PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release                                                                     .................................Contact: John Goyer May 31, 2005                                                                       ...................................................(202) 289-7460 ext 22 CSI Applauds Revised US Services Offer (Washington, DC) The Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) today applauded the revised services offer announced by the United States as part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. Under a framework agreement adopted by WTO members in July of last year, today marks the deadline by which WTO members were to submit revised services offers. "We are very pleased that the US has met this important deadline," said Robert Vastine, President of CSI. "The offer represents a good response to the many requests of our trading partners." The offer includes important concessions in a number of service sectors. The computer and related services and management consulting sectors were opened further with the US move to adopt the broadest level of commitments in the services classification system used in the WTO. The offer also contains new commitments in logistics services, higher education, energy services, and translation and interpretation services. Elements of the telecommunications and audiovisual services commitments were also clarified in the revised offer. "Today's offer was a crucial step forward in the WTO services negotiations, but it is only a step." Said Vastine. "Many more countries need to come forward with revised offers, while many others have not even submitted an initial offer." “Services negotiations take, at a minimum, many months, and time is not on our side." Said Vastine. "We hope that other WTO members will now step forward with revised offers, and that the negotiations will proceed with a fresh sense of energy and urgency."