Services Liberalization in the New Generation of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs): How Much Further than the GATS?

This paper attempts to fill a gap in the trade literature by providing a comprehensive overview of services liberalization commitments in the new generation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) as compared to prevailing GATS commitments and Doha Round offers. By developing a new database, the paper reviews the commitments undertaken by 29 WTO Members (counting the EC as one) under mode 1 (cross-border supply) and mode 3 (commercial presence) in 28 PTAs negotiated since 2000. The paper presents a general analysis from both a cross-country and cross-sector perspectives, and also examines in more detail the GATS+ commitments undertaken in a number of key sectors (audiovisual, distribution, education, financial, professional, and telecommunication services). The paper also discusses the potential economic costs arising from these preferential agreements, as well as the potential implications for the multilateral trading system, and for the Doha round of negotiations in particular. The paper concludes by discussing possible approaches to overcome the potential downsides of PTAs, including proposals for a more pro-active role for the WTO in the surveillance of these agreements

Health financing reform in Kenya- assessing the social health insurance proposal

Kenya has had a history of health financing policy changes since its   independence in 1963. Recently, significant preparatory work was done on a new Social Health Insurance Law that, if accepted, would lead to universal health coverage in Kenya after a tr&nsition period. Questions of economic  feasibility and political acceptability continue to be discussed, with   stakeholders voicing concerns on design features of the new proposal   submitted to the  Kenyan parliament in 2004. For economic, social, political and organisational reasons a transition period will be  necessary, which is likely to last more than a decade. However, important objectives such as access to health care  and avoiding impoverishment due to direct health care payments should be recognised from the start so that  steady progress towards effective universal coverage can be planned and achieved

The Contribution of Services Liberalisation to Poverty Reduction: What Role for the GATS?

There are various conceivable links between services liberalization and poverty reduction, including the efficiency effects associated with increased competition in intermediate (infrastructural) services, income transfers generated by workers moving abroad, or the mobilization of private investment for social policy purposes. Arguably the most promising option for interested governments, regardless of complementary moves by trading partners, is the opening of, and creation of favourable investment conditions in, core infrastructural services. However, apart from basic telecommunications, both the Uruguay Round schedules and the offers submitted in the Doha Round to date have remained disappointing in this respect. Given the apparent lack of political impetus in broader-based trade rounds, this article discusses options, in particular from the viewpoint of smaller and poorer participants, how the submission of more meaningful offers could be encouraged.WTO, trade in services, liberalisation of services trade, trading partners, poverty reduction, Economics, Doha Round, Uruguay Round, International Economic Relations, international trade

Public Services and GATS

The status of public services is one of the most hotly debated issues surrounding the GATS. There are two approaches to distinguish such services from any other services: an institutional approach that focuses on the legal and institutional conditions governing supply (e.g. ownership status, market organisation), and a functional approach based on the policy objectives that may be involved (e.g. distributional and quality-related considerations, concepts of universal access). This paper discusses the relevance of the GATS for different organisational settings - from government monopolies to regulated and/or subsidized private provision - that may be used by WTO Members to meet typical public service objectives. It turns out that virtually all forms of organisation can be accommodated within the framework of the Agreement. To fully exploit its opportunities and avoid unpleasant surprises, however, governments would need to thoroughly analyse the relevant provisions in the light of their own policy objectives.WTO, Services, public services, trade in services,monopolies, GATS, Economics, International Economic Relations

Deconstructing <i>Methanosarcina acetivorans</i> into an acetogenic archaeon

Significance The reductive acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) pathway is the only carbon fixation pathway that can also be used for energy conservation like it is known for acetogenic bacteria. In methanogenic archaea, this pathway is extended with one route toward acetyl-CoA formation for anabolism and another route toward methane formation for catabolism. Which of these traits is ancestral in evolution has not been resolved. By diverging virtually all substrate carbon from methanogenesis to flow through acetyl-CoA, Methanosarcina acetivorans can be converted to an acetogenic organism. Being able to deconstruct methanogenic into the seemingly simpler acetogenic energy metabolism provides compelling evidence that methanogens are not nearly as metabolically limited as previously thought and suggests that methanogenesis might have evolved from the acetyl-CoA pathway. </jats:p

Deconstructing Methanosarcina acetivorans into an acetogenic archaeon

Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Seigo Shima (Marburg) and Uwe Deppen-meier (Bonn) for generously providing CoM-S-S-CoB, Johannes Finke (Frankfurt) for help during cloning procedures, and Ivan Berg (Mu€nster) for critical reading of the manuscript. M.V. and N.J. acknowledge support from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research for the ProMetheus platform for proteomics and metabolomics. This work was supported by grants from the Graduate Academy of the Technische Universita€t Dresden to C.S., Novo Nordisk Foundation Grant NNF19OC0055464 to N.A., and Academy of Finland Grant 326020 to S.S. Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Seigo Shima (Marburg) and Uwe Deppenmeier (Bonn) for generously providing CoM-S-S-CoB, Johannes Finke (Frankfurt) for help during cloning procedures, and Ivan Berg (Munster) ? for critical reading of the manuscript. M.V. and N.J. acknowledge support from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research for the ProMetheus platform for proteomics and metabolomics. This work was supported by grants from the Graduate Academy of the Technische Universitat ? Dresden to C.S., Novo Nordisk Foundation Grant NNF19OC0055464 to N.A., and Academy of Finland Grant 326020 to S.S. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.The reductive acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) pathway, whereby carbon dioxide is sequentially reduced to acetyl-CoA via coenzyme-bound C1 intermediates, is the only autotrophic pathway that can at the same time be the means for energy conservation. A conceptually similar metabolism and a key process in the global carbon cycle is methanogenesis, the biogenic formation of methane. All known methanogenic archaea depend on methanogenesis to sustain growth and use the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway for autotrophic carbon fixation. Here, we converted a methanogen into an acetogen and show that Methanosarcina acetivorans can dispense with methanogenesis for energy conservation completely. By targeted disruption of the methanogenic pathway, followed by adaptive evolution, a strain was created that sustained growth via carbon monoxide–dependent acetogenesis. A minute flux (less than 0.2% of the carbon monoxide consumed) through the methane-liberating reaction remained essential, indicating that currently living methanogens utilize metabolites of this reaction also for anabolic purposes. These results suggest that the metabolic flexibility of methanogenic archaea might be much greater than currently known. Also, our ability to deconstruct a methanogen into an acetogen by merely removing cellular functions provides experimental support for the notion that methanogenesis could have evolved from the reductive acetyl-coenzyme A pathway.Peer reviewe