Reply To: Is it true that the GATS applies not only to cross-border flows of services but

[Rahul Jai]

The finance and telecommunications sectors have the most trade in services. It’s important to remember that GATS is the only set of rules that cover international trade in services that are made up of rules from different countries. During the Uruguay Round of the GATT, the General Agreement on Trade in Services was made. It was one of the main ideas behind the World Trade Organization Agreement, an international treaty signed in 1995. GATS is signed by all WTO members.

GATS says that there are four ways that all services can be traded, based on how they are provided:

1. Consumers who go to the supplier country and buy services there
2. Cross-border supply of a service to a consumer country without the supplier
3. A supplier’s business presence in the country of the consumer and
4. Presence of People from the supplying country in the receiving country