Tuesday 17 August, 2021. APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)  Capacity Building Webinar: hosted by USTR. “Translating APEC’s Non-Binding Principles for Domestic Regulation for the Services Sector into Practice – A Focus on Domestic Regulations in Trade Agreements” 

While services trade liberalization tends to focus on the lowering of market access and discriminatory barriers, there are also significant barriers to services trade caused by opaque, unpredictable, and overly burdensome domestic policy environments.

Industry Professor and TIISA Network Director Jane Drake-Brockman presented and moderated during this highly informative and interactive webinar

Session 1 

Initial Findings of the Study on APEC’s Non-Binding Principles for Domestic Regulation of the Services Sector – A Focus on Domestic Regulations in Trade Agreements

This session aimed to disseminate key findings on costs and trends related to services domestic regulations principles and disciplines in the Asia-Pacific. In particular, the presentations will share how APEC economies can lower trade costs by streamlining domestic regulations, and how the APEC Non-binding Principles for Domestic Regulation of the Services Sector compares to a selection of trade initiatives, including: the World Trade Organization (WTO) Joint Statement Initiative on Domestic Regulations (JSI); the Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP); the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA); and the European Union-United Kingdom Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

Moderator – Jane Drake-Brockman, Industry Professor, Institute for International Trade, The University of Adelaide

Sebastian Benz, Trade Policy Analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

Felipe Sandoval, Senior Services Specialist, US-SEGA

Session 2

This session aimed to increase APEC economies’ awareness of good practices in domestic regulation of the services sector, including ongoing plurilateral talks on the JSI, which seeks to remove regulatory barriers for services providers on a global scale. Considering the numerous points of convergence between the JSI and the APEC Non-binding Principles as found in the study, this session will present the reachable opportunities the JSI provides to APEC economies in streamlining and clarifying procedures and requirements for authorization, thereby reducing services trade costs and increasing economic inclusivity.

Moderator – Thomas Fine, Director, Services and Investment, Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), United States

Jane Drake-Brockman, Industry Professor, Institute for International Trade, The University of Adelaide

Markus Jelitto, Counsellor, Trade in Services and Investment Division, World Trade Organization (WTO)

Session 3

Approaches to Transparency under Regional Trade Initiatives

Further development of transparency disciplines remains the most significant challenge in the Asia-Pacific region. While economies have been willing to agree on a more general non-binding set of principles, their approaches to transparency under regional trade initiatives do not always converge. This session aims to reflect on areas of regulatory divergence on transparency, discussing the effects of this regulatory divergence on the domestic provision of services and cross-border trade in services, as well as potential opportunities for future initiatives to support regulatory harmonization

Moderator – Felipe Sandoval, Senior Services Specialist, US-SEGA

Deborah Elms, Founder and Executive Director, Asian Trade Centre

Christine Bliss, President, Coalition of Services Industries

Professor Jane Drake-Brockman presented:

“How to Enhance Services Competitiveness, Cut Services Trade Costs and Expand Inclusive Services Business Opportunities for Developing APEC Economy SMEs”

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Jean Monnet Network; Trade & Investment in Services Associates Policy Research Outreach Series 2021

With the announcement of the agreement in principle by Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison on 15 June 2021, the focus now turns to how to maximise the benefits of the agreement and the future of Australia-UK services trade.

Industry participants from TheCityUK, the UK Professional and Business Services Council, Universities UK and the Australian Services Roundtable will participate in an interactive business discussion on the prospects for enhanced trade relations under the agreement.

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

Webinar: 1 July 2021.

The Digital Trade Integration project aims to launch a network on digital trade which will work on the creation of (1) digital trade restrictions and (2) an index of digital trade integration. Digital trade has risen to the top of the international policy agenda given its sharp increase over the past decade and the sensitivity arising from related issues such as privacy, cybersecurity, freedom of expression, censorship, hate speech and disinformation.

These policies are potentially restrictive for digital trade and include regimes for intermediary liability, restrictions on data flows and data processing, requirements to provide access to source code and other IPR-related policies, and requirements for online payments.        

Professor Jane Drake-Brockman (TIISA Director) was a co-speaker as part of session 1 “Presentation of CIVICA members and partners”.

For each topic, there was a 5 minute presentation and 15 minute open discussion. Based on the discussion, a policy-brief will be prepared highlighting the main issues that deserve further discussion as part of the CIVICA project.

