During theUruguay Round the scope of multilateral negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was extended to include trade in services. The outcome was the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which was established on 1 January 1995. Since 2000, negotiations on the liberalisation of services have been ongoing under the auspices of this agreement. Also known as GATS 2000, these negotiations were initiated in order to strengthen the GATS framework and enhance world trade in services. The result is that WTO member countries are currently negotiating the liberalisation of a wide range of services from education to tourism to rubbish collection and environmental services, which hitherto largely fell under the jurisdiction of state control
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