RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/WPPS/M/12
10November 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4926)
Working Party onProfessional Services
NOTE ONTHE MEETING HELD ON10OCTOBER 1997
Note bytheSecretariat
1. TheWorking Party onProfessional Services helditstwelfth meeting on10October 1997.
Theagenda forthemeeting wascontained inairgram WTO/AIR/686.
2. Under Other Business, theChairman indicated thathewished todiscuss thedateofthenext
meeting. TheSecretariat would alsomake abriefpresentation onthefirstrevision oftheproposed
disciplines.
Work Pursuant toParagraph 2(a)oftheDecision onProfessional Services
3. Followingadoptionoftheagenda,theChairmanproceededwiththeread-throughoftheinformal
noteprepared bytheSecretariat, Disciplines onDomestic Regulation intheAccountancy Sector, dated
15August 1997 (JobNo.4520).
4. Regarding theTransparency sub-section ofSection VIonQualification Procedures, several
delegations requested thatthedesignated timelimitofthreemonths bereplaced by"within areasonable
period". Inrespect oftheproposal tonotify verification procedures totheWTO, anumber ofdelegations
saidthattheburden ofadditional notification requirements should beavoided. They requested that
theinformation instead bemade available through theexisting contact andenquiry points. Several
delegations alsostated thatoverlaps withexisting GATS disciplines must beavoided.
5. Under thesub-section ofNotMore Burdensome thanNecessary, anumber ofdelegations again
stated thatoverlaps withexisting GATS disciplines mustbeavoided, andthatthedesignated timelimit
ofsixmonths inregard toverification procedures bereplaced by"within areasonable period". Other
delegations responded that"within areasonable period" could betoowidely interpreted and,therefore,
more precise wording wasrequired. Inregard totheproposal concerning examinations, several
delegations saidthatthefeescharged forexaminations should notexceed theactual costs incurred.
6. Concerning theTransparency sub-section ofSection VIIonQualification Requirements, several
delegations stated thattheopportunity tocomment onnewregulation orchanges toexisting regulation
shouldbeaddedtotheproposeddisciplines,whileotherdelegationsrespondedthatitwouldbeimpossible
toprovide forcomment inadvance oflegislative approval. Anumber ofdelegations stated thatitwould
besufficient tobeabletoprovide comments inadvance ofimplementation.
7. Under theObjectivity sub-section, many delegations observed thatconsiderable overlap was
present among several oftheproposed disciplines, andurged theirconsolidation. Onedelegation
questioned theneedforanyproposals under thissub-section, saying thatqualification requirements
could notevaluated interms ofsuchcriteria asnon-discrimination, duetocultural andother reasons.
Regarding theproposal forforeign applicants tobesubject tothesame examinations asdomestic
applicants, onedelegation saidthattheconsideration ofoverseas experience should actually result in
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Page2
reduced requirements. Anumber ofdelegations stated thatlinguistic proficiency requirements should
beconsidered, butanother delegation saidthispossibility wasalready adequately covered under existing
provisions which givecountries considerable freedom todefine competency requirements.
8. Under thesub-section ofNotMore Burdensome thanNecessary, several delegations saidthat
theproposal regarding distance pathways wasnotadiscipline, butanother delegation stated thatitshould
beretained. Several delegations observed thattheproposal regarding minimum requirements and
examples ofexcessive requirements alsowerenotformulated asdisciplines, andurged theirremoval.
Ontheissue ofcitizenship andresidency requirements inregard tothesitting ofexaminations, a
considerable divergence ofviews emerged. Several delegations saidthatresidency requirements should
notbeincluded within theproposed discipline, while other felttheproposal should remain unchanged.
Some delegations saidthattheoverall issue ofcitizenship should bediscussed atalatertime.
9. Inregard toSection VIIIonTechnical Standards, several delegations feltthatthesection should
bedeleted, while some delegations saiditshould beconsidered atalatertimeandanother delegation
saidthatthesection would needrevision ifitwere toberetained. Ontheother hand, anumber of
delegations pointed outthatMembers needed toconsider themandate oftheWPPS, which includes
thedevelopment ofdisciplines intheareaoftechnical standards.
DateofNext Meeting
10. TheChairman observed thatthedates ofthenextmeeting, 23and24October 1997, clashed
withother scheduled WTO meetings, andregretted thatalternatives werenotavailable asaresult of
theextremely crowded nature ofthemeetings schedule.
11. TheChairman alsoindicated thatanumber ofgeneral issues would needtobediscussed on
amore systematic basis, notably:
-Therelationship between theproposed disciplines andexisting GATS provisions;
-Therelationship between theproposed disciplines andtheSchedules;
-Legal status andform ofthefinaldisciplines;
-Citizenship andresidency issues;
-Non-binding exhortations; and
-Thesection onDefinitions
12. Amember oftheSecretariat, upon therequest oftheChairman, gaveabriefintroduction to
theinitial revision oftheproposed disciplines (JobNo.5711, dated 10October 1997).