RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2*
5January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0008)
Original: English Working Party onProfessional Services
COMMUNICATION FROM THE OECD
Work intheArea ofProfessional Services
Addendum
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived from theOECD, about theircategorized
inventory ofmeasures affecting trade inprofessional services.
*English onlyS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page2
THE OECD CATEGORIZED INVENTORY OFMEASURES
AFFECTING TRADE INPROFESSIONAL SERVICES
(Note bytheSecretariat)
I. INTRODUCTION
1. AtthefirstOECD Workshop onProfessional Services, which tookplace inSeptember 1994,
participants agreed thatincreased transparency wastheprerequisite foranyfurther work aiming at
sound andbalanced liberalisation oftrade inprofessional services. Inaccordance withthisrequest,
andwiththeapproval oftheOECD 'sCommittee onCapital Movements andInvisible Transactions
(CMIT),theSecretariathasundertakenamajorsurveyofmeasuresaffectingtradeinprofessionalservices
intheOECD area.
2. Itwasagreedthatthesurveyshouldcoverfourprofessionalfields:accountancy,law,engineering
andarchitecture. Assuggested byparticipants atthe1994 Workshop, theSecretariat assembled and
incorporated asmuch aspossible available information (forinstance inGATS schedules). Thepartially
completed Inventory wasthencirculated toMember countries inorder forthem tofillanygapsand
provide themissing data.
3. Member country participation turned outtobeveryactive: 20outof25Member countries,
(andallCMIT Members except two), provided acomplete orpartial response. Thisisparticularly
remarkable inviewofthemass ofdetail tobeassembled andtheshort delay forpreparing replies.
Member countries 'comments weretaken intoaccount asfaraspossible fortheestablishment ofthe
Inventory, itbeing understood thatitwastheSecretariat 'sresponsibility toassess andcategorize, in
order toproduce anoverall coherent document.
4. TheOECD Categorized Inventory ofMeasures affecting Trade inProfessional Services is
presented intheannex tothisNote. Itisnotintended tobeexhaustive; achoice hasbeenmade as
totheprincipal types ofmeasures tobeincluded. Itisstillafirstdrafttowhich Member countries
arewelcome toprovide complementary information andcorrections, preferably inwriting.
5. Atthe1995 OECD Workshop onProfessional Services, theInventory provided thecentral
piece ofinformation allowing fordiscussion oftheprincipal issues atstake**.Asafirststep,
professionalswereaskedtoassesstheeconomicimportanceofthemeasurescategorizedintheInventory.
Howonerous initselfiseachkindofmeasure forthose whowanttodointernational business? Ideally,
professionals ineachgroup willarrive atranking measures inorder oftheirtrade-restrictive weight.
6. Asasecond step,participants wereasked tousetheInventory toidentify those measures, or
groupsofmeasures,onwhichOECDshouldconcentrateitsanalyticalefforts.Possibleoptionsincluded:
- foreign direct investment restrictions linked toqualifications, maybe together with
restrictions onincorporation offirms;
**Complementary information ongeneral entry conditions toprofessions ineachMember country,
aswellasontheirscope ofactivities andtheextent towhich access tothese activities isregulated,
ismade available inthesurvey entitled "Professions, activities andregulations intheOECD area"
[DAFFE/INV/PROF (95)3].S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page3
- residency requirements, i.e.thelackofpossibilities toprovide services without
establishing; thisshould include, afortiori, nationality requirements;
- issues relating torecognition offoreign qualifications, or,more generally, toways
andmeans ofproviding foreign professionals withaccess toalocalqualification.
7. Onallthese, andother major issues participants might identify, ideas were putforward on
howtoarrive atalessburdensome regulatory approach, without neglecting theneedtoprotect the
consumers andmaintain highstandards. These could formthestarting point foranalytical studies in
1996, which might recommend totheThird OECD Workshop onprofessional services guidelines for
adoption.
II. THE STRUCTURE OFTHE INVENTORY
8. Inorder topresent theabundant material inaclearandaccessible way,theSecretariat decided
toclassify measures under approximately twenty categories, grouped inthree parts. Thestructure of
theInventory isthusasfollows:
Group I:Accountancy services (including, inparticular, auditing)
Group II:Legal services
Group III:Engineering services (i.e.engineering consultancy anddesign)
Group IV:Architectural services.
9. Todetermine coverage ofservices within these groups, participants should referfirsttothe
tables on"Professions, activities andregulations within theOECD area" [DAFFE/INV/PROF(95)...].
Incaseofdoubt, theprinciple isthatnodeparture wasintended fromtheGATS sectoral classification
list,based inturnontheUNCentral Product Classification (CPC) list.
10. Within eachGroup, categories ofmeasures arepresented inthree parts, numbered A-C:
PartA: Measures primarily relevant tofirms
PartB: Measures primarily relevant tonatural persons
PartC: Measures equally relevant tofirms andnatural persons
11. Within eachPart, youwillfindsixorseven categories ofmeasures, numbered 1to6or7.
Taking Groups, PartsandNumbers together, eachmeasure canbeidentified. Forinstance, arestriction
onfee-setting foraccountants would beclassified incategory I.C.7.
12. Information hasbeenrecorded intables, foraquick overview, andannexed Notes, formore
detailed explanations. Youwillhavebefore youatotalof12tables, threeforeachprofessional group.
These tables areintended toprovide anoverview ataglance. Theycontain necessarily verygeneralized
assessments. "x"willindicate whether anymeasure atallexists inagiven category. Butitmaybe
ameasure ofverylimited effect aswellasatotalrestriction. "-"willindicate thatnomeasure atall
exists inthatcategory. "n.a." indicates cases where acategory isnotapplicable: forinstance, where
anationalityrequirementpreventsforeignnationalsfromprovidinglegalservicesaltogether,thecategoryS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page4
onrecognition ofqualifications would bemarked "n.a.". Finally, thesimultaneous appearance of"x/-"
hasonlybeenadmitted where, inacountry withafederal system ofgovernment, theregulatory situation
varies from onestate/province totheother.
13. Brief descriptions ofexisting measures arecontained intheannexed Notes. Theamount of
detail provided byMember countries inthenotes is,however, rather uneven. Inparticular onthose
points where descriptions ofprocedures where asked for,suchasonways andmeans inwhich foreign
qualifications maybetaken intoaccount orlocalexamination procedures facilitated, theavailability
ofprecise information varies considerably, Itishoped thatnotably onthese issues, Member countries
willcomplement there contribution forthefinalversion oftheInventory tobepublished.
III. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OFTHE INVENTORY
14. TheOECD Categorized Inventory records principally measures which discriminate between
domestic andforeign service suppliers. Butitsinformation value isintended togowellbeyond that,
forinstance, oftheGATS schedules. Since itisnotlegally binding, measures canberecorded whether
ornotacountryiswillingtoenterintoaliberalisationcommitmentforthetimebeing.Thisisparticularly
relevant formeasures regarding individual suppliers ofprofessional services, mostly covered bymode
4under theGATS, where commitments havenotalways beenforthcoming.
15. TheInventory, however, alsoincludes other measures which arenotcovered byconcepts
suchasmarket access andnational treatment, butwithout which thepicture would notbecomplete:
forinstance, qualification requirements applying toforeign investment, orcertain non-discriminatory,
possibly anti-competitive, measures which havethepotential toaffect foreign suppliers more than
domestic ones.
16. Whatever thenature ofameasure recorded intheInventory, itneeds tobeborne inmind
thatthefactthatameasure hasbeenincluded doesnotprejudge assessment ofitsjustification, bypublic
interest orotherwise. Itisintentionally thattheInventory hasbeenentitled "Inventory ofMeasures"
andnot"Inventory ofBarriers". Itisoneofthemain tasks ofparticipants todiscuss thejustification
ofcertain measures inthelightoftheneedtomaintain highprofessional standards andtoprotect the
consumer -but,atthesame time, tosearch foralternative regulatory approaches which might fulfil
thesame purpose while being lessonerous tothedevelopment ofinternational trade.
17. Itisclear, though, thatmeasures reflected intheInventory tables maynotapply toallservices
rendered within aprofessional group. Often, restrictive measures willonlyapply toregulated activities
which tendtobethecoreactivities ofaprofession. Forexample, inGroup I-Accountancy Services -,
countries mayrestrict theprovision ofstatutory audit tonationals, butallow foreigners toprovide
accounting services. Local presence mayberequired foraudit, butcross-border provision might be
accepted forbookkeeping. Anysuchlimitations willbeindicated intheannexed Notes.
18. Finally, itshould benoted that,withregard toliberalisation efforts within regional economic
integration organization (REIO), suchasEU,EEA, NAFTA, ANZCERTA, onlymeasures applicable
aswelltonon-Members oftheREIO havebeen considered (asisthecasealsounder theGATS
schedules). Thepurpose ofthisInventory isnottodescribe progress inregional integration, butexisting
measures affecting international trade across theOECD area.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page5
IV. PRINCIPAL RESULTS AND ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
19. Below aresetoutsome firstimpressions regarding principal results ofthesurvey andissues
fordiscussion:
i) Variations between professions
20. There isaclear dividing linebetween accountancy andlegal services ononeside, and
engineering andarchitectural services ontheother side. Regulation affects foreign suppliers toamuch
higher degree inthefirstthaninthesecond group, withengineering probably being thesector where
access forforeign professionals andfirms isleastdifficult. Thismaynotnecessarily betheresult of
services being more sophisticated, ortheconsumer being inneedofmore protection asregards the
firstgroup. Rather, national differences maybelesspronounced inthesecond, "technical" group of
professional services. Andwhere theyexist, theymaybeexpressed more often intechnical norms,
thaninrequirements attached totheprofessional himself.
ii) Restrictions onincorporation
21. Measures limiting orexcluding therighttoincorporate forprofessionals arenotinfrequent
intheaccountancy andlegalsector, lesssoforarchitects andvirtually non-existent forengineers. They
usually apply inanon-discriminatory manner. Buttheyhavethepotential toparticularly affect foreign
firms'access tothemarket, since theyrestrict theirability toestablish subsidiaries andbranches.
Participants maywanttothink about approaches which would takeaccount oftheconsumer 'sinterest
inensuring sufficient liability, while permitting professionals toassociate intheform theyfind
economically most advantageous.
iii) Investment/ownership restrictions
22. Restrictions ontherighttoown, orinvest in,afirmproviding accountancy orlegalservices
abound. Again, theytendtobeexpressed innon-discriminatory terms andtiedtotherequirement of
holding alocallicense. This, however, virtually excludes foreign investment. While there maybea
consumer protection argument intying ownership toacertain degree ofprofessional qualification,
thequestioniswhetherrequirementsonaninvestor/ownerneedtobeasstrictasrequirementstopractice.
Totakeapractical example from theaccountancy sector: Whynotconsider thepossibility tolet,for
instance, apractice authorization fromanymember bodyofIFAC besufficient toinvest inaccounting
firms inanother country?
iv) Movement ofpersonnel
23. Because professional firms often operate -voluntarily orbecause ofrestrictions on
incorporation -through networks ofindependent firms, theyareoftennotinaposition tobenefit from
GATS Members 'commitments onintra-corporate transferees. Certain Member countries, suchas
Australia, have taken account ofthissituation andconcluded labour agreements withcertain big
accountancy firms tofacilitate entry ofprofessionals transferring intoAustralia from member firms
ofthenetwork. Isthisanapproach which could bemoregeneralized, andextended tootherprofessions,
aswellassmaller-sized firms?S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page6
v) Nationality requirements
24. Nationality andcitizenship requirements areclearly ontheretreat intheOECD area.Anumber
ofcountries haveeliminated them, aswellasreciprocity requirements, overthelastfewyears. But
theystilldoexistinseveral ofcountries ineachofthefourprofessions, either excluding foreign nationals
altogether, orexcluding themfromuseoftheprofessional title,orexcluding themfromcertain activities
suchaspatent law.Itappears difficult tojustify thecontinuing existence ofanyofthese withaneed
toprotect consumers orapublic interest.
vi) Recognition ofqualifications
25. Oneofthecoreissues relevant totradeinprofessional services istheextent towhich countries
recognize, oratleasttakeaccount of,foreign qualifications. Onlyinengineering and,toalesser extent,
architecture, doanumber ofcountries renounce alltogether onalicensing requirement forforeign
professionals having obtained practice authorization intheirhome country. Itisclearthatlengthy local
retraining required before admission tothefullexercise oftheprofession isoneofthemostdeterrent
factors foraforeign professional seeking access. Countries interested inthebenefits ofincreased foreign
participation willthusseektostrike theoptimal balance between ensuring professional standards and
facilitating admission offoreign professionals.
26. While theamount ofdetail provided byMember countries onthisissue varies greatly, the
Inventory contains anumber ofinteresting examples ofhowcountries havegoneabout achieving this
balance. Oneoption arefacilitated professional exams, suchastheyexistforaccountants andlawyers
inFrance. Another possibility areequivalency listsforforeign degrees, which canbefound inthe
engineering andarchitectural professions. Most countries, however, willtakeaccount offoreign
qualifications onacase-by-case basis. Thisisasituation which, because ofthelackoftransparency
andstandardized criteria itoften -notalways -implies, isnotapttoencourage theforeign applicant.
Therarity ofmutual recognition agreements isstriking.
vii) Local presence requirements
27. Another crucial issueforforeign firms andprofessionals arerequirements toestablish inorder
tobeallowed toprovide allorcertain services within aprofessional field. Local presence requirements
arealmost omnipresent foraccountants andlawyers, andfrequent forengineers andarchitects. But
intheageofeasytravelling andever-improving communication facilities, itmayneither bepractically
required, noreconomically interesting foraforeign service supplier toestablish apermanent local
presence. Or,atleast, heorhisfirmneedtobeabletotestalocal market through occasional or
temporary provision ofservices before taking thedecision toestablish permanently. Itistruethat
residency requirements areoften motivated bythedesire tomaintain control overtheprofessional 's
standards, toensure hisliability etc.Participants intheWorkshop might findit,however, interesting
toexamine those countries which feeltheycanachieve thesame purpose while allowing fortheright
tonon-establishment.
viii) Measures tofacilitate temporary oroccasional practice
28. Suchmeasures areanimportant element inthesearch foralternative regulatory approaches
toresidency requirements. Theyneedtoaddress twodifferent issues: qualification andtemporary entry.
Anumber ofcountries haveaddressed thequalification problem through thecreation oftemporaryS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page7
licensing procedures; thisisparticularly thecaseforCanada andtheUnited States. Possibilities for
temporary entry andstayinorder tosupply services arenotfrequent; theyhaveoftennotbeenincluded
inGATS horizontal commitments onmovement ofpersons.
ix) Restrictions onworking withlocal professionals
29. Aninterestingpossibilityforforeignprofessionalstogainaccesstothedomesticmarketwithout
necessarily having toobtain fulllocalqualifications themselves isthrough partnership/association/joint
ventures withlocalprofessionals. Or,going onestepfurther, through hiring localprofessionals. For
instance, inacountry withalocallicensing requirement forstatutory audit, butnotforotheraccountancy
activities, aforeign qualified accountant orfirmmight finditconvenient towork together withalocally
qualified accountant whocould takecareofthestatutory audit activities, while hewould focus on,
say,accounting, management consulting etc.Foraforeign legalconsultant restricted tothepractice
ofhome country andinternational law,itappears almost indispensable toassociate inonewayoranother
withafullyintegrated domestic lawyer. Alimited number ofcountries, according tothesurvey, do
notallow forsuchpartnerships. Most cases concern thelegalsector.
30. However, thisquestion waspossibly notalways fully considered byMember countries
answering thesurvey. Itappears thatatleastsome ofthem onlyregistered partnership andhiring
restrictions based onnationality, notonabsence offulllocalqualification. Complementary information
onthisissue could stillbeprovided forthefinalversion oftheInventory. Itmayalsobenoted that
certain conclusions canbedrawn fromtheownership restrictions registered inItemA.2oftheInventory.
31. Insome cases, barriers toassociation mayresult notfromrestrictions onforeign professionals
without fulllocal qualification, butfrom domestic restrictions onmultidisciplinary practices. Most
frequently, these affect associations between lawyers andaccountants. While thesurvey didnot
specifically askMember countries forinformation onthisissue, theInventory includes available details
onthis.
x) Public procurement andin-house services
32. Intheepublic procurement sector, anumber ofcountries pointed outthattheWTO agreement
ongovernment procurement wasapplicable andimposed international callsfortender, atleasttothe
engineering andarchitecture sectors. TheInventory contains, forsome countries, detailed information
onin-house provision ofengineering andarchitecture services, anissue which hadbeenpointed out
bytheprofession asoneoftheobstacles which affected international competition. While Workshop
participants should feelfreetoaddress thisissue, itisclearthatitisclosely linked toMember countries '
general approach toprivatisation ofpublic services. Itmight therefore bedifficult toseparate itseffect
onprofessional services from themuch wider economic policy issues involved.
xi) Restriction onmarketing andonfee-setting
33. Last, butnotleast, theInventory categorized twotypes ofmeasures which areusually
considered fortheiranti-competitive effect atthenational level: restrictions onmarketing/advertising
andrestrictionsonfee-setting.Mostrestrictionsonmarketingandadvertisingarefound-notsurprisingly
because oftheirtradition ofcategorizing themselves asnon-commercial services -intheaccountancy
andlegalsector,whilefee-settingregulations,sometimesonlyindicative,occuraswellintheengineeringS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page8
andarchitecture sectors. These measures apply, apartfromveryfewexceptions, todomestic andforeign
service suppliers alike. Onemight ask,however, whether theydonotcomparatively affect moreforeign
competitors attempting topenetrate anewmarket. They could bemore hampered thanwell-implanted
localprofessionals byrestrictions onmaking themselves andtheirservices known andonattracting
clients. Similarly, setfeestructures could prevent foreign professionals from fully exploiting a
comparative advantage which might lieinlower costs andthuslower prices.
*****S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page9
I.ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
A.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1.Form of
establishment restricted
[incorporation prohibited
(ip), only certain forms
ofincorporation allowed
(ia)]2.Restrictions on
foreign direct investment
and ownership
(including restrictions
applying tonotlocally
qualified
individuals/firms)3.Requirement ofa
minimum number/
percentage oflocal
directors/
managers/staff4.Entry and stay of
intra-corporate
transferees subject to
labour market tests5.Restrictions onthe
international
relationship oflocally
established firms6.Restrictions on
theuseofthe
international/foreign
name ofafirm
AUSTRALIA X(ia) X X -- -- --
AUSTRIA x(ia) X X n.a X --
BELGIUM X(ia) X -- -- X
CANADA X(ip)/-- X X/-- -- -- --
DENMARK X(ia) X X -- --
FINLAND -- X X X -- --
FRANCE X(ia) X X -- -- --
GERMANY X(ia) X X n.a. -- X
GREECE -- X --
ICELAND -- X -- --
IRELAND X(ip) X -- -- --
ITALY X(ia) -- X X X
JAPAN X(ia) X X n.a. -- X
LUXEMBOURG X(ia) X -- -- --
MEXICO -- -- -- -- -- X
NETHERLANDS X(ia) X X -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND X(ip) X -- X -- --
NORWAY -- X X -- -- --
PORTUGAL X(ip) X -- --
SPAIN X(ia) X n.a. -- --
SWEDEN X(ia) X X -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- -- X -- -- --
TURKEY X(ia) X -- X -- X
UNITED KINGDOM -- -- -- -- --
UNITED STATES X(ia) X X -- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page10
I.ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
B.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1.Nationality
requirement2.No
procedure
facilitating
temporary
entry andstay
of
professionals
tosupply
services3.
Accreditation/
licensing
requirement
forforeign
professionals
authorized to
practice in
their home
country4.Prior
residency
required for
obtaining a
license5.No
possibility for
taking account
of
qualifications
acquired by
foreign
professionals
inanother
OECD country6.Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign
qualifications exist
Full local
examination
required inall
casesLocal training [education(e)
and/or practice (p)] exceeding
12months required inall
cases
AUSTRALIA -- -- X X -- -- --
AUSTRIA X -- n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
BELGIUM -- X -- --
CANADA -- X X --/X -- -- --
DENMARK -- -- X X -- -- --
FINLAND X X X X X
FRANCE -- X X -- -- -- --
GERMANY -- X X -- -- X X(p)
GREECE X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
ICELAND -- X X -- --
IRELAND -- X -- --
ITALY X X/-- X
JAPAN -- X X -- X n.a. n.a.
LUXEMBOURG X X --
MEXICO X -- X -- -- -- --
NETHERLANDS -- -- X -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- X X -- -- X(p)
NORWAY -- X X X -- X --
PORTUGAL -- X X
SPAIN X X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
SWEDEN -- X X X -- -- X(p)
SWITZERLAND -- -- X -- -- -- --
TURKEY X X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
UNITED KINGDOM -- X -- --
UNITED STATES -- -- X X/-- -- X --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page11
I.ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
C.MEASURES RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1.Local
presence
(establish-
ment/
residency)
required2.Quotas/
economic
needs tests
restricting
thenumber
offoreign
professionals
/firms
permitted to
practice3.
Partnership/
association/
joint venture
restrictions4.
Restrictions
onhiring of
local
professionals
byforeign
firms and
professionals5.Government procurement policies 6.
Restrictions
onmarketing
and
advertising7.
Restrictions
onfee-
setting
(minimum
or
maximum
levels
imposed)a)Restrictions
towards foreign
suppliersb)In-house
provision ofthe
service for
substantive part of
services required
AUSTRALIA X X X -- -- -- -- X
AUSTRIA X n.a. n.a. n.a. X X X X
BELGIUM -- X -- -- X --
CANADA --/X -- X/-- -- -- -- -- --
DENMARK X -- X -- n.a. X -- X
FINLAND X -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE -- -- X -- -- X X X
GERMANY X X -- -- X X
GREECE X n.a. n.a. n.a. X
ICELAND X
IRELAND -- -- X --
ITALY X X X X
JAPAN X -- X n.a. -- X X --
LUXEMBOURG X X --
MEXICO X X -- -- X -- X --
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- -- X --
NEW ZEALAND -- X -- -- -- -- -- --
NORWAY X X X -- -- X -- --
PORTUGAL X X X
SPAIN X n.a. X X X X
SWEDEN X -- X -- -- -- -- --
SWITZERLAND X X -- -- -- -- -- X
TURKEY X X -- -- X X X X
UNITED -- -- -- -- -- X X
UNITED STATES X/-- X -- -- X/-- -- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page12
ANNEX
I. NOTES REGARDING ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
A MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1. Form ofestablishment restricted [incorporation prohibited (ip),onlycertain forms of
incorporation allowed (ia)]
Australia: Onlynatural persons mayberegistered ascompany auditors andliquidators, but
theymaybeemployees orshareholders ofanincorporated firm.
