INGENIEUR
●●
Profession Regulatory Authority (PRA) for
registration/licensing.
Regulated Business Services (e.g. ‘Trades’
delivered by skilled workers) begin with
certification of tradesmen’s competency by the
respective Regulator.
Engineering Services Professionals:
In cases of Engineering, Integrated Engineering,
and Construction Services, members of
Team delivering said services are known as
‘Engineering Services Professionals’ (ESP) ~
a term used in ASEAN MRAs on Engineering
Services.
●●
International Engineering Agreements and the
three accords:
●●
Under International Engineering Agreements/
Alliances, there are three tertiary qualification
benchmarks in engineering and technology.
WA (1989, for engineer); SA (2001, for
engineering technologist); and DA (2002, for
technician).
It started with the Washington Accord:
It began 1989 with Washington Accord; three
years after 1986 launch of GATT’s eight-year
Uruguay Round (UR) that gave rise to WTO on
01/01/1995.
●●
Under the influence of American Financial
Services Lobby, the 40 th President of USA
caused the US to introduce “Trade in Services”
at the start of UR.
Engineers played catch-up:
Professional engineering and construction &
engineering services had been traded as long
as financial services. But without projects
dealing with, or in engineering & technology,
there would be very few financial transactions
for financial services suppliers – piggy backing
on multi-million dollar “contracts”.
●●
Engineers realised when engineering services
are traded; the qualification and experience of
the natural person, the engineer, providing the
services matter.
●●
WA therefore “recognises substantial
equivalence in the accreditation of qualification
in professional engineering normally of four
years duration”.
●●
SA & DA; each of the three accords has its
prescribed knowledge profile.
●●
The Team delivers SET services:
WA is for trade in science, engineering and
technology professional services (TiSET
services); so are SA and DA. All the three
accords cover ESPs who, as a Team, deliver
SET services.
●●
●●
GATT and accountants promoted Trade in
Services:
●●
What is Trade in Services (TiS)? – a question
many GATT member countries in 1986 had
little or no clue about at all.
●●
Since 1947 GATT had been dealing with “trade
in goods and merchandise” whereby ‘at the
border’, tariffs (for import duties) could be
added/applied.
●●
Before 1986 TiS was recognised by Malaysia
as ‘invisible trade’; measured by Balance of
Payments Account.
●●
Others (besides American financial services
players) soon realised and learnt ‘what it takes
to trade in services’; amongst them ‘Engineers
& Contractors’.
6
28
VOL 62 APRIL – JUNE 2015
VOL 55 JUNE 2013
Inclusiveness for seamless trade:
For trade to take place, there should be
‘inclusiveness’; more so for seamless trade as
covered by FTA as in the AEC, MPFTA, ASEANChina FTA, etc.
●●
In any FTA there are chapters covering, among
others, Cross Border Trade in Services, Market
Access and Commercial Presence (as can be
found in ‘Investments”); whilst National Treatment
will be treated in a follow-up discipline specific
MRA that should be broad based to cover trade in
science, engineering and technology professional
services delivered by ESPs whereby all the three
IEA accords (e.g. WA, SA & DA) will be used to
determine the accreditation of qualifications of
the three grades of the SET team.
●●
Democracy and human rights:
Trade flourishes in an open/free & fair market
underpinned by rules (improved with time)
determined by trading partners in a democratic
manner.
●●
By extension of win-win inclusiveness for trade,
WA, SA & DA subscribe to the universal ‘human
●●