General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) concept of “like services” and “service suppliers”

With the upgrading of GATT into mandatory WTO, the international community has been saddled with the mutually imposed responsibility of providing non-discriminatory treatment to various services based on economic-value additions and their role in promoting the process of globalization in the shape of a’ global village’ where business firms can operate without government imposed restrictions. Trade in services has been accorded a priority to cover a substantial portion of world trade flows; this is in addition to the current state of commodities for which GATT has been providing lead role for more than half a century. The General Agreement on Trade in Services requires technical and legal understanding and interpretations to promote equity among Member countries. Here the concept of “Like Services” and “Service Suppliers” requires elaborate clarification and expert handling. This Review Article attempts to analyse and evaluate the work of the WTO research staff in this area with the main objective of providing basic guidelines to all the stake-holders in finalizing and making their submission and clarifications to various WTO bodies.