Consideration isbeing given toamend thelegislation withaviewtoenabling auditors tolimit
theliability ofparticipants inanincorporated practice.
Canada*: Commercial presence mustinmostprovinces taketheformofasoleproprietorship
orpartnership. Incorporation ispermitted onlyinBritish Columbia, Alberta andNew
Brunswick. InAlberta andNewBrunswick, onlyindividual locally qualified professionals
areallowed toincorporate.
France: Most forms arepermitted: Societé d'Exercice Libéral (SEL) (intheform ofSA,
SARL, SCP"société encommandité paraction"); orprofessional corporation (société civile
professionnelle) orSAorSARL.
Ireland: Corporations notpermitted forstatutory audit.
Italy:Corporationspermittedonlyforservicesotherthanstatutoryauditandinvestmentadvice.
Forother services, solepractitioner, associations orlimited partnership permitted.
Japan: Theaudit corporation isrequired tobea"general partnership", which hasalegal
personality distinct from thatofitsindividual members.
Anauditcorporation isentitled tocarryoutaccountancy services otherthanaudit(management
advice, bookkeeping...) aslongastheconduct ofsuchservices doesnothamper theauditing
activities.
Norestrictions onthelegalform ofaccountancy firms providing services other thanaudit.
________________________
*Responses forCanada regarding accountancy services donotdistinguish between thethree possible
accountancy qualifications (CA, CMA, CGA) which existinCanada (seesurvey onScope ofActivities
DAFFE/INV/PROF(95)3).Rather,theinformationprovidedintheInventoryreflectstheleastrestrictive
regime which currently exists fortheprovision ofaccountancy services.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page13
Netherlands: While onlynatural persons canbeappointed forstatutory audit, theymaybe
employees orshareholders oflegalpersons which fulfil certain conditions.
Turkey: Only financial advisers mayestablish company among themselves afterbecoming
member oftherelevant chamber.
United States: Allstates allow certified public accountants toformprofessional corporations.
Recent lawsinNewYork, Texas andIllinois allow certified public accountants toorganize
inadditional forms oforganization. Alien professionals seeking toestablish apractice inthose
states aresubject tothesame lawsasU.S.certified public accountants. Anumber ofstates
areintheprocess ofamending theirlawsconcerning corporations, partnerships andliability
limitations.
InIowa, accounting firms must incorporate, i.e.partnerships arenotallowed.
2. Restrictions onforeign direct investment andownership (including restrictions applying
tonotlocally qualified individuals/firms)
Australia: Inrelation toinvestment byforeigners inservice industries, allproposals above
acertain threshold need tobenotified. Notification thresholds areover$5million for
acquisitions ofsubstantial interests inanexisting business and$10million ormore for
establishment ofanewbusiness.
Firms mustbeowned bylicensed professionals. Atleastoneequity partner mustberesident.
Austria: Firms must beowned atleastat51percentbylocally qualified andresident
professionals. Upto49percentmaybeheldbytheir spouses ortheirchildren without
professional qualification. Foreign accountants from GATS member countries mayholdup
to25per centofshares.
Allacquisition ofrealestate byforeign individuals andfirms issubject toauthorization.
Belgium: 100per centofownership mustbeheldbyregistered professionals, 50per centof
which must beresident inBelgium.
Canada: Firms must befullyowned bylocally qualified professionals.
Denmark: Firms mustbeowned byDanish licensed professionals orfirms within thetrade
owned byDanish licensed professionals. However, 30percentoftheshares/votes maybe
owned byemployees notlicensed professionals. Exemption ispossible forforeign firms.
Restrictions apply toacquisitions ofrealestate bynon-residents. Acquisition ofrealestate
bynon-EEA nationals withlessthan5years ofresidence requires approval. Exemption is
possible.
Finland: Atleasttwothirds ofpartners inageneral partnership orpersonally liable partners
inalimited partnership mustbeauditors authorized bytheCentral Chamber ofCommerce
andemployed bythefirm, orfirms ofauditors authorized bytheCentral Chamber of
Commerce.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page14
Inalimited liability company, atleasttwothirds ofallshares andofvoting rights hasto
beheldbyauditors authorized bytheCentral Chamber ofCommerce andemployed bythe
firm, orfirms ofauditors authorized bytheCentral Chamber ofCommerce.
General authorization requirement forestablishment ofafirmbyforeign nationals.
France: Firms must beowned at75percentbylocally licensed professionals witha
professional address, asregards companies intheform ofSARL, attwo-thirds asregards
companies intheform ofSA.Inthecaseofa"Societé d'Exercice Libéral" (professional
corporation), 50percentofcapital must bewithprofessionals active inthecompany, 25
percentwithprofessionals, and25percentareentirely open.
Asforstatutory audit, firms mustbeowned at75percentbylocally licensed "commissaires
auxcomptes" inthecaseofSARL orSAand75percentatleastoftheshareholders must
belicensed "commissaires auxcomptes".
Germany:Majorityownershipmustbewithlocallyqualifiedandresidentprofessionals.Foreign
accounting firms/accountants mayparticipate upto49per cent,provided theirqualifications
aresubstantially similar toGerman requirements.
Greece: Accountants/auditors fromnon-EU countries arerestricted to49percentofthecapital
ofaGreek auditing firmhaving theform ofacompany limited byshares. Thisissubject
tothecondition thattheirqualifications arerecognized (which isthecase, forinstance, for
USandAustralian qualifications).
Anyother direct investment isreserved toauditors registered inGreece, which, inturn,is
reserved toEUnationals.
Iceland: Acquisition andrental ofrealestate byforeigners ispermitted forbusiness purposes,
butneeds tobeapproved inwriting bytheMinistry ofJustice.(Unclear: Noinformation on
possible needtobealocally licensed accountant inorder toownshares inanaccounting firm).
Ireland: 75per centofvotes mustbeheldby"qualified persons". [Unclear: Does "qualified
person" equal "locally licensed"?].
Italy: Possibly noforeign participation atallinfirms practising public sector audit. Majority
ownership inaudit corporations mustbewithlocally registered andresident professionals].
Restrictions mayapply onacquisition ofrealestate.
Japan: Audit corporations canonlybeestablished andowned byindividuals whoarequalified
asCPAs inJapan. Norestrictions regarding firms supplying other services.
Luxembourg: Majority ownership mustbewithlocally qualified andresident professionals.
Netherlands: Incorporated firms carrying outstatutory audit mustbe51per centowned by
locally registered professionals. Norestrictions forfirms notcarrying outstatutory audit.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page15
NewZealand:Capitalmayonlybeintroducedbylocallyqualifiedprofessionalsorby"suitably
qualified" other persons permitted topractice.
Norway: Asregards registered andstateauthorised public accountants, partnership companies
mustbefullyowned bylocally registered andresident professionals. Limited companies must
beowned atmore than50per centbylocally registered andresident professionals.
Acquisition andlong-term leaseofrealestate byforeign nationals issubject toauthorization.
Portugal: Foreign investment inPortugal issubject tocontrols.
Spain: Majority ownership must bewithlocally registered andresident professionals.
Sweden: Onlylocally qualified andresident professionals mayownshares infirms practising
qualified auditing. However, exceptions maybegranted toforeign professionals/firms.
Companies canonlybefounded byparties resident inSweden. Foreign companies needto
operate inSweden through asubsidiary orbranch, non-resident individuals through aresident
representative.
Switzerland: There isequal treatment oflocally andforeign qualified professionals. According
toaruleoftheSwiss Institute ofAuditors ("Treuhandkammer") applicable toitsmembers,
majority ofvoting rights mustbeheldby"locally orforeign certified professionals" ofany
nationality. Membership intheSwiss Institute ofCertified Accountants isnotimposed by
law.Defacto, thevastmajority ofsuppliers ofauditing services aremembers.
Acquisition ofrealestate byforeigners issubject toauthorization. Forthepurpose of
professional useandbusiness activities, authorization isgranted upon verification ofthe
purpose.
United Kingdom: 75per centofvotes must beheldby"qualified persons". Anysingle
shareholding ofmore than5percent hastobeapproved byaspecial monitoring bodywithin
theprofession. [Does "qualified person" equal "locally licensed"].
United States: Ownership ofaccounting firms islimited topersons licensed asaccountants
innearly allstates. Also, some states mayrequire thatonlyaccountants licensed inthat
particularstatemayownaninterestinprofessionalcorporations;astoothertypesofaccounting
firms ownership byaccountants licensed inother states maybeallowed.
Limited restrictions apply insome states totheacquisition ofrealestate.
Turkey: General screening procedures forallforeign investment above 50000USD apply.
3. Requirement ofaminimum number/ percentage oflocal directors/ managers/staff
Australia: Iforganised asapublic company, atleasttwodirectors must beresident.
Austria: Managing directors must beresident inAustria.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page16
Canada: Amajority ofthedirectors ofacompany incorporated forbusiness inBritish
Columbia andatleast50percentinAlberta mustberesident Canadians. InBritish Columbia
atleastonedirector must beresident intheprovince.
Denmark: Themajority oftheboard ofdirectors mustbeDanish licensed professionals. If
thelimited corporation (ApS) doesnothaveaboard ofdirectors, allmanagers mustbelicensed
professionals. Ingeneral, allmanagers andatleasthalfoftheboard ofdirectors must be
EEA-nationals.
Finland: Atleasttwothirds ofallmembers andsubstitute members oftheBoard ofDirectors
inalimited liability company, aswellastheChairman andthevice-Chairman mustbeauditors
authorized bytheCentral Chamber ofCommerce andemployed bythefirm. Themanaging
director andthedeputy managing director, ifany,havetobeauditors authorized bytheCentral
Chamber ofCommerce.
France:Dependingonformofcompany,halformajorityofcorporateofficersmustbelicensed
professionals active inthecompany.
Asforstatutory audit, allexecutive officers (Président duConseil d'administration, Président
duDirectoire, Président duConseil deSurveillance, Directeur général, gérant) and75per
centofnon-executive officers must belicensed "commissaires auxcomptes".
Germany: Majority ofboard ofdirectors must belicensed professionals.
Iceland: Managers andthemajority ofthemembers oftheBoard ofdirectors mustberesident
inIceland.
Japan: Directors must bequalified asCPA'sinJapan. Foreign qualified CPA'smaybe
employed onthestaff, butarenotallowed toconduct audit activities.
Netherlands: Inanincorporated firmcarrying outstatutory audit, 51per centofthedirectors
must belocally registered professionals.
Norway: Asregards afirmofauditors, director/manager/staff mustbelocally registered and
resident professionals.
Atleasthalfoftheboard ofdirectors ofthefirmmust belocally registered andresident
professionals, andbeenresident inNorway forthepasttwoyears. Anexemption maybe
granted ineachcase.
Inan"authorized accounting company", themanaging director mustbealocally registered
andresident professional.
Sweden: 50per centofboard ofdirectors andmanaging director, aswellasbranch managers,
must beresident unEEA area; exemptions maybegranted.
Switzerland: Majority ofboard ofdirectors ofa"joint stock company", andmajority of
administrators ofa"co-operative society" mustbeSwiss citizens withdomicile inSwitzerland.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page17
Atleastonemanager ofa"company withlimited liability" mustbedomiciled inSwitzerland.
Branch office requires representative domiciled inSwitzerland.
United States: SeeA.2above.
4. Entryandstayofintra-corporatetransferees[managers,executivesandspecialists]subject
tolabour market tests
Australia: Firmmayhavetoprove itsefforts torecruit andtrainnationals, and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnel locally. Major reforms have, however, beenannounced bythe
Australian Government inSeptember 1995. Under thisnewpolicy, entry andstayofkey
personnel willbegreatly facilitated. Inparticular, labour market andskills testing willbe
waived forcertain keyactivities.
Labour agreements exist with the"Big Six" accountancy firms tofacilitate entry of
professionals.
Austria: Notapplicable since foreign professionals/firms notauthorized topractice.
Canada :Intra-corporate transferees admitted foramaximum period ofthree years, without
economic needs test,provided theforeign firmmaintains acommercial presence inCanada.
Thisregime isapplicable toGATS Members only.
Restrictions onownership orincorporation applicable toaccountancy firms would not
necessarily restrict intra-corporate transferees aslongastheforeign applicant isemployed
(inacapacity thatismanagerial, executive orinvolves specialized knowledge) withthesame
juridical person whoowns, controls orisaffiliated withbusiness operations inCanada and
abroad.
Denmark: Nolabour market testsapplied totransfers within international networks.
Finland: Labour market testsrequired forspecialists only.
France: Nolabour market tests, aslongasqualifications recognized.
Germany: Branches/subsidiaries offoreign firms notauthorized.
Japan: Branches/subsidiaries offoreign firms notauthorized forregulated services.
Mexico: Nolabour market testsapply.
NewZealand :Labour market testsforspecialists.
Norway: Nolabour market testsforintra-corporate transferees (executives/managers and
specialists), including transfers within international networks ofindependent firms.
Spain: Branches/subsidiaries offoreign firms notauthorized forregulated services.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page18
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated. However, formanagers andhighly qualified specialists, sufficient
numbers ofpermits areavailable andnolabour market testsareapplied tothese categories
ofpersons.
Asfordetermining "highly qualified specialists", acasebycaseapproach isfollowed, both
thequalification oftheapplicant andthatrequested bythetasksserving asbasic criteria for
evaluation.
Turkey: Ingeneral, work permit isgiven toadministrative andtechnical personnal.
United States: Nolabour market test(orlabour certification) isrequired forintracorporate
transferees (nonimmigrant visaclassification L-1), regardless ofoccupation ortheposition
tobefilled. Noquotas apply tointracorporate transferees.
Theintracorporate transferee performs services asamanager, anexecutive, orinaspecialized
knowledge capacity forabranch ofhis/her same employer abroad oraparent, affiliate or
subsidiary thereof.
5. Restrictions ontheinternational relationship oflocally established firms
Austria: Foreign accountants '/firms 'share intheprofits oflocalfirms maynotexceed 25per
cent.
Denmark:PermissionrequiredforDanishfirmstoconductbusinesswithforeignfirms/licensed
professionals.
Italy: Taxtreatment oftransfer payments and/or costallocations between local firms and
theirforeign affiliates ismore restrictive.
Netherlands: Theformerly existing approval requirement forparticipation ininternational
firms/networks wasabolished in1994.
Turkey: Owners andemployees ofaccounting firms established inTurkey cannotaffiliate
withforeign firms.
6. Restrictions ontheuseoftheinternational/foreign name ofafirm
Belgium: Foreign names canonlybeusedifthatofapartner (natural orlegal person) in
thefirm.
Japan: Official firmname must beinJapanese andissubject toapproval bytheJapanese
Institute ofCertified Public Accountants. Thenames offoreign firms orinternational
firms/networks maybeprinted, inletterheads oronbusiness cards, aslongastheyareprinted
inparallel withtheofficial firmname inJapanese.
Mexico: Foreign name must beaccompanied bythename oftheMexican partner, in
accordance withtheCode ofEthics oftheProfessional Association.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page19
Turkey: Foreign names canonlybeusedby100per centforeign-owned firms.
UnitedStates:NoU.S.restrictionsapplytotheuseofinternationalfirmnames.Theprovisions
oftheU.S.trademark laworinternational conventions towhich theU.S.isaparty mayapply
ininstances where aforeign name isperceived asbeing deceptively similar toaU.S.
trademarked name. Statelicensing lawsalsodefine firmnames, theuseoffictitious surnames,
andtheuseofnames ofdeceased individuals previously named inthefirmtitle.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page20
I. NOTES REGARDING ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
B. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1. Nationality requirement
Austria: EEA nationality required.
Finland:Foreignnationalsmayperformallaccountancyservices,includingauditing.However,
intheparticular case ofstatutory audit ofaFinnish limited liability company, atleast one
oftheauditors must have Finnish nationality.
France: Nonationality requirement; reciprocity requirement abolished forWTO Members.
Greece: EUnationality required forregistration asanauditor.
Italy:Italiannationalityrequiredforpractisingpublicaudit[Unclear:Contradictoryinformation
regarding extent ofnationality requirement].
Luxembourg: Non-EU nationals only admitted topractice ifthey arenationals ofacountry
which offers reciprocity.
Mexico: Subject toreciprocity. Until January 1,1996, foreign public accountants arenot
allowed tohandle audits andtaxmatters.
Spain: EUnationality required.
Turkey: Turkish nationality required foraccountants. Foreigners ofTurkish origin may be
granted permission aswell. Other foreigners may belicensed as"financial advisers", under
reciprocal conditions andwithout being authorized toissue anycertifications (which would,
forallpractical purposes, appear toexclude them from statutory audit, public sector audit,
merger audit, insolvency practice etc.)
United States: Citizenship notrequired except forlicensure inthefollowing jurisdictions:
Alabama (temporary licensing isavailable, however,); North Carolina (citizenship notrequired
iftheapplicant 'scountry extends toNorth Carolina citizens similar privileges tobecertified);
Puerto Rico andtheVirgin Islands. (The latter twoareoutside theterritories subject to
commitments intheGATS)S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page21
2. Noprocedure facilitating temporary entry andstay offoreign professionals tosupply
oneormore specific services
Australia:UnderthenewpoliciesannouncedbytheAustralianGovernmentinSeptember1995,
temporaryentryandstayforforeignserviceproviders,includingaccountants,maybefacilitated.
This may include temporary entry under alabour orregional headquarters agreement.
Austria: Temporary entry permitted atrequest ofconsumer tosupply aspecific service.
Denmark: Permission may begranted foreign licensed professionals totake onadhoc
assignments restricted toDanish licensed professionals.
Netherlands: Noobstacles totemporary entry andstayforprofessionals toprovide aservice;
notemporary license, however, available.
Switzerland: Subject tothelimitations setatunder B.3below, foreign accountants donot
need atemporary license, since nogeneral accreditation/licensing requirement. Asregards,
however, therestriction ontheoverall number ofwork permits, there arespecial procedures
fortemporary entry andstay.
United States: Accountants licensed byaforeign country may practice temporarily on
professional business incidental tohis/her regular practice inanother country, subject to
obtaining permits orlicenses where applicable inanumber ofstates, including: Colorado,
Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont andWashington.
Accountants licensed byaforeign country may belicensed topractice, subject tomeeting
applicable requirements, provided thattheyusetheir foreign titleandthename ofthecountry
inwhich they arelicensed, inanumber ofstates, including Alabama, Arkansas, District of
Columbia, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island andTexas.
Analien who seeks temporary entry toperform professional accounting services forhis/her
foreign employer, whoispaidfrom abroad, andwhowillreturn toanunrelinquished residence
abroad, may beclassifiable asaB-1visitor forbusiness.
Accountants may enter asbusiness persons (nonimmigrant visacategory B-1) toengage in
activities such asnegotiating contracts, setting upoffices, andtraining sales personnel forthe
foreign employer.
Analien whoseeks temporary entry toperform services inanoccupational specialty, including
professionalaccountingservices,foraU.S.employermusthaveaLabourConditionApplication
andpetition filed inhis/her behalf bytheU.S. employer (nonimmigrant visacategory H-1B).
Thenumber ofpetition approvals fortheH-1B category islimited to65,000 inanyfiscal
year.
Analien professional licensed inanother country, wholacks aU.S. license, maybepermitted
toenter theUnited States intheH-1B category towork foraU.S. employer, depending upon
thenature oftheduties, thelevel atwhich theduties areperformed, andthedegree of
supervision received.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page22
Foreign professionals who arelicensed intheUnited States have little ornorestrictions on
thetypeofactivities theymayengage inwithin their licensed profession. Foreign professionals
who arenotlicensed intheUnited States, however, may notengage inactivities thatrequire
alicense andmay notrepresent themselves aslicensed professionals.
3. Accreditation/licensing required forforeign professionals authorized topractice intheir
home country
Austria: Notapplicable, since EEA nationality required foraccreditation inAustria.
Denmark: Foreign professionals may belicensed. Requirements areusually passing a
qualifications testandadditional courses intaxandcommerce law.
Greece: Notapplicable, since EUnationality required foraccreditation inGreece.
Italy: Foreign professionals maypractice using onlytheir home-country practice authorization
ifthere isareciprocity agreement between their home country andItaly.
Netherlands: Required forprofessionals wishing topractice statutory audit.
Norway: Topursue aprofessional activity asapublic accountant, theperson must beregistered
inNorway.
Spain: Notapplicable, since EUnationality required foraccreditation inSpain.
Switzerland: Nogeneral accreditation/licensing requirement. However, statutory audits ofall
consolidated accounts andforcertain types ofcorporations (with outstanding bonds; withlisted
shares; iftwoofthefollowing thresholds areexceeded during twoconsecutive business years:
balance-sheet total of20mio.sFr., revenues of40mio.sFr., average of200employees p.a.)
have tobeprovided byparticularly qualified auditors. Therequirements are:specific national
degree orequivalent foreign education andappropriate experience andsufficient knowledge
ofSwiss law).
Turkey: Notapplicable, since Turkish nationality required foraccreditation asanaccountant
inTurkey. Foreigners may belicensed as"foreign financial advisers" only.
United States: License required forpracticing public accountancy andproviding attest services,
except inArizona, North Carolina andWyoming where unlicensed individuals canprovide
services, butnotusing restricted titles.
4. Prior residency required forobtaining alicense
Australia: Individuals applying forregistration asauditors andliquidators must beresidents
ofAustralia.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page23
Austria: Notapplicable since EEA nationality required foraccreditation inAustria.
Canada: Residency required foraccreditation asanauditor inAlberta, Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia andPrince Edward Island.
Denmark: Residency required fornon-EEA nationals.
Greece: Notapplicable since EUnationality required foraccreditation inGreece.
