The next challenge will be to assist trade in services, which is growing more quickly than trade in goods. A fresh round of services talks is due to start in 2000. The aim will be to strengthen last year's agreements on telecoms, financial services and IT, as well as completing an accord on accountancy services which is currently being negotiated. Rich countries want firm rules on government procurement, to replace the vague existing code. Some countries, but not America, are also keen to tackle other subjects that eluded agreement in earlier talks, such as shipping. These will prove thorny, too, as any global talks will have to cope with bilateral agree- ments dating back decades.
下一项挑战是助推服务贸易,其增长速度快于商品贸易。新一轮服务贸易谈判将于2000年开始,目的是完善去年关于电信、融服务和信息技术方面的协议,并完成目前正在谈判中的会计服务协议。政府采购方面富裕国家想以严格的规则取代现有模糊不清的法规。一些国家但不包括美国,也热衷于解决先前谈判中未能达成协议的其他议题,如航运问题。些问题都很棘手因为任何全球性谈判都必须要应对几十年来的双边协议。
