Author: Olga Batura
Keywords: border supply of telecommunications services; General Agreement on Trade in Services; International Telecommunication Union; Reference paper on regulatory principles; World Trade Organization
The article provides a critical assessment of the World Trade Organization Panel report in the case Mexico – Measures Affecting Telecommunications Services – the first case that dealt exclusively with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It points out the main shortcomings of the Panel report with regard to the selected methodology, argumentation and application of law that ultimately led to faulty interpretation of important terms and questionable findings. It also discusses implications of the Panel report for domestic and international regulation of trade in telecommunications services.