New Zealand: Two years prior toobtaining practice authorization.
Norway: Permanent residence required toobtain practice authorization andregistration.
Spain: Notapplicable since EUnationality required foraccreditation inSpain.
Sweden: Prior residency isrequired asaresult ofathree years prior training requirement with
aSwedish auditing company.
Turkey: Notapplicable since Turkish nationality required foraccreditation asanaccountant
inTurkey.
United States: Half ofallUSStates [excluding major ones, such asNew York, Texas, Illinois
andFlorida] require in-state residency and/or in-state office forobtaining alicense (seealso
C.1).
5. Noprocedure fortaking account ofqualifications acquired byforeign professionals in
another OECD country [allrequirements must bemetinhost country]
Australia: Australia hastwoprofessional accountants 'bodies.
1)TheAustralian Society ofCPA'sreviews foreign applicants asfollows: Country Education
Profiles published bytheAustralian Government used toassess theacademic comparability
ofoverseas degrees. Then courses passed intheoverseas degree arechecked toensure that
theSociety 'srequired Minimum Core ofKnowledge hasbeen covered. Allpotential members,
with anoverseas qualification, must complete Australian TaxLaxandAustralian Company
Lawasaminimum. These courses canbetaken assingle subjects atmost Australian universities
(some Australian universities offer these courses off-shore). AllAssociate members, either
Australian oroverseas qualified, must complete theCPA Program plushave work experience
inaccounting prior toadvancement toCPA status. Overseas work experience canbecounted.
2)TheAustralian Institute ofCAs proceeds asfollows: Foreign credentials arereviewed by
asenior retired Professor ofAccounting with detailed knowledge oftheprofession worldwide.
Review takes place through screening ofqualification requirements oftheforeign professional
association concerned. Account istaken, inter alia,ofacademic requirements forentry tothe
professional examination, ofthepractical experience required formembership intheforeign
association, andofthesyllabi oftheprofessional exam. Theforeign applicant willbeaccredited
ifqualification requirements inhiscountry areconsidered equivalent totheAustralian situation.
Austria: Notapplicable, since EEA nationality required foraccreditation inAustria.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page24
Belgium: Simplified authorization procedure exists.
Canada: Each foreign applicant 'squalifications areassessed byaprovincial body.
Denmark: Simplified authorization procedures exist; recognition ofprofessional qualifications
acquired inother Nordic countries.
Germany: Foreign university diplomas maybetaken intoaccount foradmission asaccountant
("Wirtschaftspr üfer"), butnotforadmission astaxadviser ("Steuerberater").
Italy: SeeItem 4above
Luxembourg: Simplified authorization procedures exist.
Mexico: Foreign diplomas arereviewed byastudies recognition committee onacase-by-case
basis, upon which partial orfullequivalency may begranted.
Netherlands: Qualifications from non-EU countries arerecognized ifdeemed equivalent to
theDutch "Registeraccountant" or"Accountant-Administratie consulent". (Qualifications from
EUcountries directly recognized ifinconformity with 8thEUDirective).
New Zealand: Requirements metinforeign countries may betaken intoaccount, subject to
specific approval byJustice Department.
Norway: Education andexams acquired abroad which meet theNorwegian requirements will
beconsidered recognised onacase-by-case basis.
Sweden: Foreign exams andexperience may berecognized. Systematic recognition of
professional qualifications acquired inother nordic countries.
Switzerland: Requirements metinforeign countries aretaken intoaccount foradmission as
a"particularly qualified accountant".
United Kingdom :Exemptions from fulllocal requirements possible.
United States: Inthemajority ofjurisdictions, recognition ofCPAs isbased onequivalence
ofqualifications interms ofeducation, experience andexamination, generally atthediscretion
ofthelicensing board. Most states takeintoaccount foreign qualifications. Asmall number
ofjurisdictions have noprovision forreciprocity ordonotpermit reciprocity.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page25
6. a)Full local examination requirement inallcases
Australia:Ifforeignqualificationconsideredequivalent,localexaminationmaynotberequired.
Austria: Notapplicable, since EEA nationality required foraccreditation inAustria.
Canada: Foreign education andprofessional experience may betaken intoaccount.
Denmark: Passing ofaqualifications testwillusually berequired.
France: Possibility ofreduced exam available alsotonon-EU nationals (largely similar to
EUaptitude test).
Asforstatutory audit, foreign qualifications acquired bynon-EU nationals inanother country
canbetaken intoaccount under thefollowing circumstances: Foreign accountants must have
completed athree year study period andhave acquired aforeign diploma which theMinistry
ofJustice considers equivalent tothatrequired inFrance topractice as"commissaire aux
comptes" or"expert-comptable" andwhich allows thepractice ofstatutory audit intheState
where education wascompleted; non-EU nationals must alsohave athree year professional
experience inorder tobeallowed topass theaptitude testwhose subjects depend upon the
education acquired bytheapplicant.
Iceland:ExemptionfromlocalexaminationrequirementmaybegrantedbyMinistryofFinance.
Mexico: Foreign diplomas arereviewed byastudies recognition committee, which maygrant
fullorpartial recognition onacase-by-case basis.
Netherlands: Reduced exam available toforeign accountants which covers only thesubjects
"National company law", "Fiscal law" and"National Professional Rules ofConduct".
New Zealand: Successful completion ofpapers inNew Zealand taxandcompany lawmay
berequired.
Norway: Aptitude tests arerestricted tonationals ofEEA countries.
Sweden: Foreign exams giving equivalent competence arerecognized for"Qualified Auditors".
Switzerland: Notestrequired toassess qualification of"particularly qualified auditor" (see
B.3). Itistheresponsibility oftheBoard ofthecorporation tobeaudited toascertain that
heisappropriately qualified.
United States: Allstates require candidates forCPA licenses topass theUniform Certified
Public Accountants examination. Butsome states allow Canadian Chartered Accountants to
obtain aCPA certificate bypassing theChartered Accountants Qualification Examination
(CAQEX) inlieuoftheCPA examination.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page26
b)Local training requirement [education (e)and/or practice (p)]exceeding 12months
inallcases)
Australia: Depends onassessment offoreign qualification andtowhat extent thequality of
tertiary education andtraining inthecountry concerned isconsidered equivalent.
Austria: Notapplicable, since EEA nationality required foraccreditation inAustria.
Canada: Foreigners willberequired, atleast, tomeet local knowledge requirements.
Denmark: Courses intaxandcommerce lawandlocal training canberequired.
Germany: Four yeras local practice required foradmission asaccountant ("Wirtschaftspr üfer").
Dispensation only possible forEEA nationals after aptitude test.
Mexico: Foreign, butalsodomestic, accountants may beasked totakeadditional courses in
taxlawandthelike.
Netherlands: Nolocal training orpractice arerequired; itis,however, virtually impossible
topass theexam without it.
New Zealand: Two years practical experience inNew Zealand required prior toobtaining
practice authorization.
Norway: Education abroad which meets theNorwegian requirements willberecognized on
acase-by-case basis. Parts ofthetraining may betaken intoaccount after application.
Sweden: Three years oftraining with aSwedish auditing company arerequired.
Switzerland: Noformal minimal training requirements. However, foreign particularly qualified
auditors arerequired tohave sufficient knowledge oftheSwiss law.
United States: Foreign education andprofessional experience may betaken intoaccount for
admission totheUniform CPA examination. Theextent varies from state tostate anddepends
onthecountrywhereeducation/experiencewereacquired.Typically,applicantswillberequired
tocomplete additional coursework. Work experience intheUnited States under supervision
ofaCPA may berequired.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page27
I. NOTES REGARDING ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES
C. MEASURESEQUALLYRELEVANTTOFOREIGNFIRMSANDNATURALPERSONS
1. Local presence (establishment forfirms andresidency forindividuals )required inorder
toprovide services
Australia: Theprovision ofservices asanauditor, liquidator ortaxagent requires residency.
Foreign firms canprovide services other than auditing andliquidation from abroad.
Canada:Residency/commercialpresencerequiredfortheprovisionofauditandreviewservices
inNewfoundland, Nova Scotia andOntario.
Denmark: Residency forindividuals andestablishment forfirms required.
France: Residency/establishment notrequired, butprofessional address where files areheld
andkept must beprovided forregistration.
Iceland: Atleast oneoftheauditors ofanIcelandic limited liability company must beresident
inIceland, orafirm established inIceland.
Japan: Establishment required foraudit corporation, butnotforfirms supplying accountancy
services other than audit. Noresidency requirement forindividual accountants before and
after having qualified asJapanese CPAs. Aregistered CPA inJapan should, however, belisted
asamember oftheJICPA, andpaytheir membership fees.
Mexico: Residency requirements forindividuals subject toreciprocity.
Netherlands: Only local registration, butnotlocal presence required.
Norway: Residency required forthepursuit ofprofessional activity asstate authorised public
accountant.
Switzerland: Firms may provide services from abroad, butatleast onestatutory auditor of
acorporation must have hisdomicile, hisprincipal office orregistered branch office in
Switzerland.
Turkey: Noresident financial advisers canbeauthorized under reciprocal conditions andthey
canestablish firms.
United States: Anin-state office must bemaintained in:Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Main,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia andWyoming.
In-state residency isrequired inArkansas, District ofColumbia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas,Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, andWest Virginia andWyoming.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page28
2. Quotas oreconomic needs tests restricting thenumber offoreign professionals/firms
permitted topractice
Australia: Economic needs tests apply. Labour agreements, based oneconomic needs tests,
exist with the"Big Six" accountancy firms tofacilitate entry ofprofessionals.
Austria: Notapplicable since EEA nationality required.
Mexico: Quotas forindividuals.
NewZealand:Theentryofforeignprofessionalsisrestricted,butforeignfirmsarenotrestricted
bynumber.
Norway:Asregardsforeignprofessionals,economicneedstestsapplyincasesofserviceactivity
ofmore than three months duration.
Switzerland: Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated.
United States: There isnolimit onthenumber offoreign firms permitted todobusiness in
theUnited States. Limitations apply only toonenonimmigrant visa category (N-1B) for
specialty occupations, which includes professionals hired foratemporary period byaU.S.
firm (65,000 petition approvals inanyfiscal year). ALabour Condition Application bythe
U.S. employer isrequired. Seealready B.2.
Self-employed professionals maynotenter theUnited States towork forthemselves, butthey
may bepermitted temporarily towork foraU.S. employer under theB-1B orLcategories,
orforaforeign employer under theB-1category.
3. Partnership/association/joint venture restrictions
Note 1:Nocountry hasindicated restrictions based onnationality, however restrictions on
partnership with foreign professionals may defacto befrequent, because ofthelimitations
onownership offirms byforeign-qualified professionals (seeremarks under A.2).
Note 2:Information onnon-discrimatory restrictions onintraprofessionalism (i.e. multi-
discpilinary practice) have been included under thisitem, because they may beofparticular
concern toforeign firms.
Australia: Nospecific restrictions concerning foreign nationals/non-residents. Limitations,
however, onassociation with other professionals, such aslawyers, realestate agents, doctors,
architects.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page29
Austria: Partnerships/associations between foreign accountants andAustrian accountants not
permitted.
Belgium: Partnership/association only with other registered accountants.
Canada:InQuebec,Ontario,PrinceEdwardIsland,NewfoundlandandNovaScotia,accounting
firms providing audit andreview services canonly form apartnership with locally licensed
accountants.
Denmark: Permission required forDanish firms/Danish licensed professionals toconduct
business with foreign firms/licensed professionals.
Permission also required forDanish firms/Danish licensed professionals towork with
professionals orfirms conducting business other thanauditing, accounting andrelated services.
France: Interprofessionalism isnotpermitted bylaw.
Iceland: Norestrictions onassociation with foreign nationals/non-residents; restrictions,
however, onpractice together with lawyers.
Japan: Partnership/association with foreign-qualified CPA'snotallowed ifaudit services are
tobeprovided.
Netherlands:Partnership/associationwithotherprofessionssubjecttopermissionbyprofessional
body.
Norway: Inapartnership company, allpartners must beresident andauthorised inNorway.
Sweden: Allpartners inapartnership must belocally qualified andresident intheEEA area.
Turkey:PartnershipsbetweenTurkishaccountantsandforeign"financialadvisers"arepermitted,
butthename ortitleoftheforeign partner may notbeused inthetitleofthepartnership.
United Kingdom: Norestrictions onassociation with foreign nationals/non-residents.
4. Restrictions onhiring oflocal professionals byforeign firms andnatural persons
Nocountry hasindicated specific restrictions here. See,however, therestrictions onforeign-
qualified professionals/firms listed under A.2regarding their ability toown anaccountancy
firm, aswell astherestrictions listed under C.3above.
5. Government procurement policies
a)Restrictions towards foreign suppliers
Italy: Public sector audit must becarried outbyItalian nationals.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page30
Mexico: Only Mexican nationals who arelicensed asaccountants inMexico areauthorized
toperform audits fortaxpurposes onbehalf ofstate enterprises.
Norway: Public audit iscarried outbypublic bodies.
Spain: Public sector audit must becarried outbySpanish nationals.
Sweden: Nodiscrimination towards foreign accountants. However, procurement inqualified
auditing islimited byspecific requirements onsuppliers ofsuch services.
Switzerland: Switzerland iscontracting party oftheWTO agreement onpublic procurement
which willenter inforce forSwitzerland onJanuary 1st1996. Inview oftheapplication of
therelevant rules andcommitments, regulations onpublic procurement willberevised on
federal andsubfederal level.
United States: Projects funded bythefederal government, andsome state andmunicipal
governments, may besubject tolegal requirements requiring services andproducts tobeof
U.S. origin.
b)In-house provision oftheservice forasubstantive part ofservices required
Austria: Professionals 'intervention limited topublic enterprises incorporated under private
law, such aslimited liability companies.
Belgium: Professionals provide audit services topublic entities ofanindustrial, commercial
orfinancial character. Thisincludes major institutions, suchashospitals, railways, banks, social
security, etc.
Canada: With theexception ofvery fewlarge municipalities, alllocal governments, school
boards andanyrelated agencies andcorporations areaudited byprivate auditing firms.
Denmark:Accountsofmunicipalitiesmaybeauditedeitherbytheassociationofmunicipalities'
own auditing body orbyprivate sector professionals.
France: State-owned enterprises areaudited byanauditor appointed jointly bytheMinistry
ofFinanceandthesectorallycompetentMinistry;independently,theCourtofAuditorsexamines
theaccount andmanagement ofstate-owned enterprises.
Germany: Public sector audit isopen toprivate accountancy firms.
Greece: State-owned enterprises must beaudited byanauditor appointed bythe"National
Audit Organisation".
Mexico: Federal Government Controller 'soffice appoints auditors forstate-owned enterprises.
Netherlands: In-house services mainly used bytheGovernment, itself, butnotbylower public
authorities who usetheprivate sector.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page31
Norway: Public audit iscarried outbypublic bodies.
Portugal: Public sector audit isthemonopoly ofapublic institution, theTribunal deContas,
totheexclusion ofanyprivate sector practitioners.
Spain: Public sector audit isthemonopoly ofapublic institution, theTribunal deCuentas
delReino Espagnol, totheexclusion ofanyprivate sector practitioners.
Sweden: Public sector audit may becarried outbyprofessionals, aswell asin-house.
Switzerland: While federal government, cantons andmunicipalities usually have their own
auditing bodies, private sector services arealsocalled on.
United States: Government agencies employ CPAs, butalsohireoutside accounting firms
forindependent audits.
6. Restrictions onmarketing andadvertising
Belgium: Notpermitted.
France: Only generic advertising permitted. Personal marketing andadvertising notallowed.
Germany: Notpermitted.
Ireland :Notpermitted asregards auditing services.
Japan: Restrictions onmarketing apply toallaccountancy services provided byCPAs and
audit corporations.
Luxembourg: Notpermitted.
Mexico: Notpermitted.
Netherlands: Unsolicited offerings topotential clients (direct mail, cold-calling) notpermitted.
Spain: Notpermitted.
Switzerland: Permitted, butsubject tonon-discriminatory advertising guidelines bytheSwiss
Institute ofCertified Accountants.
Turkey: Foreign titles andnames cannot beused inthetitles ofpartnerships orcorporations
among Turkish andforeign financial advisers.
United Kingdom: Notpermitted asregards auditing services.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page32
United States: Advertising isgenerally permitted aslongasitisnotfalse ormisleading; Federal
andstate laws preclude restrictions onadvertising byprofessional organizations, firms or
individuals.
7. Restrictions onfee-setting (minimum ormaximum levels imposed)
Australia: Fees setforcourt insolvency work only.
Austria: Minimum feessetbytheChamber ofAccountants.
Denmark: "Nocure nopay" andcontingency feeagreements areprohibited.
France: Ascale hasbeen setindicating arange ofhours tobespent forauditing ofaparticular
company; thisscale isbased upon specific financial dataofthecompany audited; thesetting
ofhourly tariff isfree.
Netherlands: Professional rules forbid feeswhich donotcorrespond tothenature andthe
scope ofwork done.
Spain: Feeguidelines setbyprofessional association foritsmembers.
Switzerland: Forauditing ofbanks maximum feesarefixed bythesupervising authority. Fee
guidelines aresetbySwiss Institute ofCertified Accountants foritsmembers.
Turkey: Minimum feessetbytheMinistry ofFinance forallaccountancy services.
United Kingdom: Fees setforpublic sector auditing.
United States: There arenorestrictions onfee-setting forpurposes ofinternational practice.
Most states bancommissions andcontingent fees. Texas does notallow audit feestobebelow
thecostofproviding theservice.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page33
II.LEGAL SERVICES
A.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1.Form of
establishment restricted
[incorporation prohibited
(ip), only certain forms
ofincorporation allowed
(ia)]2.Restrictions on
foreign direct investment
and ownership
(including restrictions
applying tonotlocally
qualified
individuals/firms)3.Requirement ofa
minimum number/
percentage oflocal
directors/
managers/staff4.Entry and stay of
intra-corporate
transferees subject to
labour market tests5.Restrictions onthe
international
relationship oflocally
established firms6.Restrictions on
theuseofthe
international/foreign
name ofafirm
AUSTRALIA X(ia) X X/-- -- -- X
AUSTRIA X(ip) n.a. n.a. n.a. X X
BELGIUM -- -- -- --
CANADA X(ip)/-- X X -- -- --
DENMARK X(ia) X X X X
FINLAND -- X X X -- --
FRANCE X(ia) X X -- -- --
GERMANY X(ip) X -- n.a. -- X
GREECE
ICELAND X
IRELAND
ITALY X X
JAPAN X(ip) X -- n.a. -- X
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO X(ia) X -- -- -- --
NETHERLANDS -- X
NEW ZEALAND -- X -- X -- --
NORWAY -- X X -- -- X
PORTUGAL X -- -- -- X
SPAIN X(ip) X X -- -- --
SWEDEN X(ip) X X -- -- --
SWITZERLAND X(ip) -- X -- -- --
TURKEY X(ip) X X X X X
UNITED KINGDOM -- -- -- -- -- --
UNITED STATES x(ia) -- -- -- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page34
II.LEGAL SERVICES
B.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1.Nationality
requirement2.No
procedure
facilitating
temporary
entry andstay
of
professionals
tosupply
services3.Prior
residency
required for
obtaining a
license4.Nopossibility fortaking account
oflicenses/ qualifications acquired
byforeign professionals inanother
OECD country5.Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign
qualifications exist foradmission asafully
integrated lawyer
a)Regarding
practice asa
fully integrated
lawyerb)Regarding
practice under
arestricted or
nolicenseFull local
examination
required inall
casesLocal training [education(e)
and/or practice (p)] exceeding
12months required inall
cases
AUSTRALIA -- -- -- -- -- -- --/X (p)
AUSTRIA X -- n.a. n.a. -- n.a. n.a.
BELGIUM X X -- X -- n.a. n.a.
CANADA -- -- X/-- -- X/-- -- --
DENMARK -- -- -- -- X -- --
FINLAND X X n.a. n.a. -- n.a. n.a.
FRANCE -- X -- -- n.a. -- --
GERMANY -- X -- X -- n.a. n.a.
GREECE X n.a. n.a. X n.a. n.a.
ICELAND X X n.a. -- -- --
IRELAND
ITALY X n.a. X n.a.
JAPAN -- X -- X -- X X(p)
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO X X -- -- -- n.a n.a
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- X -- -- -- X --
NORWAY -- X -- -- -- -- X(p)
PORTUGAL -- -- -- -- X -- X
SPAIN X X X -- -- X --
SWEDEN X X n.a. n.a. -- n.a. n.a.
SWITZERLAND X/-- -- n.a./X n.a./X -- n.a. n.a.
TURKEY X X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
UNITED KINGDOM -- X -- -- -- --
UNITED STATES -- -- X X/---- -- X X(e)/--S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page35
II.LEGAL SERVICES
C.MEASURES RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1.Local
presence
(establish-
ment/
residency)
required2.Quotas/
economic
needs tests
restricting
thenumber
offoreign
professionals
/firms
permitted to
practice3.
Partnership/
association/
joint venture
restrictions4.
Restrictions
onhiring of
local
professionals5.Government procurement policies 6.
Restrictions
onmarketing
and
advertising7.
Restrictions
onfee-
setting
(minimum
or
maximum
levels
imposed)a)Restrictions
towards foreign
suppliersb)In-house
provision ofthe
service for
substantive part of
services required
AUSTRALIA -- X X/-- X -- -- X X
AUSTRIA n.a. n.a. X X n.a. n.a. X X
BELGIUM X -- X X X
CANADA --/X -- -- -- -- -- -- --
DENMARK -- -- X -- X X X --
FINLAND X -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE -- -- X X -- X X --
GERMANY X X -- -- -- -- X X
GREECE n.a. n.a.
