Singapore's commitments on services market liberalization under RCEP
RCEP is the only FTA in the world that applies both methods of scheduling commitments for the liberalization of trade in services, namely:
- The positive list approach: a member opens its services market to service suppliers of its partners only under the conditions, to the extent, and in the sectors specifically listed in its Schedule of Specific Commitments (in Annex II of the RCEP Agreement);
- The negative list approach: a member opens all of its services markets to service suppliers of its partners without limitation, except for the specific restrictions set out in its Schedule of Non-Conforming Measures (in Annex III of the RCEP Agreement).
RCEP allows member countries to choose whether to apply the positive list or negative list approach during the initial stage of RCEP implementation (the transitional period):
- Eight out of the 15 RCEP members chose to liberalize their services markets under the positive list approach during the transitional period, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, China, and Viet Nam.
The transitional period for members adopting the positive list approach is six years from the date RCEP enters into force (except for Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, which have a transitional period of 15 years).
- Seven out of the 15 members adopted the negative list approach from the outset, namely Australia, Brunei, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore.
Accordingly, Singapore has committed to liberalize its services market under the negative list approach through Singapore's Schedule of Non-Conforming Measures (covering both services and investment) set out in Annex III of the RCEP Agreement.
This Schedule lists all service sectors and subsectors in which Singapore has reserved measures that are not yet liberalized or are not fully liberalized in accordance with the basic RCEP principles on services liberalization (that is, they are maintained at a level that is non-conforming with the RCEP disciplines on services market opening).
For each reserved sector or subsector, the specific details of the limitation or reservation method (which basic RCEP principle the reservation applies to, the extent of the reservation, the implementation schedule, etc.) - in other words, the non-conforming aspect - must be stated clearly.
Each country's Schedule of Non-Conforming Measures includes two lists (List A and List B), which differ in the way reservations are made:
- For reservations listed in List A:
Scope of application: Reservations for the service sectors and subsectors listed in this List apply only to existing restrictive measures affecting services and foreign service suppliers, or to future amendments to those measures.
Binding requirement: For measures falling within the scope of this List, if the member later unilaterally changes its level of market opening, such changes must comply with the ratchet principle (meaning the regime may only move forward and become more liberal and favorable than before).
- For reservations listed in List B:
Reservations listed in this List may be applied without being subject to the same conditions as those applicable to List A.
Source: Center for WTO and International Trade - VCCI
The schedule of reservations and non-conforming measures for services and investment of Singapore is attached below:
