The role of shipping transport in the development of international trade and the economy isrncritical, as evidenced by the binging of international trade. This is because, globally, states arernnot self-sufficient in meeting all of their society's interests, forcing the state to interact in variousrntrade activities. Maritime transport is the world's biggest bulk transport with low cost whenrncompared to other transport modalities with high financial value.rnThe world is moving toward globalization to eliminate trade barriers for free flow of goods andrnservice among countries. The major driving forces for globalization are plans for therngovernment's living standard of their people, modernizing and privatizing public enterprise andrnthe contemporary stiff competition and market search persisting in the world. But this effort isrnfacing different challenges from various political, economic, social and technological crises.rnThere is a continuous negotiation under GATT to remove different trade barriers among thernstates. Among such negotiations, the Uruguay round is the largest Multilateral Trade Negotiationrnwhich resulted in the establishment of the WTO on January 1, 1995, and the incorporation ofrntrade in service (GATS) under the Multilateral Trade agreement. The Maritime transportrnNegotiations Originally scheduled to end in June 1996, but participants failed to agree on arnpackage of commitments. As a result, it did not yet come in effect.rnCurrently, Ethiopia is in the process of accession to the WTO and as part of its accessionrnprocess, its legal regime on maritime transport shall be the subject of inquiry in line with GATSrnobligation. International maritime transport is one of the sophisticated legal regimes which hasrnbeen unsuccessful till now. The thesis will first look at how the general and specific legalrnobligations of GATS are enforced on the international shipping service, as well as the effortsrnmade so far to implement Multilateral Law on Maritime Service. Secondly, it examines therncompatibility of Ethiopian shipping service laws with that of GATS. Thirdly, it briefly discussesrnthe gaps in Ethiopia's shipping service sector laws and ways of negotiation to keep up the sectorsrnof strategic importance for the country.rnviiirnFinally, it will identify the potential areas of interest that negotiating parties might tend to limitrnin line with Ethiopian policy and suggest terms of negotiation in the shipping service sector.rnThe study concluded that from a legal point of view, Ethiopian shipping sector law is compatiblernwith GATS obligation subjected to specific obligation the country is undertaking and enactmentrnof the clear licensing directive. It advises negotiators to maintain the sector's existing preferentialrntreatment.