ICELAND
IRELAND
ITALY
JAPAN X -- X X -- -- X X
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO X X X X X -- X --
NETHERLANDS -- X -- --
NEW ZEALAND X X X -- -- X X --
NORWAY -- X X -- -- -- X X
PORTUGAL X -- -- -- -- -- X X
SPAIN X -- -- -- X X X X
SWEDEN X -- X -- X -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- X -- -- -- -- X X
TURKEY -- n.a. X X X X X X
UNITED KINGDOM -- -- X X --
UNITED STATES --/X X -- -- -- X -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page36
ANNEX
II. NOTES REGARDING LEGAL SERVICES
A. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1. Form ofestablishment restricted [incorporation prohibited (ip), only certain forms of
incorporation allowed (ia)]
Australia: Themajority ofrules andguidelines donotspecify what forms ofestablishment
are/are notpermitted forforeign lawfirms, butdorefer generally topartnerships. Most
jurisdictions make provision forincorporation, butitshould benoted thatincorporation of
domestic lawfirms islimited under specific legislation. Incorporation isnotallowed inWestern
Australia.
Belgium: Nolegal restriction onincorporation. Local barassociations may, however, have
adopted their own rules inthisrespect.
Canada :Law firms canincorporate inBritish Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Sole
proprietorship orpartnership only inother provinces.
Denmark :Incorporation permitted, butseenote atitem A2below.
France:Mostformsarepermitted:Societéd'ExerciceLibéral(SEL)(intheformofSA,SARL,
SCP "soci étéencommandite paractions"); orasprofessional corporation (sociétécivile
professionnelle).
Germany: Incorporation notpermitted.
Japan :Incorporation notpermitted, since legal services must besupplied bynatural persons.
This restriction applies toforeign lawyers (gaikokuho-jimu-bengoshi) aswell astoJapanese
lawyers (bengoshi).
Law firms may take only theform ofsoleproprietorship orquasi-partnership, andarenot
permitted totaketheform ofjuridical person (corporation) such asKabushiki-kaisha, Yugen-
kaisha, etc.
Spain: Only soleproprietorship orpartnership ("Despacho colectivo") permitted. Thenumber
ofpartners isrestricted totwenty. Anylawyer hasunrestricted responsibility forhisactivity.
Sweden :Incorporation notpermitted forlawyers supplying services under thetitle"Advocat".
Switzerland:Representingcustomersbeforecourtorinadministrativeprocedures,onlypossible
inthepersonal capacity ofacertified lawyer (full license). Inmost cantons, lawyers with a
fulllicense may notestablish intheform ofajuridical person ("joint stock company",
"cooperation with limited liability", "co-operative society").S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page37
United Kingdom: Solicitors inEngland, Wales andScotland canincorporate.
United States :Most states permit practice through professional corporations andsome permit
practicethroughprofessionallimitedliabilitypartnerships,whicheliminateliabilityofindividual
partners (but notthepartnership) forprofessional actsinwhich they didnotindividually
participate.
2. Restrictions onforeign direct investment andownership (including restrictions applying
tonotlocally qualified individuals/firms)
Australia :Atleast oneequity partner offoreign firm established inAustralia must bea
permanent resident instates ofVictoria andNew South Wales. InQueensland, atleast one
equity partner inaforeign lawfirm must beresident foraminimum of180days percalendar
year.
Thefollowing restrictions apply toinvestment/ownership indomestic lawfirms: New South
Wales andSouth Australia -Only holders ofcurrent unrestricted practising certificates can
hold voting shares andonly holders ofvoting shares canbedirectors. Right tohold non-voting
shares islimited tocategories of"approved persons" -this includes solicitors with current
practising certificates, prescribed relatives, other approved persons andtrustees incertain cases.
Victoria -Allshares must beowned bypractitioner holding acurrent practising certificate
participation asdirector allowed forprescribed relatives.
Northern Territories -Only voting shares maybeheldbydirectors whomust hold unrestricted
practising certificate, provision forprescribed relative tobeadirector andtohold shares.
Tasmania-Sharesmaybeheldbydirectors(mustholdcurrentpractisingcertificate),employees
who hold deraigned practising certificates andapproved persons.
Queensland -Directors tohold current practising certificate andshare ownership similar to
Tasmania
Inrelation toinvestment byforeigners inservice industries, allproposals above acertain
threshold need tobenotified. Notifications thresholds areone$5million foracquisitions
ofsubstantial interest inanexisting business and$10million ormore forestablishment of
anew business.
Austria :Notapplicable, since EEA nationality andlocal license required forownership
investment inlawfirm.
Allacquisition ofrealestate byforeign individuals andfirms issubject toauthorization.
Canada: Foreign qualified lawyers cannot establish orinvest inalawfirm inCanada. Only
locally qualified lawyers have theright toown orinvest inaprofessional lawfirm.
Denmark:Firmsmustbe100percentownedandcontrolledbylawyerswithfullDanishlicense;
shareholders orpartners must beactive participants infirm.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page38
Restrictions apply toacquisitions ofrealestate bynon-residents. Acquisition ofrealestate
bynon-EEA nationals with lessthan 5years ofresidence requires approval. Exemption is
possible.
Finland: Anatural person notresiding within theEEA, oraforeign organization orfoundation
which isestablished under thelaws ofacountry notbelonging totheEEA, willrequire a
permit oftheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry, inorder tobeable tobecome apartner ofa
general partnership orageneral orsilent partner ofalimited partnership.
General authorization requirement forestablishment/acquisition offirm byforeign nationals.
France: AsforSociétécivile professionnelle, capital must be100percentowned bylawyers
with fullFrench license; asforSEL, firms must bemajority owned byprofessionals active
inthecompany; participation incapital islimited toprofessionals from thelegal sector.
Germany: Membership inlocal barrequired forinvestment/ownership. Areciprocity condition
applies.
Japan :Aperson who isnotagaikokuho-jimu-bengoshi may notestablish alawoffice or
become apartner inalawfirm. Hemay notinvest, even asanon-active partner Aforeign
lawfirm/network islimited toestablishment ofoneoffice.
Mexico: Subject toprior authorization from Comision Nacional deInversiones Extranjeras,
foreign investment allowed upto100percent.
New Zealand :Authorization procedures apply forallforeign investment exceeding
NZ$ 10million (notimpossible, butunlikely toapply toinvestment inlawfirm).
Norway: Ownership ofstakes inacompany engaging inlegal advice andassistance activities
isrestrictedtopersonswhocarryoutamajorpartoftheirprofessionalactivitiesinthecompany.
Professional activity requires afullorrestricted local license, inaccordance with thelegal
services carried outinthecompany.
Portugal: Foreign investment inPortugal issubject tocontrols [Unclear: Local license required
forinvestment inlawfirm?]
Spain: Ownership restricted tolocally qualified lawyers. General review procedures forforeign
investment.
Sweden: Aforeign lawfirm may open abranch inSweden, oracquire anexisting firm, as
long aslegal services aresupplied without using thetitle"Advocat".
Switzerland: Acquisition ofrealestate byforeigners issubject toauthorization. Forthepurpose
ofprofessional useandbusiness activities, authorization isgranted upon verification ofthe
purpose.
United States: Ownership bynon-lawyers isprohibited, butthere isnoprohibition on
ownership byforeign-qualified lawyers.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page39
Limited restrictions apply insome states ontheacquisition ofrealestate bynon-US citizens.
Turkey: Foreign direct investments aresubject toForeign Investment Law No.6224 andthe
related Government Decree of1995. General review procedures areapplied foraforeign
investments over 50000USD.
Theprofessional services which areassigned only toTurkish nationals, asinlegal services,
bythespecific laws may notberendered byforeigners either asservices providers orasthe
personnel oftheservice providers.
3. Requirement ofaminimum number/percentage oflocal directors/managers/ staff
Australia: Requirements exist onlyforeign lawfirms which enter intosome form ofintegrated
structure with domestic lawfirms, andonly apply insome jurisdictions. Asregards domestic
lawfirms, directors must, inmost States, beregistered professionals.
Austria: Nationality requirement.
Canada:InBritishColumbia,AlbertaandOntario,wherelawfirmsmayincorporate,amajority
ofthedirectors ofacompany incorporated forbusiness within theprovince must beresident
Canadians. InBritish Columbia, atleast onedirector must beresident intheprovince.
InPrince-Edward Island, non-resident firms arerequired tomaintain ahigher percentage of
practitioners inapartnership.
Denmark: Allmembers ofboard must beDanish licensed lawyers.
Finland: Atleast 50per centoftheordinary anddeputy members oftheBoard ofDirectors
ofalimited company have toreside intheEEA area, unless anexception isgranted bythe
Ministry ofTrade andIndustry.
Themanaging director ofalimited company hastoberesident inacountry belonging tothe
EEA, unless anexception isgranted bytheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry.
France: Sociétécivile professionnelle must be100percentcontrolled bylawyers with full
French license; asforSEL, firms must bemajority controlled byprofessionals active inthe
company; control islimited toprofessionals from thelegal sector.
Iceland: Managers andamajority ofdirectors must bedomiciled (exemption possible).
Norway: Themanaging director andatleast halfoftheboard ofdirectors must beresident
inNorway, andbeen resident inNorway forthepasttwoyears. Anexemption maybegranted
ineach case. Only persons who carry outamajor partoftheir professional activities inthe
service ofthecompany maybemembers ordeputy members oftheboard ofdirectors. Thus,
afullorrestricted local license isrequired, inaccordance with theservice activity ofthe
company.
Spain: Allneed tobelocally qualified "abogado" (lawyer).S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page40
Sweden :50per cent ofboard ofdirectors andmanaging director must beresident inEEA
area.
Switzerland: Majority ofboard ofdirectors ofa"joint stock company", andmajority of
administrators ofa"co-operative society" must beSwiss citizens withdomicile inSwitzerland.
Atleast onemanager ofa"company with limited liability" must bedomiciled inSwitzerland.
Branch office requires representative domiciled inSwitzerland. Note, however, thatinmost
cantons, lawyers arenotallowed toestablish asajuridical person.
4. Entryandstayofintra-corporatetransferees[managers,executivesandspecialists]subject
tolabour market tests
Australia: Firm mayhave toprove itsefforts torecruit andtrain nationals, and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnal locally. Major reforms have, however, been announced bythe
Australian Government inSeptember 1995. Under thisnew policy, entry andstayofkey
personnelwillbegreatlyfacilitated.Inparticular,labourmarketandskillstestingwillbewaived
forcertain keyactivities.
Canada :Intra-corporate transferees admitted foramaximum period ofthree years, without
economic needs test,provided theforeign firm maintains acommercial presence inCanada.
This regime isapplicable toGATS Members only.
Restrictionsonownershiporincorporationapplicabletolawfirmswouldnotnecessarilyrestrict
intra-corporate transferees aslong astheforeign applicant isemployed (inacapacity thatis
managerial, executive orinvolves specialized knowledge) with thesame juridical person who
owns, controls orisaffiliated with business operations inCanada andabroad.
Finland :Labour market tests apply.
France :Nolabour market tests, provided professional qualification recognised.
Italy:Facilities forintra-corporate transferees notapplicable toprofessional partnerships.
Japan: Branches/subsidiaries offoreign firms notadmitted. Nospecial facilities fortransfers
between networks offirms.
Mexico: Nolabour market tests apply.
New Zealand :Labour market tests forspecialists.
Norway: Nolabour market tests forintra-corporate transferees (executives/managers and
specialists), including transfers within international networks ofindependent firms.
Switzerland: Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated. However formanagers andhighly qualified specialists (consultant
onhome country lawandinternational law) sufficient numbers ofpermits areavailable and
nolabour market tests areapplied tothese categories ofpersons.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page41
Turkey: Facilities forintra-corporate transferees arenotapplicable toprofessional partnership.
United States: Nolabour market test(orlabour certification) isrequired forintracorporate
transferees (nonimmigrant visaclassification L-1), regardless ofoccupation ortheposition
tobefilled. Noquotas apply tointracorporate transferees.
Theintracorporate transferee performs services asamanager, anexecutive, orinaspecialized
knowledge capacity forabranch ofhis/her same employer abroad oraparent, affiliate or
subsidiary thereof.
5. Restrictions ontheinternational relationship oflocally established firms
Austria: Financial shares inforeign firms notpermitted forAustrian lawyers.
Italy: Repatriation ofprofits forindividuals limited to80per centperyear. Taxtreatment of
transfer payments and/or costallocations between local firms andtheir foreign affiliates is
more restrictive.
Netherlands :Approval requirement forparticipation ininternational firms/networks.
6. Restrictions ontheuseoftheinternational name ofafirm
Australia: Some jurisdictions permit such usesubject totheproviso thatthename isnot
confusingly similar tothename ofanexisting domestic orforeign firm. Other jurisdictions
provide thatanapproved foreign lawyer shall notcarry onforeign legal practice under the
name ofaforeign lawfirm unless thatfirm name hasalsobeen approved.
Austria: Theuseofforeign names isnotpermitted.
Denmark: ADanish lawfirm may takethename ofamultinational firm, butthename may
notbemisguiding oreasily mistaken with names ofother firms, andforeign firms may not
have anyfinancial control orother control over theDanish firm (seeII.A.2 above).
Germany: Lawyers must exercise under their name. Foreign lawyers must useforeign title.
Japan :Gaikokuho-jimu-bengoshi may usethename oftheforeign lawfirm towhich heis
affiliated. Reference must bemade to"Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi-Jimusho" inconnection
with use.
Abengoshi cannot useashis/her office name aname which islikely tobemistaken bythe
general public foranoffice ofaforeign lawfirm.
Norway: Thename ofthelawfirm must contain theword "Advokat". This applies regardless
ofnationality.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page42
Spain: Norestrictions ontheuseofinternational/foreign name. Theuseofthedesignation
"abogado" ishowever restricted under theGeneral Statute ofLawyers, andreserved tolawyers
registered inaSpanish Bar("Colegio deAbogados").
Turkey: Lawyers areentitled andobliged touseandpresent themselves tothepublic bya
title.
Thetitle"advocate" isprotected formembers oftheTurkish BarAssociation, forwhich
citizenship andresidency isrequired.
Law firms (partnerships) have tousethename ofoneormore locally qualified partners.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page43
II. NOTES ONLEGAL SERVICES
B. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1. Nationality requirement
Austria :EEA-nationality required forlicense topractice asfully-integrated lawyer.
Belgium: EU-nationality required; under certain conditions, exceptions are,however, possible
fornon-EU nationals.
Canada :Nonationality orcitizenship requirements, butseepermanent residency requirements
mentioned under B.3andC.1.
Finland: Supplying legal services using thetitle"advocate" asamember oftheFinnish bar
requires citizenship ofanEEA country.
France: Allnationality andreciprocity requirements abolished with regard toWTO Members
for"avocats".
Germany :Noreciprocity requirement fornationals ofWTO countries.
Only admission asapatent lawyer requires German nationality. Exceptions may begranted,
ifGerman language testpassed.
Greece :Nationality requirement forlicense topractice.
Iceland: Nationality requirement forunrestricted license.
Italy:Citizenship requirement foradmission tobar.
Mexico: Subject toreciprocity.
Spain:EU-nationalityrequiredtositbarexamand,therefore,topracticelaw.Non-EUnationals
may, however, request adispensation. Itisawarded subject to,inter alia, thefollowing
conditions: residence permit, recognition ofqualifications, certification of"good standing"
delivered byhome country barassociation, reciprocity with home country.
Sweden: Supplying legal services under theSwedish title"Advokat" asamember ofthe
Swedish BarAssociation requires Swedish citizenship.
Switzerland :Topractice under afulllicense (required foradvice inSwiss lawandforcourt
representation) nationality requirement applies inthefollowing cantons --Berne, Fribourg,
Geneva,Grisons,Lucerne,Nidwalden,Obwalden,Zürich,Appenzell,Basle,Jura,Schaffhausen,
Schwyz, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri,Zug, Solothurn. However arecent legal decision oftheSwissS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page44
supreme court obliges cantons toadmit lawyers irrespective oftheir nationality, ifthey have
alicense topractice inanyother canton.
Turkey :Citizenship requirement forlicense topractice.
United States :Citizenship required forrepresentation before thePatent &Trademark Office.
Anyother nationality restrictions onlicensing oflawyers areprohibited under theUnited States
constitution.
2. Noprocedure facilitating thetemporary entry andstayofprofessionals tosupply services
Australia :Procedure exists, butsubject tolabour market tests.
Austria: Attherequest ofaconsumer, foreign legal advisors from aGATS member country
maytemporarily move -without establishing -intotheterritory ofAustria inorder tosupply
aspecific service concerning home country andinternational law(excluding EC/EEA law).
Belgium: Special procedures allowing foroccasional practice arereserved toEU-nationals.
Canada:Certainlicensedprofessionals,whichincludeforeignlegalconsultants-advisoryservices
onforeign andpublic international law, wishing toprovide services under acontract, are
admitted without economic needs testforatemporary entry andstayofupto90days orthe
time necessary tocomplete theservices contract, whichever isless.
France: Possibility ofoccasional/temporary practice forEUnationals (EUDirective 77/249),
intheframework ofsome bilateral conventions andinparticular cases asreciprocity measure).
Japan :Procedure does notexist.
Sweden: Note thatlegal services canbesupplied freely without using thetitle"advocat".
Turkey: Procedure exists, butmay notapply tosole-practitioners.
UnitedStates:Analienwhoseekstemporaryentrytoperformlegalservicessuchasnegotiating
contracts foraforeign employer, ispaid from abroad andwillreturn toaresidence abroad
willgenerally qualify foraB-1visaasabusiness visitor.
Lawyers mayenter asbusiness persons (nonimmigrant visacategory B-1) toengage inactivities
such asnegotiating contracts, setting upoffices, andtraining sales personnel fortheforeign
employer.
Analien whoseeks temporary entry toperform services inanoccupational specialty, including
professional legal services, foraU.S. employer must have aLabour Condition Application
andpetition filed inhis/her behalf bytheU.S. employer (nonimmigrant visacategory H-1B).
Thenumber ofpetition approvals fortheH-1B category islimited to65,000 inanyfiscal
year.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page45
Analien professional licensed inanother country, wholacks aU.S. license, maybepermitted
toenter theUnited States intheH-1B category towork foraU.S. employer, depending upon
thenature oftheduties, thelevel atwhich theduties areperformed, andthedegree of
supervision received.
3. Prior residency required forobtaining alicense
Austria: Notapplicable since fulllicense notavailable toforeigners.
Canada:ProvincialLawSocietiesinPrinceEdwardIsland,Alberta,OntarioandNewfoundland
require permanent residency foradmission asaregular member.
Iceland: One year prior residency required forunrestricted license.
Japan :Prior residency isnotrequired forqualification. However, applicant isrequired to
establish residence once qualification isgranted.
Spain: Notrequired forEUnationals; non-EU nationals applying foranexemption from
thenationality requirement have, however, toshow thatthey arealready resident inSpain.
Sweden: The title "Advokat" requires prior residency, but, inanyevent, issubject toa
nationality requirement.
Switzerland :Incantons withnationality requirement forfulllicense, notapplicable. Incantons
where foreigners may obtain fulllicense, residency isrequired forapplication.
United Kingdom: Inorder tobecome afully integrated lawyer, twoyears training with local
lawyer ("solicitor") may berequired andthus result inaprior residency requirement.
Turkey: Duetocitizenship requirement thisitem isnotapplicable toforeign national persons.
United States :Most states require current residency atthetime oflicensure asalawyer or
aforeign legal consultant butthereafter require noresidency. Constitutional validity ofsuch
requirements isdoubtful butunresolved.
4. a)Noprocedures fortaking account ofqualifications acquired inbyforeign professionals
inanother OECD country (allrequirements must bemetinhost country), where foreign
lawyer seeks unrestricted license
Australia: Allthose who want topractice thelawofanyAustralian jurisdiction arerequired
tobeadmitted topractice andtohold acurrent practising certificate (except, inthecase of
thelatter, forbarristers inQueensland andVictoria). Foreign qualifications andexperience
may, however, betaken intoaccount.
Austria :Item notapplicable asunrestricted license isnotavailable toforeign nationals.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page46
Canada :Aforeign lawyer canhave hislicense/qualifications evaluated bytheJoint Committee
onAccreditation (JCA) oftheFederation ofLaw Societies ofCanada, oritsequivalent in
theprovinces ofAlberta andQuebec. TheJCA issues acertificate which issubmitted toa
provincial orterritorial Law Society.
Denmark: Legal practice abroad may betaken intoaccount aspartoftherequirement of3
years ofpractice. Seenote B.5below.
Finland :Item notapplicable, since EEA citizenship isrequired tobecome afully integrated
lawyer inFinland asmember oftheBar.
France :Foreign qualifications asalawyer canbetaken intoaccount.
Germany :Authorization topractice abroad isnotsufficient foradmission topractice in
Germany. However, practice authorization isacondition foradmission totheGerman bar.
Greece :Item notapplicable asunrestricted license isnotavailable toforeign nationals.
Italy:Item notapplicable asunrestricted license notavailable toforeign nationals.
Portugal :Procedures exist, subject toreciprocity condition.
Spain :Foreign higher education degrees inlaws may berecognized.
Sweden: Item notapplicable, since foreign nationals cannot become fully integrated lawyers
practising under thetitle"Advocat".
Switzerland: Item notapplicable incantons with nationality requirement forfulllicense.
Turkey: Item notapplicable, unrestricted license notavailable toforeign nationals.
United States :Procedures exist inafewstates.
4. b)Nopossibility fortaking account ofqualifications acquired inanother OECD country
where foreign lawyer seeks topractice under restricted ornolicense, usually under the
title offoreign legal consultant
Australia: Some States (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania) require thataforeign lawyer
have aspecified form ofapproval before theyareentitled topractice foreign lawasaforeign
lawyer; other States andTerritories have norequirements.
Austria: Seeremark toB.2. Foreign legal advisor notallowed toestablish inAustria.
Belgium :The profession of"Legal counsellor" isnotregulated bylaw. Thus, foreign
individuals, lawyers ornot,canprovide counselling onBelgian law, aswell asonforeign
andinternational law.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page47
Canada :TheLaw Society ofBritish Columbia, theLaw Society ofAlberta, theLaw Society
ofSaskatchewan andtheLawSociety ofUpper Canada (Ontario) have procedures torecognize
foreign lawyers asforeign legal consultants.
Denmark: Nolicense required forforeign lawyers wishing toprovide legal services ofany
kind without using thetitle"advocate" andwithout advertising.
Finland: Nolicense required forforeign lawyers wishing toprovide legal services ofany
kind without using thetitle"advocate".
