Satellite Navigation
GPS-Galileo Working Group "B"
on Trade and Civil Applications
The Department of Commerce is the U.S. co-chair of Working Group B, the official forum for the United States and Europe to discuss access to GPS and Galileo markets. Working Group B provides U.S. industry a channel for communicating their interests and/or concerns regarding Galileo to U.S. and European officials.
For a good summary of the topics that the Commerce Department has raised in Working Group B on behalf of the commercial satellite navigation industry, please read the July 2009 report to Congress on Galileo market access and European compliance with the GPS-Galileo Agreement.
Read the report...GPS-Galileo Agreement
In 2004, the United States, the European Commission, and the Member States of the European Union signed the Agreement on the Promotion, Provision and Use of Galileo and GPS Satellite-Based Navigation Systems and Related Applications.
The Commerce Department played a major role in the negotiation of the agreement, which establishes several binding commitments related to GPS and Galileo market access. These include:
- Consultation before establishing any standards, certification requirements, regulatory measures, etc., effectively mandating the use of any civil satellite navigation system (Article 5)
- Non-discriminatory approach with respect to trade in civil satellite navigation goods and services (Article 6)
- Open access to open service signals (Article 7)
- Non-discriminatory access to information needed to use and commercially exploit civil signals (Article 8)
- Avoidance of direct user fees for open service signals (Article 10)
The agreement recognizes the applicability of existing international commitments regarding trade and intellectual property rights (Articles 1 and 9). Such commitments include those made under the World Trade Organization (WTO) through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
The GPS-Galileo Agreement establishes four bilateral working groups, including Working Group "B" on trade and civil applications. The stated purpose of Working Group B is to consider, among other things, "non-discrimination and other trade related issues concerning civil satellite-based navigation and timing signals or services, augmentations, value-added services, and global navigation and timing goods" (Article 6).
Learn more about the GPS-Galileo Agreement at PNT.gov... Learn more about the WTO agreements at WTO.org...Membership
The Office of Space Commercialization leads the Commerce Department's activities as the U.S. co-chair of Working Group B. Within Commerce, the International Trade Administration (ITA) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are also involved. Other participating U.S. agencies include:
- Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
- Department of State
- Department of Transportation (DOT)
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- U.S. Air Force
- Joint Staff
- NASA
- National Coordination Office for Space-Based PNT (NCO)
- Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
Members on the European side include:
- Directorate General for Energy and Transport (co-chair)
- Directorate General for Trade
- European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA)
Meetings and Events
Working Group B has held two formal meetings, one in January 2007 and one (via videoconference) in July 2008. Industry representatives were invited to attend the 2008 meeting as observers.
In September 2008, the co-chairs delivered a joint presentation on Working Group B at the public meeting of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC). The discussion focused on the U.S. proposal to authorize sales of Galileo signal simulators in order to level the playing field for user equipment developers.
In October 2008, the first U.S.-European plenary meeting under the GPS-Galileo Agreement took place in Washington. The agenda included discussion of Working Group B and its future work plan.
