Trade in Services for Development (TS4D)
Good regulatory practices to facilitate services trade
Services trade is subject to a wide array of domestic regulations. While these may be motivated by legitimate policy concerns, domestic regulations - measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and technical standards - can have unintended trade-restrictive effects. Such barriers may hinder the participation of developing economies in services trade and limit growth opportunities. Opaque regulations and cumbersome procedures for services suppliers can make trade costs in services twice as high as those for manufactured goods.
Under the workstreams, the World Bank and the WTO aim to assist developing economies in implementing good regulatory practices (GRPs) for services markets, including those enshrined in the new WTO disciplines on services domestic regulation adopted by 72 WTO members.
The World Bank and the WTO have produced the "Handbook on Good Regulatory Practice in Services Trade", which aims to equip developing economies with the tools to assess their practices in various service sectors.
The Handbook offers a concise overview of key good practice in services trade, drawing on the new WTO disciplines on services domestic regulation, bilateral and regional trade agreements, and good practice at the domestic level. With the goal of presenting a menu of options for developing economies interested in undertaking regulatory reforms, the Handbook explains the purpose of each good practice and provides examples based on the WTO – World Bank Services Trade Policy Database (STPD).
The WTO and the World Bank have also developed a new Self-Assessment Questionnaire to help policy-makers benchmark their current regulatory frameworks, identify gaps and plan sector-specific reforms aligned with international best practices.
Background
Good regulatory practices for services trade seek to cut red tape by enhancing transparency, predictability and regulatory quality, thereby lowering trade costs, improving the business climate and facilitating services trade worldwide.
In December 2021, a group of 67 WTO members adopted a Declaration announcing the successful conclusion of negotiations on services domestic regulation aimed at creating a set of good regulatory practices covering licensing and authorization procedures for service suppliers. At present, the disciplines have entered into force for more than 50 WTO members.
The full implementation of the disciplines is expected to lower trade costs for all economies. It is also expected to lead to more active engagement of economies in global value chains, lower costs for starting a business, and trigger higher levels of financial inclusion. Exporters from all WTO members will benefit from the improved regulatory conditions when they trade with other WTO members that have adopted the disciplines. Significantly larger benefits will be felt by WTO members implementing the disciplines in their domestic regulatory frameworks.
More information on the disciplines on services domestic regulation is available here.
Capacity building and technical assistance
The Handbook and Self Assessment Questionnaire will be used by the WTO Secretariat and the World Bank, in collaboration with developing economies and development partners, in technical assistance activities with the aim of supporting the implementation of good regulatory practices in services sectors.
The Questionnaire has already been used in WTO capacity building activities and World Bank technical assistance activities in 2025.
Members wishing to obtain support in undertaking a competitiveness diagnostic analysis should contact the World Bank and the WTO here.