France :Item notapplicable asunrestricted license ismandatory.
Germany: Aforeign lawyer admitted topractice inhishome country may beaccredited in
Germany inorder topractice home country andinternational law.
Greece :Item notapplicable since comprehensive nationality requirement.
Japan :Restricted license available toforeign lawyers. Inprinciple, subject toareciprocity
requirementwhichis,however,notappliedtocountrieswhoareMembersoftheWTO.Practice
ofJapanese lawnotpermitted under restricted license.
Mexico :Licensing offoreign legal consultants issubject toareciprocity condition.
Netherlands: Foreign lawyers (and firms) arefeetosettle andpractice intheNetherlands
"under their home title". They arefreetoadvise inthelawoftheir home country, international
lawandDutch law.
New Zealand: Foreign lawyers may give advice ontheir local lawinNew Zealand without
alicense orNew Zealand practising certificate, butmay notactasNew Zealand solicitor or
barrister unless admitted.
Norway: Alawyer from anyother country canobtain arestricted license which entitles him
topractice international lawandthelawofhishome country.
Portugal :Item notapplicable asunrestricted license ismandatory.
Spain: Norestricted license available. Foreign lawyers may, however, advise onforeign and
international lawwithout alicense. They cannotintervene before courts.
Sweden: Any foreign professional may supply alllegal services without using thetitle
"Advokat". Nospecial license isneeded.
Switzerland: Most cantons donotrequire alicense forforeign legal consultants wishing to
practice home country lawandinternational law.
Turkey: Item notapplicable because ofcomprehensive citizenship requirement.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page48
United States :Foreign qualifications, andsatisfaction ofcharacter andfitness requirements,
areallthatisrequired forlicensure asaforeign legal consultant inthe19jurisdictions that
currently provide forsuch licensure.
5. Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign qualifications exist
a)Full local examination required inallcases
Austria :Notapplicable because ofnationality requirement forpractice asfully integrated
lawyer.
Belgium :Foreign professionals arerequired tograduate from aBelgium university, after five
years study, butforeign education may bepartially taken intoaccount forthatpurpose.
Canada: Upon evaluation oftheir qualifications bytheJCA, foreign lawyers canqualify for
fullmembership intheLaw Society without anyrequirement forlocal examinations. Inother
cases, local examinations may berequired.
Denmark: Togetalicense asaDanish lawyer, afullDanish lawdegree isrequired.
Finland :Notapplicable because ofcitizenship requirement forpractice asfully integrated
lawyer, i.e.asmember ofthelocal bar.
France :Foreign lawyers areoffered thepossibility ofpassing areduced local examination
which nevertheless gives fullaccess tothebar.
Germany :Second German State Exam orEuropean Aptitude Test required.
Greece:Notapplicablebecauseofnationalityrequirementforpracticeasfullyintegratedlawyer.
Italy:Notapplicable because ofnationality requirement forpractice asfully integrated lawyer.
Japan :Fullexamination isrequired toestablish asanintegrated local lawyer (Bengoshi).
NewZealand:Therequirementforeducation/examinationtoqualifyforNewZealandadmission
isindividually assessed onthebasis ofacademic record, practical experience, etc.
Norway: Foreign natural persons canbecome integrated lawyers inNorway intwoways: 1)by
obtaining alawdegree ataNorwegian university andcomplete twoyears oftraining; 2)a
foreign natural person with alawdegree from aforeign university canbeaccepted asafully
integrated lawyer ifhecanfurnish proof thathehassufficient knowledge ofNorwegian law.
Alicense willbegranted bycentral authorities onacase bycase basis.
Spain :Aptitude testreserved toEUnationals.
Switzerland :Incantons where nationality requirement prevents foreign lawyers from
establishing asintegrated local lawyers: notapplicable.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page49
Turkey: Notapplicable because ofcitizenship requirement forpractice asfully integrated
lawyer.
United Kingdom :Inorder tobecome afully licensed British solicitor, aforeign lawyer may
berequired topassaoneyear diploma inlaw,complete aoneyear course forthesolicitor 's
final examination, pass theexamination, andcomplete twoyears ofpractical training with
asolicitor.
b)Local training exceeding 12months required inallcases
Australia: Depending onthecountry ofqualification andtheir years ofexperience inpractice,
theJoint Examinations Board may grant foreign lawyers significant course credits towards
admission. Although itwillnormally benecessary toundertake acourse ofpractical legal
training before aforeign lawyer canbeadmitted, thismay bedispensed with upon aforeign
lawyer showing adequate prior practical experience.
Anunrestricted practising certificate gives aright ofindependent practice, butinmany
jurisdictions newly admitted practitioners areissued arestricted practising certificate subject
tocompletion ofsome form ofpractise management course inconjunction with work asan
employed lawyer foraperiod, before being entitled toanunrestricted practising certificate.
Thisperiod varies between jurisdictions, butisgenerally 12months-2 years, except Queensland
where 24months articles arerequired before admission.
Canada: Upon evaluation oftheir qualifications bytheJCA, foreign lawyers canqualify for
fullmembership intheLawSociety without anyrequirement forlocal training. Inother cases,
local training may berequired.
Item notapplicable inprovinces where nationality requirements exist.
Denmark: 3years oflegal practice inDenmark (atleast 1year asatrainee inalawfirm)
arerequired. Practice abroad may, however, reduce therequirement oflocal practice.
Finland :Notapplicable because ofcitizenship requirement forpractice asfully integrated
lawyer, i.e.using thelocal titleandbeing member ofthelocal bar.
France: Nominimum local training requirement.
Japan:Twoyearslegalinternshiprequiredafterpassingprofessionalexam.Japaneseuniversity
education notrequired.
Spain: Foreign lawdegrees may berecognized bytheMinistry ofeducation. Bilateral
agreements onrecognition ofqualifications exist with some countries.
Switzerland:Incantonswherenationalityrequirementpreventsforeignlawyersfromestablishing
asintegrated local lawyers: notapplicable.
United Kingdom: Two years practical training with asolicitor may berequired.
United States: Only avery small number ofstates permit lawyers from other common law
jurisdictionstositforthebarexaminationwithoutcompletinganylocaleducationrequirements.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page50
Asanexample, New York andCalifornia have noeducation requirement forcommon law
school graduates. Inthese same states, partial recognition may begiven toforeign lawyers
from acountry with acivil lawsystem. Generally, nopractice requirement forlicensure in
anyUSjurisdiction.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page51
II. NOTES REGARDING LEGAL SERVICES
C. MEASURES EQUALLY RELEVANT TOFIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1. Local presence (establishment orresidency) required
Australia: Foreign lawyers practising under arestricted ornolicense arenormally notrequired
tomaintain alocal presence. Some States, require, however, thattheoffice ofaforeign law
firm beattended foraminimum period each year.
Domestic lawyers may practice from overseas.
Austria:Nationalityrequirementforfullyintegratedlawyers;foreignlegaladvisorsnotallowed
toestablish.
Belgium: Local presence (maintenance ofanoffice) required forregular practice.
Canada: Residency required inPrince Edward Island, Alberta, Ontario andNewfoundland.
Otherwise, there arenorequirements forfully integrated lawyers tomaintain alocal presence.
Nolocal presence requirements forforeign legal consultants, except inOntario where theLaw
Society ofUpper Canada requires aforeign lawyer who wishes tobecome aforeign legal
consultant toreside inOntario andcomply with applicable immigration requirements orgive
anundertaking totakeupactual residence inOntario assoon after thegranting ofthelicense
aspracticable.
Finland: Aprivate non-resident entrepreneur hastohave arepresentative, who isresident
inFinland andauthorized onbehalf oftheentrepreneur, toreceive summons andother
notifications. Therepresentative hastobenotified forentry intheTrade Register.
Thesame requirement applies tofirms which donothave aperson authorized tosign the
company name andresiding inFinland.
France: Nolocal presence required; butaprofessional address where files areheld andkept
must beprovided.
Germany :Fully integrated lawyers arerequired tomaintain anoffice within thegeographical
area covered bythebartowhich they belong.
Japan :Commercial presence required. Minimum stayofservice supplier: 180days/year.
Mexico: Residency requirement forindividuals, subject toreciprocity.
Sweden: Legal activity as"Advokat" requires local presence, butotherwise not.Anon-resident
legal advisor will need aresident representative inSweden who isresponsible forhis
commercial activity.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page52
Switzerland: Fulllicense: residency notrequired once Swiss license obtained. Practice ofhome
country andinternational law: residency notrequired. This regulation does notapply in
Solothurn.
United States: Some states have residency requirements ontheir books, butthese have been
ruled unconstitutional astoU.S.lawyers living inother states andareofdoubtful enforceability
astoforeign lawyers. Intent toestablish isaprerequisite tolicensure asaforeign legal
consultant insome jurisdictions.
2. Quotas/economic needs tests restricting thenumber offoreign professionals/firms
permitted topractice
Austria:Nationalityrequirementforfullyintegratedlawyers;foreignlegaladvisorsnotallowed
toestablish.
Germany: Atthepresent time, inprinciple nopermits forstayaregranted toself-employed
individuals from nonEU-countries. Exceptions are,however, granted inthepublic interest.
Greece :Item notapplicable because ofcomprehensive nationality requirement.
Mexico: Quotas forindividuals.
NewZealand :Theentry offoreign professionals isrestricted butforeign firms arenotrestricted
bynumber.
Norway :Asregards foreign professionals, economic need testsapply incases ofservice activity
ofmore than three months duration.
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated.
Turkey :Ageneral economic needs testapplies toalldirect investment. Butthisitem isnot
applicable tolawyers/law firms because ofcomprehensive nationality requirement.
United States: Quotas andeconomic needs teststheoretically restrict thenumber ofindividually
self-employed foreign lawyers thatmayenter theUnited States butdonotrestrict thenumber
offoreign firms thatmay engage inlawpractice orthenumber offoreign lawyers they may
bring intothecountry onatemporary basis forthatpurpose.
There isnolimit onthenumber offoreign firms permitted todobusiness intheUnited States.
Limitations apply only toonenonimmigrant visacategory (H-1B) forspecialty occupations,
which includes professionals hired foratemporary period byaU.S. firm (65,000 petition
approvals inanyfiscal year). ALabour Condition Application bytheU.S.employer isrequired.
Professionals employed byforeign firms may betemporarily admitted asbusiness visitors
(visa category B-1) toperform services fortheforeign firm. Aliens, including professionals,
employed byforeign firms asmanagers, executives, orinaspecialized knowledge capacity
maybeadmitted temporarily asintracorporate transferees towork foraU.S. branch, subsidiaryS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page53
affiliate, orparent oftheforeign firm inamanagerial, executive, orspecialized knowledge
capacity. Nolimit applies totemporary entrants.
3. Partnership/association/joint venture restrictions
Note: Seerestrictions onpractising together with accountants, listed under I.C.3.
Australia :Partnership between local andforeign lawyers allowed inNew South Wales and
Victoria, aslong asdomestic lawyers retain effective control.
Austria: Partnership between fully integrated local lawyers andforeign (non-resident) lawyers
notpermitted.
Belgium: Partnership with foreign lawyers permitted. Most common forms areGroupement
d'intérêtéconomique (GIE) orGroupement europ éend'intérêtéconomique (GEIE).
Canada: Apartnership canonly beformed between locally qualified lawyers.
Denmark :Allpartners must beactive participants infirm andhave afullDanish license.
Finland :Partnerships between aFinnish "advocate" andaforeign legal consultant oranother
professional aresubject tothegranting ofapermit bytheBoard oftheBarAssociation on
specific grounds. Where oneormore ofthepartners arenon-resident/not established inthe
EEA area, apermit isalsorequired from theMinistry ofTrade andIndustry.
France :Foreign lawyers who arenotadmitted totheFrench bararenotallowed topartner
with locally admitted lawyers.
Germany: Norestrictions onforeign lawyers, who areadmitted topractice under arestricted
license, toassociate themselves with fully integrated German lawyer.
Japan: Joint ventures between foreign andlocal lawyers permitted onapermanent basis, but
local lawyer (bengoshi) must have greater than 5years practice experience.
Mexico :Allpartners must belicensed inMexico.
Netherlands: Apartnership between aforeign/lawyer andalocally qualified lawyer shall
bepermitted only where thatlawyer isamember ofaprofessional association inhishome
country which isrecognized bytheDutch Order ofAdvocates.
Multidisciplinary practices arepermitted withother liberal professions under certain conditions.
Such practices must, however, beprincipally directed towards thepractice oflaw. Looser
forms ofcollaboration with other professions arenotrestricted.
New Zealand: Practitioners holding New Zealand practising certificates aresubject tolocal
restrictions onpartnership (solicitors may only enter inpartnership with same). Partnership
between foreign practitioners andlocal practitioners prohibited.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page54
Norway: Only alawyer who does agreater partofhiswork inthefirm, canbeapartner in
alaw firm.
Spain: Norestrictions onpartnership/association between foreign lawyers andSpanish
"abogados".
Sweden: Allpartners inalawfirm supplying "Advokat" services must beresident inSweden.
"Advokats" may only cooperate with "Advokats". Asaconsequence, partnerships between
Swedish "Advokats" andforeign legal consultants arenotpermitted.
Switzerland: Partnership/associations between foreign legal consultants andfully licensed
lawyers permitted.
Turkey :Partnership between local andforeign lawyers prohibited.
United Kingdom: Foreign lawyers/law firms mayenter intopartnerships andassociations with
solicitors inEngland andWales. Partnership with accountants notpermitted.
4. Restrictions onhiring oflocal professionals
Australia :Foreign lawyers/law firms notpermitted toengage local lawyers asemployees
inVictoria andNew South Wales.
Austria: Foreign (non-resident) lawyers notpermitted toengage local lawyers areemployees.
France :Foreign lawyers admitted toFrench barallowed toengage local lawyers asemployees.
Germany: Foreign lawyer practising under restricted license may hiredomestic lawyer with
fulllicense.
Japan :Foreign lawyers notpermitted toengage local lawyers asemployees.
Mexico: Foreign legal consultants notpermitted toengage local lawyers asemployees.
Spain: Aforeign lawyer may hirealocal "abogado".
Sweden: ASwedish "Advokat" mayonlybehired byacorrespondingly qualified lawyer from
theEEA area. Non-EEA lawyers working inSweden asforeign legal consultants may not
hireSwedish "Advokats".
Turkey: Foreign lawyers notpermitted toengage local lawyers asemployees.
United Kingdom: Foreign lawyer/law-firm could hireBritish solicitor onlyforin-house advice.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page55
5. Government procurement policies
a)Restrictions towards foreign suppliers
Denmark: Seenote 5b).
Mexico :Foreign lawyers arenotexcluded entirely from government procurement. Foreign
legal consultant services areallowed, aslong astheadvice does notinclude Mexican law.
Norway:LegalservicesarenotcoveredbyintheWTO-Agreementongovernmentprocurement.
Thus,therearenoobligationstocallforinternationaltenderinginthisfield.Thereare,however,
nospecific restrictions either towards suppliers from other OECD-countries intheNorwegian
national regulations.
Spain: Spanish nationality required forthedefense ofinterests oftheSpanish State.
Sweden: Inaccordance with EU-Directive, restrictions ongovernment procurement inlegal
services from USsuppliers.
Switzerland: Switzerland iscontracting party oftheWTO agreement onpublic procurement
which willenter inforce forSwitzerland onJanuary 1st1996. Inview oftheapplication of
therelevant rules andcommitments, regulations onpublic procurement willberevised on
federal andsubfederal levels.
Turkey: Foreign suppliers areprevented from supplying services inthissector because of
nationality requirements foradmission totheprofession.
b)In-house provision oftheservice forsubstantive part ofservices required
Canada: Asinmost countries, day-to-day legal services areprovided bygovernment-employed
lawyers.
Denmark: Aprivate lawyer (law firm) isappointed tobe"Kammeradvokat", andhegetsa
monopoly toprovide most legal services toGovernment agencies.
France: Yesforgovernment services, noforstate enterprises.
Switzerland: While governmental authorities usually have lawyers ontheir staff, private sector
services arealsocalled on.
United States: Most government legal services areperformed in-house.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page56
6. Restrictions onmarketing andadvertising
Note: Ethics rules prohibit solicitation ofclients inmost countries.
Australia: Fully integrated lawyers aresubject torestrictions onmarketing andadvertising.
Foreign lawyers practising foreign lawunder arestricted ornolicense aresubject torestrictions
onwhat should bedisclosed ontheir letterheads andprofessional papers andarerequired to
observe domestic professional standards.
Austria: Limits toadvertising under rules ofChamber oflawyers.
Belgium: Only very fewforms ofpublicity permitted.
Canada:TheLawSocietyofBritishColumbia,theLawSocietyofAlbertaandtheLawSociety
ofSaskatchewan require foreign legal consultants tousetheterm "foreign legal consultant",
tostatethecountryfromwhichtheFLCholdslegalqualificationsandtomakenorepresentation
which may infer thattheFLC isamember oftheLaw Society. Aforeign legal consultant
inOntario cannot hold himself asqualified toactasamember oftheLaw Society ofUpper
Canada.
Denmark :Only Danish licensed lawyers arepermitted toadvertise/market legal services.
France: Restrictions onadvertising. "Necessary information" maybeprovided tothepublic;
useofaforeign titleisauthorised.
Germany: Marketing only allowed asobjective information, andwithout aiming atattracting
aparticular client.
Japan: Notrestricted bylaw,butsubject torules ofJapanese Federation ofBarAssociations,
which apply toforeign aswell asdomestic lawyers.
New Zealand: Practitioners holding New Zealand practising certificates aresubject tolocal
restrictions onadvertising. Others may nothold themselves outasNew Zealand solicitor.
Norway: Thename ofthelawfirm must contain theword "advokat". According tothecode
ofconduct forlawyers who aremembers oftheNorwegian BarAssociation, lawyers arenot
allowed toadvertise asbeing experts inspecific legal fields. This applies regardless ofthe
lawyer 's/firm 'snationality.
Spain: Advertising andmarketing oflegal services areprohibited under Spanish law. This
rulewould, however, beabolished under aproposed billonprofessional associations.
Switzerland: Restrictions onadvertising bysubfederal law.Advertising guidelines aresetby
theprofessional association onfederal andsubfederal level (membership ismandatory insome
cantons bylaw).
Turkey: Alllawyers aresubject tomarketing andadvertising restrictions.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page57
United States :Prohibitions onadvertising generally have been ruled constitutionally invalid
bytheSupreme Court oftheUnited States.
7. Restrictions onfee-setting (minimum ormaximum levels imposed)
Australia: Fully integrated lawyers aresubject tofeesetting provisions. None oftheguidelines
orrules onthepractice offoreign lawdeal with fee-setting (nor does thedraft uniform
legislation).
Austria: Fees setaccording torules ofChamber oflawyers.
Belgium: Minimum andmaximum feesaresetbylocal bars onallservices.
France: Fee-setting isfreeingeneral. Control byhead oflocal barassociation incaseofclient
complaint.
Germany :Minimum feesforcertain matters (e.g., litigation).
Japan: Notrestricted bylaw,butbyrules ofJapanese Federation ofBarAssociations. JFBA
hasestablished minimum fees. Maximum feesmay beestablished inthefuture.
Norway: Maximum fees, when alawyer receives hisfeefrom theNorwegian State, likein
criminal cases andincases where freelegal aidhasbeen granted.
Spain:Thepracticeofestablishingfeesas"quotalitis"(percentageofthevalueunderlitigation)
isforbidden bylaw.
Minimum feessetbybars. This practice would, however, beoutlawed under theproposed
billasprofessional associations.
Switzerland: Feerules setbysubfederal lawandbyprofessional associations membership
ismandatory insome cantons bylaw).
Turkey: Fees arefreely established between lawyers andtheir clients. Inevery twoyears
minimum feesareputintoeffect bytheproposal oftheTurkish BarAssociation andapproval
oftheMinistry ofJustice.
United States: Fixed tariffs andfeeminima forlawyers have been held bytheUnited States
Supreme Court toviolate U.S. antitrust rules.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page58
III. ENGINEERING SERVICES
A.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1.Form of
establishment restricted
[incorporation prohibited
(ip), only certain forms
ofincorporation allowed
(ia)]2.Restrictions on
foreign direct investment
and ownership
(including restrictions
applying tonotlocally
qualified
individuals/firms)3.Requirement ofa
minimum number/
percentage oflocal
directors/
managers/staff4.Entry and stay of
intra-corporate
transferees subject to
labour market tests5.Restrictions onthe
international
relationship oflocally
established firms6.Restrictions on
theuseofthe
international/foreign
name ofafirm
AUSTRALIA -- X X -- -- --
AUSTRIA X(ia) X X -- -- --
BELGIUM -- -- -- -- -- --
CANADA -- X X -- -- --
DENMARK -- -- X -- -- X
FINLAND -- X X X -- --
FRANCE -- -- -- -- -- --
GERMANY -- X/-- X/-- -- -- X/--
GREECE --
ICELAND -- X
IRELAND -- --
ITALY X(ip) X
JAPAN -- -- X -- -- --
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO -- -- -- -- -- --
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- X -- X X --
NORWAY -- -- X -- -- --
PORTUGAL X(ip) X
SPAIN X(ia) -- -- X -- --
SWEDEN -- X X -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- -- X -- -- --
TURKEY -- X
UNITED KINGDOM -- --
UNITED STATES X(ia) X X -- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page59
III. ENGINEERING SERVICES
B.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1.Nationality
requirement2.No
procedure
facilitating
temporary
entry andstay
of
professionals
tosupply
services3.