Please click the links below to download or read more information:

VIEW FULL PROGRAMME

CIVICA – AI Revolution

E-Payments in Asia

Danielle Flonk – Think Piece “Content Control”

Data Flows – Assessing Restrictions

Services value-added now accounts for almost half of all world trade. But costs of trading services are twice as high as trade costs for goods. This is partly due to regulatory divergence, as well as opaque regulations and cumbersome procedures.

A large group of WTO members have jointly initiated negotiations to address these cost factors by developing disciplines on services domestic regulation.

If adopted by WTO Ministers in 2021, these disciplines will be the first and only outcome on services since the conclusion of negotiations on telecom and financial services in 1998. OECD estimates for the APEC region suggest this could cut services trade costs by an average of 8% across all services sectors.

Presenter:
Jane Drake-Brockman, Industry Professor, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide

Comments:|
Markus Jelitto, Counsellor, Trade in Services and Investment Division, WTO Secretariat,

Geneva Moderator:
Mia Mikic, ARTNeT

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Watch full webinar here

Click here to watch presentation

The Institute for International Trades (IIT’s) Jean Monnet Network; Trade & Investment in Services Associates (TIISA) invite you to join leading experts for an interactive webinar discussing the following topic: WTO Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation 

Services trade accounts for half of global trade but the costs of trading services are twice as high as trade costs for goods. Most of these costs arise from regulatory divergence, as well as opaque regulations and cumbersome procedures.

Through the WTO Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, a group of more than 60 WTO members are developing disciplines to mitigate the unintended trade restrictive effects of measures relating to licensing and qualification requirements and procedures, as well as technical standards.

Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås  – Senior Associate at CEP (Council on Economics Policies)

Services are at the frontier of the transformation to a digital economy. R&D as well as information and communication technology drive the transformation and make services more tradable across borders. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) governing global services trade was designed in the 1980s, before the Internet became a commercial marketplace. This policy brief argues that the architecture of the GATS needs to be reformed to serve its purpose of setting and implementing the rules of global trade in services. It also draws lessons from recent free trade agreements and discusses the role of national governments and regulatory bodies, trade agreements, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in governing services trade.

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The TIISA Network is pleased to announce the recipient of Round 3 funding:

Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås – Visiting Professor, Orebro University, Sweden; CEP, Switzerland

The TIISA Network is now offering Round 2 of the Young Scholar Paper Awards.

ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES:

PhD and PhD-equivalent Students, Young Professionals and Early Career Researchers

ELIGIBILITY:

• The paper must address issues related to international trade and investment in services.  Where possible, it is anticipated that the issues will have relevance to the process of economic integration in services and to be relevant to current issues in the European Union.
• The author(s) of the paper should possess or be engaged in the process of gaining a PhD or PhD-equivalent degree, be a young professional or a researcher at an early stage of their career.  Applicants will be asked to provide a statement from their supervisor or a senior colleague to establish that this condition is met.
• In the case of co-authored papers, this requirement shall apply to at least one author.
• To be considered for the award, essays cannot exceed 10,000 words.

INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS:

• The topic of the paper will have some relevance for or application to the process of economic integration in services, including in the European Union.
• Papers submitted must not yet be published in a formal manner (for example, in a book or journal, including an online journal), nor yet submitted for publication.  The winning papers must be available to be published as a TIISA Discussion Paper or TIISA Working Paper on tiisa.org
• The winner will receive a certificate and commendation to the effect that they are winner of the award.  The winner will be asked to note this award when the paper is published in any subsequent format.
• The winner will also receive a payment of Euros 5,000. In the case of a co-authored paper, the award will be equally divided among the authors.
  • In addition,
    a second runner-up award may be granted of Euros 3,000
    a third award may be granted of Euros 2,000.

SUBMISSIONS:

Submissions should include as separate attachments in PDF format:

1. The written paper
2. The CV of the author(s), specifying (i) date of birth of the author[s] (ii) current affiliation(s), (iii) where relevant the academic institution awarding the PhD, (iv) where relevant the year (or the expected year) of the PhD.
3. Supporting letter from a supervisor or senior colleague.
4. Email your application form to sarah.warner@adelaide.edu.au.

DOWNLOAD APPLICANTS INFORMATION

Leading services experts from across the globe, along with Post Graduate students worldwide came together in TIISA’s 2020 first online PhD Workshop. Discussions and presentations in relation to the impact of “servicification” available below.

Co-hosted with University of International Business and Economics’ China Institute for WTO Studies and The University of Adelaide’s Institute for international Trade (IIT)