with TiSA Parties agreeing to make market access negotiations an increasing focus of the negotiations going forward. To support Australia's objective of increasing opportunities for professional service suppliers, we facilitated a presentation by the International Bar Association on trade in legal services in the margins of the round. The presentation was well-received by TiSA parties.
Sixth Round (28 April - 2 May 2014)
Australia chaired the April/May round. More than 140 negotiators and sector-specific government experts attended. Good progress was made advancing discussions in all areas of the negotiations, including on new and enhanced disciplines (trade rules) for financial services, domestic regulation and transparency, e-commerce and telecommunications, and maritime transport. TiSA parties also agreed to move to a negotiating text for air transport. Market access negotiations also continued. The Global Services Coalition organised a substantial industry presence in the margins of the negotiations, and Australia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO participated in a public information session hosted by the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development.
Fifth Round (17-24 February 2014)
The EU chaired the February round. The round marked the commencement of market access negotiations with three days of dedicated discussions. 21 of the 23 TiSA parties tabled their initial market access offers, sending a clear signal as to the strong momentum in the negotiations. TiSA parties also continued discussions on new and advanced disciplines (trade rules) for ICT services, financial services, domestic regulation and transparency, maritime transport, professional services and temporary entry of business persons. They agreed to move from proposals to negotiating texts for all of these disciplines.
Fourth Round (4–8 November 2013)
The United States chaired the November round. Negotiations focused on advancing new and enhanced disciplines (trade rules) on ICT services, financial services, professional services, temporary entry of business persons, maritime transport services and domestic regulation. New proposals were tabled on air transport services, competitive delivery services, energy services and subsidies. The European Union was the third party to table an initial market access offer. Other parties confirmed offers will be tabled by the 30 November deadline. Further progress was made on the core text of the agreement with the provisions on scheduling commitments now largely finalised.
Third Round (16–20 September 2013)
Australia chaired the September round. In a sign of growing momentum in the negotiations, more than 120 negotiators and sector-specific government experts attended. Significant progress was made on the core text of the agreement, which allowed parties to agree to a window for tabling initial market access offers of 4 30 November. Early offers tabled by the United States and Japan enabled the commencement of market access negotiations. Discussions also progressed on new and enhanced disciplines.
Second Round (24–28 June 2013)
The European Union chaired the June round. Liechtenstein joined the negotiations bringing the number of parties to 23, including the European Union representing its 28 Member States following Croatia's accession. Ongoing discussions around the inclusion of provisions from the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services in the core text of the TiSA meant parties were not able to confirm a window for tabling offers. Initial discussions were held on Australia's proposal for an Annex on Professional Services. New proposals were tabled on financial services and domestic regulation. Preliminary discussions on e-commerce and maritime transport services were complemented by presentations from industry in the margins of the meeting on developments in the ICT and maritime sectors.
First Round (27 April – 3 May 2013)
The United States chaired the first formal negotiating round in April/May. Parties produced a first draft core negotiating text and discussed a July window for tabling initial market access offers if sufficient progress could be made on the core text at the June round. A full day was dedicated to discussions on temporary entry of business persons. Initial discussions were also held on financial services.