Accreditation/
licensing
requirement
forforeign
professionals
authorized to
practice in
their home
country4.Prior
residency
required asa
condition
obtaining a
license5.No
possibility for
taking account
of
qualifications
acquired by
foreign
professionals
inanother
OECD country6.Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign
qualifications exist
Full local
examination
required inall
casesLocal training [education(e)
and/or practice (p)] exceeding
12months required inall
cases
AUSTRALIA -- -- -- -- -- -- --
AUSTRIA X X X X -- -- --
BELGIUM -- -- -- -- -- --
CANADA -- -- X X/-- -- X --
DENMARK -- X -- -- -- -- --
FINLAND -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE --
GERMANY -- -- X -- -- -- --
GREECE X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
ICELAND --
IRELAND --
ITALY -- X
JAPAN -- X X -- -- -- --
LUXEMBOURG --
MEXICO X -- X -- -- X/-- X(p)
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- X X -- -- --
NORWAY -- X -- -- -- -- --
PORTUGAL X
SPAIN -- X X -- -- -- --
SWEDEN -- X -- -- -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- -- --/X --/X -- -- --/X (p)
TURKEY X --
UNITED KINGDOM -- --
UNITED STATES -- -- X -- -- X/-- --/X (p)S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page60
III. ENGINEERING SERVICES
C.MEASURES RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1.Local
presence
(establish-
ment/
residency)
required2.Quotas/
economic
needs tests
restricting
thenumber
offoreign
professionals
/firms
permitted to
practice3.
Partnership/
association/
joint venture
restrictions4.
Restrictions
onhiring of
local
professionals5.Government procurement policies 6.
Restrictions
onmarketing
and
advertising7.
Restrictions
onfee-
setting
(minimum
or
maximum
levels
imposed)a)Restrictions
towards foreign
suppliersb)In-house
provision ofthe
service for
substantive paret of
services required
AUSTRALIA -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
AUSTRIA X X X X -- -- -- X
BELGIUM -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
CANADA --/X -- --/X -- --/X --/X -- --
DENMARK -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
FINLAND X -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE -- -- X --
GERMANY -- X -- -- -- X/-- X X
GREECE X X
ICELAND
IRELAND --
ITALY X X
JAPAN X -- -- -- -- X -- X
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO -- X -- -- X __ X --
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND X X -- -- -- -- -- --
NORWAY -- X -- -- -- X -- --
PORTUGAL X X
SPAIN X -- -- -- X -- -- X
SWEDEN -- -- X -- -- -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- X -- -- -- -- --
TURKEY X X
UNITED KINGDOM X/-- -- --
UNITED STATES -- X -- -- X/-- X/-- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page61
ANNEX
III. NOTES REGARDING ENGINEERING SERVICES
A. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1. Form ofestablishment restricted [incorporation prohibited (ip), only certain forms of
incorporation allowed (ia)]
Austria: Incorporation permitted forconsulting engineers ("Ingenieurkonsulenten"), inan
Austrian "Ingenieurkonsulentengesellschaft". Incorporation permitted for"Technische Büros"
and"Baumeister".
Italy:Incorporation notpermitted.
Portugal :Incorporation notpermitted.
Spain :Engineers areallowed toassociate, butinallcircumstances, theymaintain unrestricted
liability inconnection with their professional activity.
United States :Most jurisdictions permit certain business corporations tooffer professional
engineering services. Alljurisdictions permit professional engineering services tobeperformed
through professional corporations.
2. Restrictions onforeign direct investment andownership (including restrictions applying
tonotlocally qualified individuals/firms)
Australia :Inrelation toinvestment byforeigners inservice industries, allproposals above
acertain threshold need tobenotified. Notification thresholds areover $5million for
acquisitions ofsubstantial interests inanexisting business and$10million ormore for
establishment ofanew business.
Austria:Regardingfirmsof"Ingenieurkonsulenten"(consultingengineers):investment/ownership
restricted tonatural persons; legal persons may nothold shares.. Foreign professionals may
hold upto49percentofshares; 51percentmust beheldbynational qualified professionals.
Canada: There isnoneed forinvestors tobelocally qualified. Review andapproval procedures
apply toacquisition bynon-Canadians offirms worth over $C160million.
Denmark:Exceptforrestrictionsonacquisitionofrealestate,therearenorestrictionsonforeign
direct investment/ownership.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page62
Finland: Anatural person notresiding within theEEA, oraforeign organization orfoundation
which isestablished under thelaws ofacountry notbelonging totheEEA, willrequire a
permit oftheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry, inorder tobeable tobecome apartner ofa
general partnership orageneral orsilent partner ofalimited partnership.
Germany:Infirmsofconsultingengineers,majorityofcapitalmustbeheldbylocallyregistered
professionals (some "Länder" only).
Mexico :Norestrictions apply toforeign investment infirms carrying outprofessional
engineering services (design andconsulting).
New Zealand :Approval required foracquisition/establishment oflarge firm (exceeding
$NZ 10million).
Portugal :Foreign investment inPortugal issubject togeneral controls andauthorization
procedures.
Sweden: Noqualification asanengineer isneeded inorder tobeabletoestablish, acquire,
orinvest inanengineering firm.
Companies canonly befounded byparties resident inSweden. Foreign companies need to
operate inSweden through asubsidiary orbranch, non-resident individuals through aresident
representative. Building projects with aduration oflessthan ayear areexempted from the
latter requirement.
Switzerland :Acquisition ofrealestate byforeigners issubject toauthorization. Forthepurpose
ofprofessional useandbusiness activities, authorization isgranted upon verification ofthe
purpose.
Turkey :General screening procedures apply forallforeign investment above 50000USD.
UnitedStates:Allshareholdersandofficersofprofessionalcorporationsperformingengineering
must belicensed professional engineers. Some jurisdictions among those which permit business
corporations toperform engineering permit non-licensees tobeofficers andshareholders of
such business corporations.
3. Requirement ofaminimum number/percentage oflocal directors/managers/staff
Australia :Iforganized asapublic company, atleast twodirectors must beresident.
Austria :Competent managing director ofbranch with residency inAustria required.
Canada :InAlberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland andLabrador, Ontario and
Saskatchewan, amajority ofthedirectors ofacompany incorporated forbusiness within the
province must beresident Canadians. InBritish Columbia andSaskatchewan, atleast one
director must beresident intheprovince.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page63
InPrince-Edward Island, non-resident firms arerequired tomaintain ahigher percentage of
practitioners inapartnership.
Denmark: Inlimited companies, allmanaging directors and50per cent ofthemembers of
theboard must beresident.
Finland :Atleast 50per centoftheordinary anddeputy members oftheBoard ofDirectors
ofalimited company have toreside intheEEA area, unless anexception isgranted bythe
Ministry ofTrade andIndustry.
Themanaging director ofalimited company hastoberesident inacountry belonging tothe
EEA, unless anexception isgranted bytheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry.
Germany: Inconsulting engineering firms, amajority orall(depending onLand) members
oftheboard, partners anddirectors must belocally registered professionals.
Iceland: Managers andamajority ofdirectors must bedomiciled (exceptions possible)
Japan :Offices supplying engineering services forbuildings need tobemanaged byalocally
qualified fulltime "kenchikushi" under Japanese law.
Luxembourg :Directors must beprofessionally qualified.
Norway :Themanaging director andatleast halfoftheboard ofdirectors must beresident
inNorway, andbeen resident inNorway forthepasttwoyears. Anexemption maybegranted
ineach case.
Spain: There isnolegal requirement foraminimum number oflocal staff, butinpractice,
atleast onelocally licensed engineer willbeneeded.
Sweden :50per centofboard ofdirectors andmanaging director, aswellasbranch managers,
must beresident inEEA area; exemptions may begranted.
Switzerland :Majority ofboard ofdirectors ofa"joint stock company", andmajority of
administrators ofa"co-operative society" must beSwiss citizens with domicile inSwitzerland.
Atleast onemanager ofa"company with limited liability" must bedomiciled inSwitzerland.
Branch office requires representative domiciled inSwitzerland.
United States :Inmost states, allprincipals inapartnership must belocally licensed. In
limited liability corporation, senior personnel must belocally licensed. Inprofessional
corporation, atleast onecorporate officer must belocally licensed inorder forfirm tobe
registered.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page64
4. Entryandstayofintra-corporatetransferees[managers,executivesandspecialists]subject
tolabour market tests
Australia :Firm may have toprove efforts torecruit andtrain nationals and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnel locally. Major reforms have, however, been announced bythe
Australian Government inSeptember 1995. Under thisnew policy, entry andstayofkey
personnelwillbegreatlyfacilitated.Inparticular,labourmarketandskillstestingwillbewaived
forcertain keyactivities.
Austria: With regard toGATS members, nolabour market tests.
Canada: Intra-corporate transferees admitted foramaximum period ofthree years, without
economic needs test, provided foreign firm maintains commercial presence inCanada
(incorporation notrequired).
Finland :Labour market tests apply.
Germany:Nolabourmarkettestsforkeypersonnel,providedforeignfirmsmaintainssubsidiary
inGermany.
Italy:Procedure notapplicable topartnerships;
Mexico: Nolabour market tests apply.
New Zealand :Labour market tests -"specialist personnel."
Norway: Nolabour market testsfortransfers within amultinational enterprise orinternational
network offirms (executives/managers andspecialists).
Spain :Company mayhave toprove itsefforts torecruit andtrain nationals and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnel locally.
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated. However, formanagers andhighly qualified specialists, sufficient
numbers ofpermits areavailable andnolabour market tests areapplied tothese categories
ofpersons.
United States :Nolabour market test(orlabour certification) isrequired forintracorporate
transferees (nonimmigrant visaclassification L-1), regardless ofoccupation ortheposition
tobefilled. Noquotas apply tointracorporate transferees.
Theintracorporate transferee performs services asamanager, anexecutive, orinaspecialized
knowledge capacity forabranch ofhis/her same employer abroad oraparent, affiliate or
subsidiary thereof.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page65
5. Restrictions ontheinternational relationship oflocally established firms
Italy:Taxtreatment oftransfer payments and/or costallocations between local firms and
their foreign affiliates ismore restrictive.
New Zealand: Transfer payments between local firms andtheir foreign affiliates areaffected
bytransfer pricing provisions.
United States :Imported blueprints andarchitectural drawings from allcountries areduty-free
under Section 4906.00.00 oftheU.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
6. Restrictions ontheuseoftheinternational/foreign name ofafirm
Denmark: Iftheinternational name isdifferent from thecompany name, theinternational
name hastoberegistered attheDanish register ofcompanies andmay only beused asan
addition tothecompany name between brackets.
Germany: Restrictions resulting from theprotection ofthedesignation "Beratender Ingenieur"
(Consulting Engineer). Nospecific restrictions onuseofforeign firm names.
United States: NoU.S. restrictions apply totheuseofinternational firmnames. Theprovisions
oftheU.S. trademark laworinternational conventions towhich theU.S. isaparty mayapply
ininstances where aforeign name isperceived asbeing deceptively similar toaU.S.
trademarked name. State licensing laws alsodefine firm names, theuseoffictitious surnames,
andtheuseofnames ofdeceased individuals previously named inthefirm title.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page66
III. NOTES REGARDING ENGINEERING SERVICES
B. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1. Nationality requirement
Austria: EEA nationality required for"Ingenieurkonsulenten" (consulting engineers). So-called
"Technische Büros"(technical offices) and"Baumeister" (building masters) admitted subject
toreciprocity andaneconomic needs test.
Canada: Nonationality orcitizenship requirement, butseepermanent residency requirements
under B.4andC.1.
France:Nonationalityrequirement;allreciprocityrequirementsabolishedwithregardtoWTO
members.
Mexico :Subject toreciprocity.
Turkey :Turkish citizenship required forlicensure.
United States :USCitizenship required forlicensure intheDistrict ofColumbia.
2. Noprocedure facilitating thetemporary entry andstayofprofessionals tosupply services
Australia:UnderthenewpoliciesannouncedbytheAustralianGovernmentinSeptember1995,
temporary entry andstayforforeign service providers, including engineers, maybefacilitated.
This may include temporary entry under alabour orregional headquarters agreement.
Canada :Procedures fortemporary licensing exist inallprovinces. Foreign non-resident
engineers may obtain atemporary license (1year, renewable) based onhome-country
qualifications andexperience. Examinations may berequired.
Certain licensed professionals, which include foreign engineers, wishing toprovide services
under acontract, areadmitted without economic needs testforatemporary entry andstay
ofupto90days orthetime necessary tocomplete theservices contract, whichever isless.
This procedure applies only toGATS Members.
Germany: Special facilities forshort-term stay. Temporary/occasional practice bynon-resident
consulting engineers permitted; their right tousethetitle"consulting engineer" may, however,
besubject toareciprocity condition. Some "Länder" require inaddition declaration tolocal
engineers 'chamber.
Mexico :Without licensure, foreign engineers may enter to"consult" (excludes right tosign
drawings orsupervise construction).S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page67
Netherlands: Noobstacles totemporary entry andstayforprofessionals toprovide aservice;
temporary license isnotanissue, since accreditation isnotrequired forengineers.
Norway: Noneed fortemporary license, since nolicensing requirement. Nospecial facilities
forshort term stay.
Sweden: Noneed fortemporary license, since nolicensing requirement. Entry forcontractual
service suppliers without labour market/economic needs test.
Switzerland: Subject tothelimitations setatunder B.3below, foreign engineers donotneed
atemporary license, since nogeneral accreditation/licensing requirement. Asregards, however,
therestrictionontheoverallnumberofworkpermits,therearespecialproceduresfortemporary
entry andstay.
Turkey :Procedure apparently exists: Foreign engineers may practice after becoming a
temporary member ofthe"Union ofchambers".
UnitedStates:Analienwhoseekstemporaryentrytoperformprofessionalengineeringservices
forhis/her foreign employer, whoispaidfrom abroad, andwhowillreturn toanunrelinquished
residence abroad, may beclassifiable asaB.1visitor forbusiness. Engineers may enter as
business persons (nonimmigrant visacategory B.1) toengage inactivities such asnegotiating
contracts, setting upoffices, andtraining sales personnel fortheforeign employer.
Foreign engineers may enter under business visato"consult" without licensure. Some states
provide fortemporary orlimited practice fornon-residents without fulllicensure.
Analien whoseeks temporary entry toperform services inanoccupational specialty, including
professional engineering services, foraU.S. employer must have aLabour Condition
Application andpetition filed inhis/her behalf bytheU.S. employer (nonimmigrant visa
category H-1B). Thenumber ofpetition approvals fortheH-1B category islimited to65,000
inanyfiscal year.
Analien professional licensed inanother country, wholacks aU.S. license, maybepermitted
toenter theUnited States intheH-1B category towork foraU.S. employer, depending upon
thenature oftheduties, thelevel atwhich theduties areperformed, andthedegree of
supervision received.
Foreign professionals who arelicensed intheUnited States have little ornorestrictions on
thetypeofactivities theymayengage inwithin their licensed profession. Foreign professionals
who arenotlicensed intheUnited States, however, may notengage inactivities thatrequire
alicense andmay notrepresent themselves aslicensed professionals.
3. Accreditation/licensing requirement forforeign professionals authorized topractice in
their home country
Australia: Engineers donotneed alicense topractice inAustralia.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page68
Austria: License required for"Technische Büros" and"Baumeister". Not applicable to
"Ingenieurkonsulenten" because ofnationality requirement.
Denmark: Nolicense/practice authorization required inDenmark toprovide engineering
services.
Finland: Nolicense/practice authorization required inFinland toprovide engineering services.
Germany:Thesupplyofengineeringservicesassuchdoes,ingeneral,notrequireaccreditation.
Registration inalocal listisrequired, however, forforeign consulting engineers wishing to
establish under thistitleinGermany. Registration issubject tocertain conditions regarding
education andexperience.
Japan: Accreditation only required forengineering services regarding buildings; nolicense
required forthesupply ofprofessional services inthefield ofcivil engineering.
Mexico:OnlyengineerslicensedinMexicocanpracticeasprofessionalengineers.Tosupervise
public work construction projects intheFederal District orprepare drawings forlikeprojects,
engineers must obtain special license topractice asDirector Responsable deObra and/or
structural engineer.
Netherlands: Accreditation/licensing notrequired.
New Zealand: There isalocal registration requirement foralimited range ofengineering
works.
Sweden: There isnorequirement forformal accreditation orlicensing.
Switzerland: Noaccreditation/licensing requirement forengineering services ingeneral, except
forsurveying ("mensurations cadastrales"), where facilitating procedures exist.
Inaminority ofcantons, building plans can,however, only besubmitted bypersons inscribed
intheSwiss Register ofArchitects, Engineers andTechnicians (REG).
United States: Forallfunctions performed byanengineer thatrequire licensing (signing
drawings, blueprints, certifications), alicense isrequired inalljurisdictions forbothindigenous
andforeign persons. License isnotrequired forworking inindustry, performing services in
connection with thedesign ofproducts orprocesses.
4. Prior residency required forobtaining alicense
Canada: British Columbia, Saskatchewan Newfoundland, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick
andNova Scotia require permanent residency toobtain apermanent license.
NewZealand: Alimited range ofengineering works arerestricted toengineering professionals
who are"ordinarily resident" andwho obtain registration inNew Zealand.
Switzerland: Incantons with register requirement, atleast 2years ofpractical experience must
becompleted inSwitzerland before registration.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page69
United States :Prior residency required asamatter ofpractice inPuerto Rico. Otherwise, no
prior residency requirements.
5. Noprocedures fortaking account ofqualifications acquired byforeign professionals in
another OECD country (allrequirements must bemetinhost country)
Austria: Noprocedures for"Ingenieurkonsulenten" inview ofnationality requirement.
Germany: Foreign qualifications normally taken intoaccount forauthorization tousethetitle
"Consulting engineer".
NewZealand:Proceduresexistfortakingaccountofallforeignqualificationswhendetermining
whether professional qualifying requirements arecomplied with.
Spain: Qualifications acquired abroad may berecognized.
Sweden: Aforeign license issufficient topractice.
Switzerland: There aretwopossibilities forrecognition ofaforeign engineering diploma
(required incantons where registration isnecessary). 1)Recognition ofalleuropean diplomas
included intheFEANI list.2)Recognition ofother diplomas onacase-by-case basis. The
decision onrecognition istaken bytheREG: abody composed ofrepresentatives from
government, academia andtheprofessions.
United States: U.S. jurisdictions takeintoaccount allqualifications ofanindividual person
applying foralicense (registration) inthatjurisdiction.
6. Where procedures exist totake account offoreign qualifications.
a)Full local examination required inallcases
Canada :Asregards permanent license, noexemption from professional practice examination
(experience may besubstituted forother qualifying exams).
Japan: Foreign engineers with relevant qualifications abroad may beexempted from design
drawing examinations.
Mexico :Astudies recognition committee decides onacase-by-case basis.
NewZealand: Fulllocal examinations areinfrequently required asforeign examinations passed
andexperience obtained byforeign professionals aretaken intoaccount when determining
professional qualifying requirements. There isnominimum local training requirement.
Spain: Local examination requirement may bewaived.
Switzerland: Nolocal examination ifequivalency offoreign qualifications recognized.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page70
United States :Anumber ofstates maywaive thefundamentals oftheprofessional examination,
based on"long-standing practice" clause.
b)Localtrainingrequirement[educationand/orpractice]exceeding12months required
inallcases.
Canada :Asregards permanent license, most provinces require aminimum of12months local
practice experience fortheissuance ofapermanent license.
Germany: Fullrecognition offoreign education andexperience possible when applying for
registration under thetitle"Consulting engineer". Conditions, particularly regarding thelength
ofprofessional experience required, vary however from Land toLand.
Mexico :Tosupervise public work construction projects intheFederal District orprepare
drawings forlikeprojects, engineers must obtain anadditional license topractice asDirector
Responsable deObra and/or structural engineer.
New Zealand: Nominimum local training requirement.
Spain: Nominimum local training requirement.
Switzerland :Incantons with aregistration requirement, applicant must have atleast 3years
ofpractical experience, outofwhich 2years must have been completed inSwitzerland.
UnitedStates:Foreignengineer'squalificationdegreemustbeapprovedbyjurisdiction'sboard.
Minimum of4years acceptable experience required. Experience acquired aborad maybetaken
intoaccount, although some jurisdictions require acceptable experience tobeobtained under
alicensed engineer orindividual licensed inthejurisdictions.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page71
III. NOTES ONENGINEERING SERVICES
C. MEASURES EQUALLY RELEVANT TOFIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1. Local presence (establishment orresidency) required
Austria: Notapplicable toconsulting engineers ("Ingenieurkonsulenten") because ofnationality
requirement.
Canada :Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, Alberta, Ontario, New
Brunswick andNova Scotia require permanent residency topractice under apermanent license.
InManitoba, there isarequirement foracommercial presence tobeaccredited asaconsulting
engineer.
Denmark: Nolocal presence isrequired toprovide services, butinpractice itisoften a
condition formulated bytheclient.
Finland: Aprivate non-resident entrepreneur hastohave arepresentative, who isresident
inFinland andauthorized onbehalf oftheentrepreneur, toreceive summons andother
notifications. Therepresentative hastobenotified forentry intheTrade Register.
Thesame requirement applies tofirms which donothave aperson authorized tosign the
company name andresiding inFinland.
Germany: Residency may berequired forexercising activities covered bypublic law.
Japan :Local presence (establishment ofanoffice) isrequired fortheprovision ofprofessional
engineering services regarding buildings.
Mexico: Residency requirements forindividuals subject toreciprocity.
New Zealand: Alimited range ofengineering works isrestricted toengineering professionals
who are"ordinarily resident" andobtain registration inNew Zealand. However, there isno
local presence requirement forforeign firms.
Portugal :Firms andindividuals arerequired toestablish.
Spain: Certain engineering services may require establishment. This matter iscontrolled by
professional bodies.
United States :Except asamatter ofpractice inPuerto Rico, there arenolocal presence
requirements forengineers.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page72
2. Quotas/economic needs tests restricting thenumber offoreign professionals/firms
permitted topractice
Austria: Economic needs test,subject toareciprocity condition, for"Technische Büros"and
"Baumeister". Notapplicable to"Ingenieurkonsulenten".
Germany: Atthepresent time, inprinciple nopermits forstayaregranted toself-employed
individuals from nonEU-countries. Exceptions are,however, granted inthepublic interest.
Mexico: Quota forindividuals.
NewZealand:Theentryofforeignprofessionalsisrestrictedbutforeignfirmsarenotrestricted
bynumber.
Norway:Asregardsforeignprofessionals,economicneedtestsapplyincasesofserviceactivity
ofmore than three months duration.
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated.
Turkey :Ageneral economic needs testapplies toalldirect investment.
