Professional Services News: Successful Conclusion of WTO Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation

On December 2, 2021, the United States joined over 60 World Trade Organization (WTO) Members, representing more than 90% of global services trade, in announcing the successful conclusion of negotiations of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Services Domestic Regulation. The negotiated rules will improve the transparency and fairness of processes for obtaining authorizations to provide services by professionals and firms in a wide array of fields.

This JSI also represents the first WTO agreement on services since the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in 1995.

Resources:

Read USTR’s press release on the agreement’s conclusion here.

Access the full text of the WTO JSI on Services Domestic Regulation here.

View the WTO’s fact sheet on services domestic regulation here.

Read the WTO’s press release on the agreement here.