Ingenieur Vol 62 April-June 2015 Ingenieur Vol 62 April-June 2015 | Page 29

CROSS BORDER TRADE IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY By Ir. Rocky H.T.Wong This article is based on points in a paper presented by the author at the 2nd ASEAN-Korea Engineering Forum & Roundtable Meeting on June 16-17 2014, ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia. As there is extensive use of acronyms, a list of terms is provided at the end of the article. T his paper highlights the three accords, viz. Washington Accord (WA), Sydney Accord (SA) and Dublin Accord (DA), under the ambit of the International Engineering Agreements/ Alliance (IEA) and how they contribute to the overall Quality Assurance/Quality COntrol (QA/QC ) delivery system involving Trade in Services (TiS). In particular this refers to Trade in regulated Science, Engineering, Technology (SET) Professional/ Business Services identified in WTO/GATS context defined as Engineering Services (CPC 8672), Integrated Engineering Services (CPC 8673), and Construction & Engineering Services (CPC 511 to CPC 518). Cross Border Trade in Services (CBTS) flourishes/thrives within bi-lateral/plurallateral/multi-lateral rules centric environment determined by participating nations/economies in a democratic manner. In turn, the accreditation process prescribed by the three accords [each with its ‘knowledge profile’] encourages universal human rights ~ democracy in education ~ with measurable outcomes based education operating in a Quality System Framework with companion CQI/OFI agenda. The win-win and free, or freer market should embrace/promote “inclusiveness”. Therefore, any follow-up Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) (after a Free Trade Agreement or FTA has been inked in) should deal with ‘Engineering Services Professionals” (ESP) whereby prescribed accreditation of all three accords – WA, SA & DA should be encapsulated in the benchmarking (equivalence) of engineering team of the three grades of ESP ~ with room for progression; more so if the TVET system was adopted to run in parallel with academic (via IHL) programmes. Its all a question of self-directed and life long learning with the goal of remaining competitive and being relevant which is key to be successful in TiS. Trade in Services: Trade in services as per GATS/WTO; comprises four modes of delivery: 1. Cross border delivery; 2. Cross border consummation; 3. Cross border mobility of capital/investment; and 4. Cross border mobility of natural persons. ●● Free Trade Agreement: Free Trade Agreement vis-à-vis Trade in Services deals broadly with: šš Market Access; šš Commercial Presence ; and šš National Treatment . ●● Modes 1 and 2 equate to Market Access ~ hardly regulated and no point regulating. ●● Mode 3 equates to Commercial Presence ~ regulations apply; including investment policies. ●● Mode 4 equates to National Treatment ~ regulations on registration/certification/license apply. ●● Domestic Regulations: Most ‘public interest’ professional/business services are regulated by domestic regulations; e.g. SET &/or Engineering and Construction services. ●● Domestic regulations subject to Good Regulatory Practices tests. ●● Various ‘degrees of limitation’ applied to Market Access, Commercial Presence and National Treatment; depending how free the FTA is; or ‘negative list’ stated for those three dimensions of market opening. ●● Regulated professional services ~ start with duly accredited qualification by respective ●● 27 SPECIAL REPORT Professional Services