United States :There isnolimit onthenumber offoreign firms permitted todobusiness
intheUnited States. Limitations apply only toonenonimmigrant visacategory (N-1B) for
specialty occupations, which includes professionals hired foratemporary period byaU.S.
firm (65,000 petition approvals inanyfiscal year). ALabour Condition Application bythe
U.S. employer isrequired. Seealready B.2.
Self-employed professionals maynotenter theUnited States towork forthemselves, butthey
may bepermitted temporarily towork foraU.S. employer under theB-1B orLcategories,
orforaforeign employer under theB-1category.
3. Partnership/association/joint venture restrictions
Austria :Asregards consulting engineers, partnership only with competent partner ofEEA
nationality permitted. Submission ofplans forapproval requires co-operation with local
practitioner.
Canada :InOntario andQuebec, foreign nationals holding atemporary license must cooperate
with afully qualified local professional.
Anumber ofprovinces restrict partnerships between engineers andarchitects.
Finland: Where oneormore ofthepartners inageneral orlimited partnership arenon-
resident/not established intheEEA area, apermit from theMinistry ofTrade andIndustry
isrequired.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page73
Germany: Partnerships using thedesignation "Consulting Engineers" mayonly have partners
who are"Consulting Engineers".
Japan :Partnership/association between "kenchikushi" under Japanese lawandforeign engineer
permitted.
Mexico :Foreign firms arerequired toenter intojoint ventures with local firms onMexican
private-sector construction projects.
Sweden: Allpartners inapartnership must beresident inSweden; exemptions maybegranted.
United Kingdom :Competing forengineering/design work onNorth SeaPetroleum Projects
requires foreign firms toenter intojoint ventures with majority-owned British company.
4. Restrictions ofhiring oflocal professionals
Austria: Afirm ofconsulting engineers, which may, however, only beowned upto49per
cent byforeign professionals, may hirelocal professionals.
5. Government procurement policies
a)Restrictions towards foreign suppliers
Canada :InAlberta, firstconsideration maybegiven toservice suppliers from within Alberta
orCanada where competitive interms ofprice andquality inthecaseofalllarge scale energy
projects needing Industrial Development, Forest Management, OilSands, Power Plant orGas
Plant andCoal Development Permits.
InNewfoundland andNova Scotia, firstconsideration isgiven toservices provided within
theprovince topetroleum operations where there arecompetitive interms ofprice, quality
anddelivery.
Mexico :Foreign engineers/engineering firms arenotentirely excluded from government
procurement, butpreference may begiven tolocal suppliers.
Norway: Generally there arenorestrictions towards foreign suppliers. According totheWTO-
Agreement ongovernment procurement, obligation forinternational calls fortender applies
toOECD-countries which aresignatories totheagreement. There arenospecific restrictions
towards suppliers from other OECD-countries.
Spain: Access forforeign suppliers requires establishment ofasubsidiary inSpain, andthe
fulfilment ofareciprocity condition bythecountry oforigin.
Switzerland: Insome cantons, supply ofengineering services topublic entities requires that
thesupplier beestablished/resident/registered.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page74
Regulations onpublic procurement willberevised onfederal endsubfederal levels, inview
oftheimplementation ofSwitzerland 'scommitments under theWTO agreement onpublic
procurement.
ObligationstointernationalcallsfortenderundertheWTOGovernmentprocurementagreement
doapply toconstruction aswellastoconsulting (engineering design/consulting engineering).
Theobligations (limits/levels where international callfortender ismandatory) arenotthe
same forconstruction andforconsulting andtheyalsodiffer between federal, subfederal and
municipalities levels.
Turkey :Government hasdiscretionary authority togrant preferences todomestic firms.
United States: Projects funded bythefederal government, andsome state andmunicipal
governments, may besubject tolegal requirements requiring services andproducts tobeof
U.S. origin.
b)In-house provision oftheservice forsubstantive part ofservices required
Australia: There arenospecific rules governing theprovision ofengineering services tothe
government andgovernment-owned entities. These services aremostly provided bytheprivate
sector.
Canada: Thefollowing describes thecurrent federal government 'spolicy regarding theuse
ofin-house engineering services:
PublicWorksandGovernmentServicesCanadadistinguishesbetweencorecompetencyservices
which aretobeprovided within government andnon-core competency services which are
outsourced onafairandequitable basis.
Client support andproject management related torealproperty services aredeemed core-
competence services, although they aresubject towork volume. The useofin-house
(architecturalandengineering)expertiseforthesecoreservicesarerequiredtomaintainexpertise
insupport ofclient government department 'smandates andtheir responsibilities forprogram
delivery.
Planning, design andconstruction review services, which include conceptual design, detailed
design,drawingsandspecifications,arenon-coreserviceswhicharedeliveredbyacombination,
asrequired, ofin-house staff, external consultants andprivate sector contractors. Aportion
ofnon-core services isprovided in-house tomaintain professional skills andtobeable to
respondtoemergencyandspecialgovernmentrequirementssuchasundertakingworkinisolated
locations, oronsecurity sensitive projects.
Denmark: In-house activities areallowed. National rules oblige, however themunicipalities
toensure thatthebestandcheapest services possible areobtained, andforthisreason toinvite
private companies fortenders.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page75
Germany: Public entities inGermany obtain engineering services forasubstantive partthrough
their own personnel. This differs strongly, however, from oneLand totheother, depending
ontheimportance ofefforts toopen services supply toprivate competition.
Public entities often planconstruction through their ownconstruction departments. Even when
self-employed consulting engineers areinvolved, public entities often reserve partofthetask
totheir own services.
Administrativeregulationsoftenprovideforparticipationofprivate-sectorconsultingengineers
only when thepublic construction department isunable toprovide theservice.
France: Except forstate enterprises, engineering services mostly procured in-house bythe
government 'sown personnel.
Japan: In-house engineers areusually responsible fortheplanning ofpublic works. Research
anddesign, ontheother hand, aregenerally provided byprivate consulting engineers, except
where in-house engineers have special technical experience, orwhere commissioning toprivate
entities isdeemed inefficient.
Norway: There arenorules inNorway governing provisions ofin-house engineering services
topublic entities.
Figures ontheamount ofservices provided byprivate sector compared toin-house provisions
arenotavailable. Ingeneral, theextent towhich services areprovided in-house varies between
thedifferent public entities, according tothequalifications needed andresources available
foreach specific project. Norway hasarelatively large public sector, andasubstantive amount
ofservices isprovided in-house, forinstance, within thePublic Road Administration. This
includes engineering services. Ontheother hand, insome parts ofthepublic sector engineering
services aremainly provided byprivate sector.
Sweden: There arenorequirements forcertain parts ofin-house provision bypublic entities.
InSweden, alltenders (including those below relevant thresholds) aretobeevaluated. This
includes tenders from suppliers -national orforeign -whohave notbeen invited butstillhave
theright ofaccess totender documentation.
Switzerland: While federal government, cantons andmunicipalities usually have engineers
ontheir staff, theprivate sector isable tocompete forpartofservices.
UnitedStates:Departmentsorbureausdoexistwithinsomefederal,statecountryandmunicipal
governments which provide engineering services forprojects tobeowned andused solely
bythatgovernment body.
6. Restrictions onmarketing andadvertising
Denmark: Alawtoprotect consumers provides general ethics rules governing domestic as
well asforeign suppliers.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page76
Germany: Restrictions concern only professionals who practice under theprotected title
"Consulting Engineer" and/or who aremembers oftheorder ofengineers.
Mexico: Code ofEthics regulate marketing andadvertising practices.
Switzerland: Permitted, butguidelines aresetbytheSwiss Register ofArchitects, Engineers
andTechnicians (REG) foritsmembers.
United States: Federal andstate laws preclude restrictions onadvertising byprofessional
organizations, firms orindividuals. Asanexample, theNational Society ofProfessional
Engineers hasnorestrictions ontheir members marketing oradvertising their professional
services other than theuseofstatements containing amaterial misrepresentation offact
necessary tokeep statements from being misleading orintended orlikely tocreate anunjustified
expectation orstatements containing predictions offuture success.
7. Restrictions onfee-setting (minimum ormaximum levels imposed)
Austria :Mandatory feeschedules forConsulting Engineers, recommended feeschedules for
other twoprofessions.
Denmark:Norestrictionsonfeesetting.Professionalsmay,however,haveestablishedindicative
fees.
France :Indicative fees.
Germany :Minimum andmaximum feessetunder public law.
Greece :Minimum fees.
Italy:Minimum fees.
Japan: Remuneration standards areestablished bytheMinistry ofConstruction asregards
consulting engineering services relating tobuildings.
Netherlands :Indicative fees.
Portugal :Minimum fees.
Spain :Obligatory feesetforcertain projects byprofessional bodies. Exceptions possible.
Switzerland :Feeguidelines without anybinding character aresetbytheprofessional
association (SIA) foritsmembers. Membership is,however, notrequired bylaw.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page77
United States: Anyactivity designed tolimit orrestrict freecompetition isprohibited byU.S.
anti-trust laws. Asanexample, theNational Society ofProfessional Engineers (NSPE) has
norestrictions onitsmembers providing information onfeestoprospective clients. Under
NSPE ethics policy, engineers may notberetained onacontingency feebasis under
circumstances where their judgment may besubject tocompromise.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page78
IV. ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
A.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1.Form of
establishment restricted
[incorporation prohibited
(ip), only certain forms
ofincorporation allowed
(ia)]2.Restrictions on
foreign direct investment
and ownership
(including restrictions
applying tonotlocally
qualified
individuals/firms)3.Requirement ofa
minimum number/
percentage oflocal
directors/
managers/staff4.Entry and stay of
intra-corporate
transferees subject to
labour market tests5.Restrictions onthe
international
relationship oflocally
established firms6.Restrictions on
theuseofthe
international/foreign
name ofafirm
AUSTRALIA -- X X X -- --
AUSTRIA X(ia) X X -- -- --
BELGIUM -- -- -- -- --
CANADA X(ip) X --/X -- -- --
DENMARK -- -- X -- -- --
FINLAND -- X X X -- --
FRANCE X(ia) X X -- -- --
GERMANY -- -- -- -- -- --
GREECE --
ICELAND -- X
IRELAND -- --
ITALY X(ip) X
JAPAN -- -- X -- -- --
LUXEMBOURG --
MEXICO -- -- -- -- -- --
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- X -- X -- --
NORWAY -- -- X -- -- --
PORTUGAL X(ip) X
SPAIN X(ip) -- X X -- --
SWEDEN -- X X -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- -- X -- -- --
TURKEY -- X
UNITED KINGDOM -- --
UNITED STATES X(ia) X X -- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page79
IV. ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
B.MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1.Nationality
requirement2.No
procedure
facilitating
temporary
entry andstay
of
professionals
tosupply
services3.
Accreditation/
licensing
requirement
forforeign
professionals
authorized to
practice in
their home
country4.Prior
residency
required for
obtaining a
license5.No
possibility for
taking account
of
qualifications
acquired by
foreign
professionals
inanother
OECD country6.Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign
qualifications exist
Full local
examination
required inall
casesLocal training [education(e)
and/or practice (p)] exceeding
12months required inall
cases
AUSTRALIA -- -- X X -- -- --
AUSTRIA X X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
BELGIUM -- X X -- -- -- --
CANADA -- -- X --/X -- -- --
DENMARK -- X -- -- -- -- --
FINLAND -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE -- -- X -- -- -- --
GERMANY -- -- X -- -- -- --
GREECE X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
ICELAND --
IRELAND --
ITALY -- X
JAPAN -- X X -- -- -- --
LUXEMBOURG --
MEXICO X -- X -- -- X/- X(p)
NETHERLANDS -- -- X -- -- -- --
NEW ZEALAND -- -- X X -- X --
NORWAY -- X -- -- -- -- --
PORTUGAL X n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
SPAIN -- X X -- -- -- --
SWEDEN -- X -- -- -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- -- --/X --/X -- -- --/X (p)
TURKEY X -- X
UNITED KINGDOM -- X
UNITED STATES -- -- X --/X -- -- X(p)S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page80
IV. ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
C.MEASURES RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS AND NATURAL PERSONS
1.Local
presence
(establish-
ment/
residency)
required2.Quotas/
economic
needs tests
restricting
thenumber
offoreign
professionals
/firms
permitted to
practice3.
Partnership/
association/
joint venture
restrictions4.
Restrictions
onhiring of
local
professionals5.Government procurement policies 6.
Restrictions
onmarketing
and
advertising7.
Restrictions
onfee-
setting
(minimum
or
maximum
levels
imposed)a)Restrictions
towards foreign
suppliersb)In-house
provision ofthe
service for
substantive paret of
services required
AUSTRALIA -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
AUSTRIA X X X X -- -- -- X
BELGIUM X -- -- -- -- -- X X
CANADA --/X X --/X -- --/X --/X -- --
DENMARK -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
FINLAND X -- X -- -- -- -- --
FRANCE -- -- X -- -- -- -- --
GERMANY -- X -- -- -- X/-- -- X
GREECE X
ICELAND
IRELAND
ITALY X
JAPAN X -- -- -- -- X -- X
LUXEMBOURG
MEXICO X X -- -- X -- X --
NETHERLANDS -- -- -- -- -- X -- --
NEW ZEALAND X X -- -- X -- --
NORWAY -- X -- -- -- -- -- --
PORTUGAL X
SPAIN X -- -- X -- X X
SWEDEN -- -- X -- -- -- -- --
SWITZERLAND -- X -- -- -- -- --
TURKEY X
UNITED KINGDOM -- -- --
UNITED STATES --/X X -- X/-- X/-- -- --S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page81
ANNEX
IV. NOTES REGARDING ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
A. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN FIRMS
1. Form ofestablishment restricted [incorporation prohibited (ip), only certain forms of
incorporation allowed (ia)]
Austria:IncorporationpermittedinanAustria"Architekten-Gesellschaft".Foreignprofessionals
(only individuals allowed) must nothold more than 49percentofshares, 51percentmust
beowned bynational qualified professionals.
"Baumeister": incorporated permitted.
Canada :Sole proprietorship orpartnership only.
France :Most forms arepermitted: Societ éd'Exercice Libéral(SEL) (intheform ofSA,
SARL, SCP"soci étéencommandite paractions"); orasprofessional corporation (sociétécivile
professionnelle), asordinary SAorasSARL.
Germany: Architects may incorporate inanyform ofcompany. Incorporated firms may not
usethetitlearchitect intheir name, except forlimited liability companies inBavaria, Berlin
andRheinland-Pfatz, butmayprovide architectural services. Individual partners, shareholders
andemployees may usethetitle"architect".
Italy:Incorporation notpermitted.
Portugal :Incorporation notpermitted.
Spain :Architects areallowed toassociate, butinallcircumstances, theymaintain unrestricted
liability inconnection with their professional activities.
United States: Incorporation laws forarchitectural firms vary among thestates. Some states
allow practice through bothabusiness corporation andaprofessional corporation, while others
allow only oneortheother ofthese forms ofincorporation.
Seeremarks under C.3onsepcial conditions applying toparternships orcorporations offering
architectural services together with construction services.
2. Restrictions onforeign direct investment andownership (including restrictions applying
tonotlocally qualified individuals/firms)
Australia :Foreign architect canbeapartner inafirm without being registered.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page82
Inrelation toinvestment byforeigners inservice industries, allproposals above acertain
threshold need tobenotified. Notification thresholds areover $5million foracquisition of
substantial interests inanexisting business and$10million ormore forestablishment ofa
new business.
Austria :Regarding firms ofarchitects, investment/ownership restricted tonational persons;
legal persons may nothold shares.
Norestrictions regarding "Baumeister".
Authorization may berequired forrent, lease, acquisition ofrealproperty. Authorization
required forestablishment ofbranch.
Canada: Investment/ownership limited tolocally licensed professionals.
Denmark :Except forrestrictions onacquisition ofrealestate bynonEEA-national with less
than 5years ofresidence, there arenorestrictions onforeign investment/ownership.
Finland: Anatural person notresiding within theEEA, oraforeign organization orfoundation
which isestablished under thelaws ofacountry notbelonging totheEEA, willrequire a
permit oftheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry, inorder tobeable tobecome apartner ofa
general partnership orageneral orsilent partner ofalimited partnership.
France: InthecaseofaSAorSARL, atleast 51percentofcapital must beheld bylocally
registered architects; inthecaseofaSEL, halfofthecapital must beheldbylocally registered
professionals active inthecompany.
Germany: There arenorestrictions onforeign investment. Itisnotnecessary toberegistered
asanarchitect inorder toown shares orinvest inanarchitects 'firm.
Mexico :Norestrictions apply toforeign investment infirms carrying outprofessional
engineering services (design andconsulting).
Portugal :Foreign investment inPortugal issubject togeneral controls andauthorization
procedures.
Sweden: Noqualification asanarchitect isrequired inorder tobeabletoestablish, acquire,
orinvest inanarchitectural firm.
Companies canonly befounded byparties resident inSweden. Foreign companies need to
operate inSweden through asubsidiary orbranch, non-resident individuals through aresident
representative. Building projects with aduration oflessthan ayear areexempted from the
latter requirement.
Switzerland :Acquisition ofrealestate byforeigners issubject toauthorization. Forthepurpose
ofprofessional useandbusiness activities, authorization isgranted upon verification ofthe
purpose.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page83
United States :Inmost states, ownership ofprofessional corporations islimited tolicensed
architects.
3. Requirement ofaminimum number/percentage oflocal directors/managers/staff
Australia :Iforganized asapublic company, atleast twodirectors must beresident.
Austria :Managing director ofbranch must beresident.
Canada :InPrince-Edward Island, non-resident firms arerequired tomaintain ahigher
percentage ofpractitioners inapartnership.
Denmark: Allmanagers andatleast halfofthemembers oftheboard must beEEA-nationals.
Finland :Atleast 50per centoftheordinary anddeputy members oftheBoard ofDirectors
ofalimited company have toreside intheEEA area, unless anexception isgranted bythe
Ministry ofTrade andIndustry.
Themanaging director ofalimited company hastoberesident inacountry belonging tothe
EEA, unless anexception isgranted bytheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry.
France: Inthecase ofaSAorSARL, thechairman andthemajority ofcorporate officers
need tobearchitects; theruleis2/3inthecase ofaSEL.
Iceland :Managers andamajority ofdirectors must bedomiciled (exceptions possible)
Japan :Office hastobemanaged byalocally qualified full-time "kenchikushi" under Japanese
law.
New Zealand: Need toberegistered locally asanarchitect.
Norway :Themanaging director andatleast halfoftheboard ofdirectors must beresident
inNorway, andbeen resident inNorway forthepasttwoyears. Anexemption maybegranted
ineach case.
Sweden :50percentofboard ofdirectors andmanaging director, aswellasbranch managers,
must beresident inEEA area; exemptions may begranted.
Switzerland :Majority ofboard ofdirectors ofa"joint stock company", andmajority of
administrators ofa"co-operative society" must beSwiss citizens withdomicile inSwitzerland.
Atleast onemanager ofa"company with limited liability" must bedomiciled inSwitzerland.
Branch office requires representative domiciled inSwitzerland.
United States :Inmost states, principals ofpartnerships orprofessional corporations must
belocally licensed. Forexample, two-thirds oftheofficers, partners, and/or directors ofan
architecturalfirminMichiganmustbelicensedinthatstateasarchitects,professionalengineers,
and/or land surveyors.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page84
4. Entryandstayofintra-corporatetransferees[managers,executivesandspecialists]subject
tolabour market tests
Australia :Firm may have toprove efforts torecruit andtrain nationals and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnel locally. Major reforms have, however, been announced bythe
Australian Government inSeptember 1995, under thisnew policy, entry andstay ofkey
personnelwillbegreatlyfacilitated.Inparticular,labourmarketandskillstestingwillbewaived
forcertain keyactivities.
Canada: Intra-corporate transferees admitted foramaximum period ofthree years, without
economic needs testprovided theforeign firm maintains acommercial presence inCanada.
Restrictionsonownershiporincorporationapplyingtoarchitecturalfirmswouldnotnecessarily
restrict intra-corporate transferees, aslong astheforeign applicant isemployed (inacapacity
thatismanagerial, executive orinvolves specialized knowledge) withthesame juridical person
who owns, controls orisaffiliated with business operations inCanada andabroad.
Finland :Labour market tests.
France: Nolabour market tests, provided professional qualification recognised.
Ireland :Commitment under theGATS toadmit intra-corporate transferees -managers and
specialists -without economic needs test.
Italy:Procedure notapplicable topartnerships.
Mexico: Nolabour market tests apply.
New Zealand :Labour market tests -"specialist personnel."
Norway: Nolabour market testsfortransfers within amultinational enterprise orinternational
network offirms (executives/managers andspecialists).
Spain :Company mayhave toprove itsefforts torecruit andtrain nationals and/or itsinability
torecruit required personnel locally.
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated. However, formanagers andhighly qualified specialists, sufficient
numbers ofpermits areavailable andnolabour market tests areapplied tothese categories
ofpersons.
United States :Nolabour market test(orlabour certification) isrequired forintracorporate
transferees (nonimmigrant visaclassification L-1), regardless ofoccupation ortheposition
tobefilled. Noquotas apply tointracorporate transferees.
Theintracorporate transferee performs services asamanager, anexecutive, orinaspecialized
knowledge capacity forabranch ofhis/her same employer abroad oraparent, affiliate or
subsidiary thereof.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page85
5. Restrictions ontheinternational relationship oflocally established firms
Italy:Taxtreatment oftransfer payments and/or costallocations between local firms and
their foreign affiliates ismore restrictive.
United States :Architectural drawings andblueprints imported from allcountries areduty-free
under Section 4906.00.00 oftheU.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
6. Restrictions ontheuseoftheinternational/foreign name ofafirm
Germany: Norestrictions onforeign names; theuseofthetitle"Architekt" requires, however,
registration with thelocal order ofarchitects. Incorporated firms may notusethetitle
"Architekt" intheir firm name.
