Deepening Cooperation on Medical Goods and Services Trade
NOTES 1. The service delivery “modes of supply” referred to in this chapter and throughout the volume refer to the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) modes: (1) cross-border supply, (2) consumption abroad, (3) commercial presence, and (4) presence of natural persons. 2. See, for example, the APEC resource page, “APEC COVID-19 Economic Response and Recovery Initiatives” (last updated February 2022), https://www.apec.org/covid-19/apec-covid-19 -economic-response-and-recovery-initiatives. 3. The general exceptions provision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), art. XX, permits restrictions if necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life or health (art. XX[b]) or that are “essential to the acquisition or distribution of products in general or local short supply [p]rovided that any such measures shall be consistent with the principle that all contracting parties are entitled to an equitable share of the international supply of such products, and that any such measures, which are inconsistent with the other provisions of the Agreement shall be discontinued as soon as the conditions giving rise to them have ceased to exist” (art. XX[j]). In all these cases, measures may not be applied in a manner that would constitute (a) a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail, or (b) a disguised restriction on international trade. (Although the WTO is the successor to the GATT, the original GATT text [GATT 1947] remains in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994.) 4. The EU treaties permit restrictions on intra-EU trade and other types of cross-border movement if member states deem these to be necessary to address emergencies and safeguard national public health and safety. 5. See, for example, “International Travel Restrictions by Country” (web page), Kayak.com (updated May 13, 2022): https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions?origin=CD. 6. During the Uruguay Round negotiations (1986–94), some major trading partners agreed to the so-called “Agreement on Pharmaceuticals” or “Pharma,” through which participating countries agreed to eliminate tariffs on pharmaceutical products, including final products and chemical intermediates used for their production. The concessions were transcribed into WTO schedules and hence the tariff elimination applied on a most-favored-nation basis. In addition, participants also agreed to periodically review the Pharma to update and expand the list of items covered (last review in 2010). Also, in 2015, as part of the Expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA Expansion), 53 WTO members, including several developing countries, agreed to eliminate tariffs on some high-technology products, including some medical equipment. 7. For more about quantitative restrictions, see the discussion of GATT 1994 (art. XI) on the WTO website: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/markacc_e/qr_e.htm. 8. See “WTO Members’ Notifications on COVID-19” on the WTO website: https://www.wto.org /english/tratop_e/covid19_e/notifications_e.htm. 9. See, for instance, G-20 (2020) and WTO (2021a). 10. “Developing countries,” when referred to in the WTO context, are those that declare themselves as such. The WTO does not define “developing” or “developed” countries. However, other WTO members may challenge a member’s decision to make use of WTO provisions available to developing countries. See “Who Are the Developing Countries in the WTO?” on the WTO website: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/d1who_e.htm. 11. See, for instance, a proposal made by a group of WTO Members to the Trade Facilitation Committee (WTO 2022b). A recommendation of the G-20’s Trade and Investment Working Group, made in May 2020, focused on similar areas, highlighting prearrival processing, separation of release from payments, and expedited shipments (G-20 2020). It also called for speeding up and streamlining customs procedures in line with the TFA. 12. See, for instance, the Declaration on Facilitating the Movement of Essential Goods by the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT): https://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Sectoral -Ministerial-Meetings/Trade/2020_MRT/Annex-A.
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