United States: NoU.S.restrictions apply totheuseofinternational firmnames. Theprovisions
oftheU.S. trademark laworinternational conventions towhich theU.S. isaparty mayapply
ininstances where aforeign name isperceived asbeing deceptively similar toaU.S.
trademarked name. State licensing laws alsodefine firmnames, theuseoffictitious surnames,
andtheuseofnames ofdeceased individuals previously named inthefirm title.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page86
IV. NOTES REGARDING ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
B. MEASURES PRIMARILY RELEVANT TOFOREIGN NATURAL PERSONS
1. Nationality requirement
Austria: EEA nationality required forarchitects. Admission ofnonEEA nationals restricted
toprofession of"Baumeister" (building master), subject toreciprocity oraneconomic needs
test.
Canada: Nonationality requirement, butseepermanent residency requirements under B.4
andC.1.
France :Nonationality requirements; allreciprocity requirements abolished with regard to
WTO members.
Greece :Nationality requirement.
Mexico: Nationality requirement subject toreciprocity.
Portugal :Nationality requirement.
2. Noprocedure facilitating thetemporary entry andstayofprofessionals tosupply services
Australia:UnderthenewpoliciesannouncedbytheAustralianGovernmentinSeptember1995,
temporary entry andstayforforeign service providers, including architects, maybefacilitated.
This may include temporary entry under alabour orregional headquarters agreement.
Canada :Procedures fortemporary licensing exist inallprovinces with theexception of
Manitoba. Foreign non-resident architects mayobtain atemporary license (1yearrenewable,
onaproject basis) based onhome-country qualifications andexperience.
Certain licensed professionals, which include architects, wishing toprovide services under
acontract, areadmitted without economic needs testforatemporary entry andstayofup
to90days orthetime necessary tocomplete theservices contract, whichever isless. This
procedure applies only toGATS Members.
France: Non-EU nationals may beauthorised tocarry outaspecific project (forinstance at
theissue ofacompetition), after qualification andinsurance cover hasbeen verified, without
local registration.
Germany: Occasional/temporary practice byforeign architects ispossible after inclusion in
aspecial listoftheorder ofarchitects, necessary forauthorization tousethetitle"architect".
Special facilities forshort-term stay.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page87
Mexico :Without licensure, foreign architects may enter to"consult" (excludes right tosign
drawings orsupervise construction).
Netherlands: Noobstacles totemporary entry andstayforprofessionals toprovide aservice;
temporary license isnotanissue, since accreditation isnotrequired forarchitects.
Norway: Noneed fortemporary license, since nolicensing requirement. Nospecial facilities
forshort term stay.
Sweden: Noneed fortemporary license, since nolicensing requirement.
Switzerland: Subject tothelimitations setoutunder B.3below, foreign architects donotneed
atemporary license, since nogeneral accreditation/licensing requirement. Asregards, however,
therestrictionontheoverallnumberofworkpermits,therearespecialproceduresfortemporary
entry andstay.
United States :Analien who seeks temporary entry toperform professional architectural
services forhis/her foreign employer, who ispaid from abroad, andwho willreturn toan
unrelinquished residence abroad, may beclassifiable asaB-1visitor forbusiness.
Architects may enter asbusiness persons (nonimmigrant visa category B-1) toengage in
activities such asnegotiating contracts, setting upoffices, andtraining sales personnel forthe
foreign employer.
Foreign architects may enter to"consult" (under abusiness visa) teach orengage inresearch.
Practice asthearchitect ofrecord oruseofthetitle"architect" requires thattheindividual
belicensed bythejurisdiction inwhich thatpractice istobeperformed.
Analien whoseeks temporary entry toperform services inanoccupational specialty, including
architectural services, foraU.S. employer must have aLabour Condition Application and
petition filed inhis/her behalf bytheU.S. employer (nonimmigrant visacategory H-1B). The
number ofpetition approvals fortheH-1B category islimited to65,000 inanyfiscal year.
Analien professional licensed inanother country, wholacks aU.S. license, maybepermitted
toenter theUnited States intheH-1B category towork foraU.S. employer, depending upon
thenature oftheduties, thelevel atwhich theduties areperformed, andthedegree of
supervision received.
Foreign professionals who arelicensed intheUnited States have little ornorestrictions on
thetypeofactivities theymayengage inwithin their licensed profession. Foreign professionals
who arenotlicensed intheUnited States, however, may notengage inactivities thatrequire
alicense andmay notrepresent themselves aslicensed professionals.
3. Accreditation/licensing requirement forforeign professionals authorized topractice in
their home country
Australia: Registration required topractise asa"registered architect".S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page88
Belgium: Practice authorization through Royal Decree required.
Canada :Alicense isrequired topractice inalljurisdictions ofCanada. Procedures exist in
allprovinces, toaccredit/license foreign architects authorized topractice intheir home country.
Interprovincial reciprocity exists forallholders ofapermanent license.
Denmark: Nolicense/practice authorization isrequired inDenmark toprovide architectural
services.
Finland: Nolicense/practice authorization isrequired inFinland toprovide architectural
services.
Germany:Thesupplyofarchitecturalservicesdoesingeneralnotrequirelicensing.Registration
andverificationofprofessionalqualificationsisrequired,however,forforeignarchitectswishing
toestablish under thetitle"Architekt" inGermany.
Japan: Accreditation requirement forspecially qualified "kenchikushi". Only "kenchikushi"
candesign certain types ofbuildings.
Mexico :Only architects licensed inMexico canpractice asprofessional architects. Tosupervise
public work construction projects intheFederal District orprepare drawings forlikeprojects,
architects must obtain special license topractice asDirector Responsable deObra and/or
structural engineer.
Netherlands: Accreditation/licensing notrequired toprovide architectural services. However,
useofthetitle"architect" requires official registration, after verification ofqualification.
New Zealand: Accreditation/licensing notrequired topractice architecture. However, thetitle
architect isprotected tothose persons registered withtheRegistration Board. Foreign architects
must obtain registration inorder tobeallowed tousethetitle.
Sweden :There isnorequirement forformal accreditation orlicensing.
Switzerland :Noaccreditation/licensing requirement forarchitectural services ingeneral.
Inaminority ofcantons building plans can,however, only besubmitted bypersons inscribed
intheSwiss Register ofArchitects, Engineers andTechnicians (REG).
Turkey :Foreign architects may practice after becoming atemporary member oftherelated
Union ofChambers. [Unclear: Nodetails onrequirements formembership. Aretheyequivalent
toanaccreditation/licensing requirement?
United States: Alicense isrequired inallU.S. jurisdictions forboth indigenous andforeign
persons tousethetitle"architect" andinnearly alljurisdictions topractice architecture.
Alicense acquired inonestate willberecognized inallother states through reciprocity
(endorsement/comity) solong astherequirements fortheinitial license areequivalent tothe
state (jurisdiction) where licensing isdesired.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page89
4. Prior residency required forobtaining alicense
Australia: 12months residency, based on12months work experience inAustralia with a
registered architect.
Canada :Permanent residency required inQuebec (toberemoved), Newfoundland, New
Brunswick andNova Scotia toobtain apermanent license. Noprior residency requirement
toobtain atemporary license inallprovinces.
Greece :Notapplicable because ofnationality requirement.
Mexico: Permanent residency required subject toreciprocity.
New Zealand: Prior residency required forregistration which isnecessary toobtain thetitle
"architect".
Portugal :Notapplicable because ofnationality requirement.
Switzerland: Incantons with register requirement, atleast 2years ofpractical experience must
becompleted inSwitzerland before registration.
United States :Thefollowing jursidictions require theapplicant tobearesident forinitial
registration viawritten examination: Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, USVirgin Islands. Theresidency requirements do
notapply toregistration byreciprocity between jurisdiction.
5. Nopossibilities fortaking account ofqualifications acquired byforeign professionals
inanother OECD country (allrequirements must bemetinhost country)
Canada: Allprovincial licensing regimes takeintoaccount qualifications acquired byforeign
professionals intheir home jurisdiction.
Finland: Accreditation/licensing isnotnecessary.
France: Possibility torecognise foreign diplomas onthebasis ofanequivalency list.Ifno
diploma hasbeen acquired, qualifications may beexceptionnally recognised byministerial
decision after review ofapress book.
Japan: Those who have obtained alicense equivalent tothe"Kenchikushi" license overseas
shall beabletoobtain a"Kenchikushi" license without takeng theexamination, iftheMinister
ofConstruction concludes thattheyhave qualifications equal orsuperior tothatofthefirst-class
"Kenchikushi" orifaprefectural governer concludes thatthey have qualifications equal or
superior tothatofthesecond-class "Kenchikushi" or"Mokuzo-Kenchikushi".
Germany: Certain Länder stipulate thattheright tousethetitle"Architekt" may depend on
areciprocity condition.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
Page90
Sweden: Qualifications from other OECD countries maybetaken intoaccount when aforeign
architect wishes toacquire aSwedish architect 'squalification (although heisnotobliged to
doso).
Switzerland: Foreign architect 'sdiplomas may berecognised (necessary insome cantons for
registration).
United States: U.S. jurisdictions takeintoaccount allqualifications ofanindividual person
applying foralicense (registration) inthatjurisdiction.
6. Where possibilities oftaking account offoreign qualifications exist
a)Full local examination required inallcases
Australia:Foreigndiploma/exammaybesufficient;seehoweverrequirementunder6b)below.
Belgium: Foreign degrees inarchitecture may berecognized.
Canada :Full orpartial recognition offoreign examinations may begranted. Foreign
professionals must prove thatthey have metsimilar examination requirements intheir home
country.
France :Access procedure isbased onalistofequivalency offoreign diplomas. Inaddition,
aprocedure exists whereby qualification ofanarchitect may berecognised onthebasis of
hisworks (through ministerial authorization).
Japan: Foreign nationals wishing toobtain aJapanese degree inarchitecture maybeexempted
from thedesign drawing examination, ifthey have already relevant foreign qualifications.
Mexico :Astudy recognition committee decides onacase-by-case basis.
New Zealand: Inorder tobeallowed tousethetitle"Architect".
Switzerland: Equivalent foreign exams may berecognized where necessary forregistration.
United States :Unless anagreement ofinter-recognition exists between thecountry-of-origin
andtheregulatory agency oftheU.S., theforeign applicant willberequired topassthefull
national (local) examination.
Currently, architects from provinces inCanada have access toUSregistration inthose US
jurisdictions which have signed aletter ofundertaking. Both theCanadian province andthe
USstate must sign aletter ofundertaking inaccordance with theNCARB/Committee of
Canadian Architectural Councils (CCAC) inorder forreciprocity tooccur.
b)Local training [education and/or practice] exceeding 12months required inallcases
Australia: Toregister, aforeign architect must have twelve (12)months practical experience
inAustraliawitharegisteredarchitect.Somestateswaivetherequirementforeminentarchitects.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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Belgium: Theboard oftheorder ofarchitects may waive therequirement ofaninternship
fornationals ofnon-EU countries, provided they have more than twoyears professional
experience asanarchitect abroad.
Canada :Partial orfullrecognition offoreign education andwork experience maybegranted.
Mexico :Tosupervise public work construction projects intheFederal District orprepare
drawings forlikeprojects, architects must obtain anadditional license topractice asDirector
Responsable deObra and/or structural architect.
New Zealand: Anon-specified time oflocal practice experience isrequired forregistration.
Switzerland :Incantons with aregistration requirement, applicant must have atleast 3years
ofpractical experience outofwhich 2years must have been completed inSwitzerland.
United States :Theeducation ofaforeign applicant forregistration willbeevaluated for
compliance withtheeducation requirement ofthejurisdiction (either theNational Architectural
Accrediting Board accredited degree inarchitecture oracombination ofother education and
practical experience) andfullorpartial credit maybegranted. Deficiencies must befulfilled.
Themaximum credit fortraining, under direct supervision ofaperson practising architecture
outside theU.S. orCanada, who isnotaU.S. orCanadian registered architect, is12months.
Nocredit will begiven forforeign training other than under thedirect supervision ofa
registered architect practising architecture. Aperson with fiveyears offoreign training asa
principal practising architecture shall bedeemed tohave satisfied thetraining requirement.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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IV. NOTES REGARDING ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES
C. MEASURESEQUALLYRELEVANTTOFOREIGNFIRMSANDFOREIGNNATURAL
PERSONS
1. Local presence (establishment orresidency) required
Australia: Once aforeign architect hasbeen registered inAustralia, he/she does nothave to
maintain aresidence inAustralia inorder toprovide architectural services. Afirm abroad
canprovide services only through anarchitect registered inAustralia.
Belgium: Establishment inBelgium isobligatory foranyarchitect who wishes toexercise
theprofession permanently.
Canada :Citizenship orpermanent residency required inQuebec (toberemoved inthenear
future). Permanent residency required inNewfoundland, New Brunswick andNova Scotia
topractice under apermanent license. Otherwise, nolocal presence required.
Finland: Aprivate non-resident entrepreneur hastohave arepresentative, who isresident
inFinland andauthorized onbehalf oftheentrepreneur, toreceive summons andother
notifications. Therepresentative hastobenotified forentry intheTrade Register.
Thesame requirement applies tofirms which donothave aperson authorized tosign the
company name andresiding inFinland.
France: Nolocal presence required; butaprofessional address where files areheld andkept
must beprovided.
Japan :Local presence (establishment ofanoffice) required.
Mexico: Residency requirements forindividuals subject toreciprocity.
Spain: Certain architectural services may require establishment. This matter iscontrolled by
professional bodies.
United States :Architects registered inthejurisdiction where thepractice istotakeplace need
notnecessarily establish alocal presence (residency oroffice) fortheestablishment (firm).
Only individuals areregistered tousethetitle"architect" and/or practice. Toberegistered
byexamination, seetheresponse atB.4.
2. Quotas oreconomic needs testrestricting thenumber offoreign professionals/firms
permitted topractice
Austria: Economic needs testfor"Baumeister" intheabsence ofreciprocity.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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Germany: Atthepresent time, nopermits forstayaregranted toself-employed individuals
from nonEU-countries. Exceptions may begranted inthepublic interest.
Mexico: Sort ofquota forindividuals.
Norway:Asregardsforeignprofessionals,economicneedtestsapplyincasesofserviceactivity
ofmore than three months duration.
Switzerland :Residency andwork permits subject tomeasures fixing theoverall number of
work permits allocated.
Turkey :Ageneral economic needs testapplies toalldirect investment.
United States :There isnolimit onthenumber offoreign firms permitted todobusiness in
theUnited States. Limitations apply only toonenonimmigrant visa category (N-1B) for
specialty occupations, which includes professionals hired foratemporary period byaU.S.
firm (65,000 petition approvals inanyfiscal year). ALabour Condition Application bythe
U.S. employer isrequired. Seealready B.2.
Self-employed professionals maynotenter theUnited States towork forthemselves, butthey
may bepermitted temporarily towork foraU.S. employer under theB-1B orLcategories,
orforaforeign employer under theB-1category.
3. Partnership/association/joint venture restrictions
Austria: "Architekten": Competent partner with Austrian nationality required. "Baumeister":
Competent Managing director with residency inAustria required.
Canada: Anumber ofprovinces limit partnerships between architects/architects andengineers.
InOntario andQuebec, theholder ofatemporary license must collaborate with aperson who
holds apermanent license orcertificate ofpractice.
Finland: Where oneormore ofthepartners inageneral orlimited partnership arenon-
resident/not established intheEEA area, apermit from theMinistry ofTrade andIndustry
isrequired.
France: Partnerships only allowed with other architects, orwith other professionals whose
cooperation isuseful, fortheexercise ofthearchitect 'sactivities. Inthelatter case, thearchitects
must represent atleast halfofthemembers ofthefirm andhold more thanhalfofthecapital.
Sweden: Allpartners inapartnership must beresident inSweden; exemptions maybegranted.
United States: Apartnership orcorporation offering acombination ofarchitectural services
together with construction services may offer torender architectural services only if(1)an
architect registered inthisstateorotherwise permitted tooffer architectural services participates
substantially inallmaterial aspects oftheoffering, (2)there iswritten disclosure atthetimeS/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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oftheofferingthatsucharchitectisengagedbyandcontractuallyresponsibletosuchpartnership
orcorporation, (3)such partnership orcorporation agrees thatsuch architect willhave direct
supervision ofthework andthatsuch architect 'sservices willnotbeterminated without the
consent oftheperson engaging thepartnership orcorporation, and(4)therendering ofthe
architectural services bysuch architect willconform totheprovisions ofthearchitectural
registration lawandtherules adopted thereunder.
4. Restrictions ofhiring oflocal professionals
5. Government procurement policies
a)Restrictions towards foreign suppliers
Canada :InAlberta, firstconsideration maybegiven toservice suppliers from within Alberta
orCanada where competitive interms ofprice andquality inthecaseofalllarge scale energy
projects needing Industrial Development, Forest Management, OilSands, Power Plant orGas
Plant andCoal Development Permits.
InNewfoundland andNova Scotia, firstconsideration isgiven toservices provided within
theprovince topetroleum operations where they arecompetitive interms ofprice, quality
anddelivery.
France :There isabundant jurisprudence rejecting preference tolocal suppliers.
Mexico :Foreign architects/architectural firms arenotentirely excluded from government
procurement, butpreference may begiven tolocal suppliers.
Norway: Generally there arenorestrictions towards foreign suppliers. According totheWTO-
Agreement ongovernment procurement, obligation forinternational calls fortender applies
toOECD-countries which aresignatories totheagreement. There arenospecific restrictions
towards suppliers from other OECD-countries.
Spain: Access forforeign suppliers requires establishment ofasubsidiary inSpain, andthe
fulfilment ofareciprocity condition bythecountry oforigin.
Switzerland: Insome cantons, submission ofplans requires that thesupplier be
established/resident/registered.
Regulations onpublic procurement willberevised onfederal endsubfederal levels, inview
oftheimplementation ofSwitzerland 'scommitments under theWTO agreement onpublic
procurement.
ObligationstointernationalcallsfortenderundertheWTOGovernmentprocurementagreement
doapply toconstruction aswellastoconsulting (architectural design/consulting architectural).
Theobligations (limits/levels where international callfortender ismandatory) arenotthe
same forconstruction andforconsulting andtheyalsodiffer between federal, subfederal and
municipalities levels.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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United States :Projects funded bythefederal government, andsome state andmunicipal
governments, may besubject tolegal requirements requiring services andproducts tobeof
U.S. origin.
b)In-house provision oftheservice forsubstantive part oftheactivities required
Canada:Thefollowingdescribesthefederalgovernment'spolicyregardingtheuseofin-house
architectural services.
PublicWorksandGovernmentServicesCanadadistinguishesbetweencorecompetencyservices
which aretobeprovided within government andnon-core competency services which are
outsourced onafairandequitable basis.
Client support andproject management related torealproperty services aredeemed core-
competence services, although they aresubject towork volume. The useofin-house
(architecturalandengineering)expertiseforthesecoreservicesarerequiredtomaintainexpertise
insupport ofclient government department 'smandates andtheir responsibilities forprogram
delivery.
Planning, design andconstruction review services, which include conceptual design, detailed
design,drawingsandspecifications,arenon-coreserviceswhicharedeliveredbyacombination,
asrequired, ofin-house staff, external consultants andprivate sector contractors. Aportion
ofnon-core services isprovided in-house tomaintain professional skills andtobeable to
respondtoemergencyandspecialgovernmentrequirementssuchasundertakingworkinisolated
locations, oronsecurity sensitive projects.
Germany:PublicentitiesinGermanyobtainarchitecturalservicesforasubstantivepartthrough
their own personnel. This differs strongly, however, from oneLand totheother, depending
ontheimportance ofefforts toopen services supply toprivate competition.
Public entities often planconstruction through their ownconstruction departments. Even when
self-employed architects areinvolved, public entities often reserve partofthetasktotheir
own services.
Administrativeregulationsoftenprovideforparticipationofprivate-sectorarchitectsonlywhen
thepublic construction department isunable toprovide theservice.
Japan: In-house architects areusually responsible fortheplanning ofpublic works. Research
anddesign, ontheother hand, aregenerally provided byprivate architects, except where in-
house architects have special technical experience, orwhere commissioning toprivate entities
isdeemed inefficient.
Netherlands :Nearly alllocal governments provide in-house architectural services.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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Norway: Theprivate sector canfreely compete toalarge extent, since architectural services
arenotusually supplied in-house byNorwegian public entities.
Sweden: There arenorequirements forcertain parts ofin-house provision byprocurement
entities. InSweden, alltenders (including those below relevant thresholds) aretobeevaluated.
This includes tenders from suppliers -national orforeign -who have notbeen invited but
stillhave theright ofaccess totender documentation.
Switzerland: While federal government, cantons andmunicipalities usually have architects
ontheir staff, theprivate sector isable tocompete forpartofservices.
UnitedStates:Departmentsorbureausdoexistwithinsomefederal,statecountryandmunicipal
governments which provide architectural services forprojects tobeowned andused solely
bythatgovernment body.
6. Restrictions onmarketing andadvertising
Belgium :Restrictions onuseofforeign title.Generally, useofthetitle"architect" formarketing
purposes subject torestrictions.
Mexico: Codes ofEthics regulate marketing andadvertising practices.
Switzerland: Permitted, butguidelines aresetbytheprofessional association (SIA) forits
members. Insome cantons legal requirements compatible with SIA-guidelines exist..
United States: Federal andstate laws preclude restrictions onadvertising byprofessional
organizations, firms orindividuals. Asanexample, theAmerican Institute ofArchitects has
norestrictions ontheir members marketing oradvertising their professional services.
7. Restrictions onfee-setting (minimum ormaximum levels imposed)
Austria: Mandatory feeschedules forarchitects, recommended feeschedules for"Baumeister".
Belgium: Minimum feessetbytheOrder ofArchitects.
Germany: Minimum andmaximum feessetunder public law.
Japan: Remuneration standards areestablished bytheMinister ofConstruction asregards
architectural services relating tobuildings.
Spain: Minimum fees setbyprofessional associations. This practice would, however, be
outlawed under aproposed billonprofessional associations.
Switzerland :Recommendations onapplicable feesaresetbytheprofessional association (SIA)
foritsmembers. Membership is,however, notrequired bylaw.S/WPPS/W/4/Add.2
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United States: Anyactivity designed tolimit orrestrict freecompetition isprohibited byU.S.
anti-trust laws. Asanexample, theAmerican Institute ofArchitects hasnorestrictions on
fee-setting byitsmembers.