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Canada – Colombia Free Trade Agreement

Chapter Nine: Cross Border Trade in Services

Article 901: Scope and Coverage

1. This Chapter applies to measures adopted or maintained by a Party affecting cross-border trade in services by service suppliers of the other Party, including measures affecting

2.This Chapter does not apply to:

3. This Chapter does not impose any obligation on a Party with respect to a national of the other Party seeking access to its employment market, or employed on a permanent basis in its territory and does not confer any right on that national with respect to that access or employment.

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Article 902: National Treatment

1. Each Party shall accord to service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own service suppliers.

2. The treatment accorded by a Party under paragraph 1 means, with respect to measures adopted or maintained by a sub-national government, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like circumstances, by that sub-national government to service suppliers of the Party of which it forms a part.

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Article 903: Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment

Each Party shall accord to service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to service suppliers of a non-Party.

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Article 904: Market Access

Neither Party may adopt or maintain measures that:

1. impose limitations on:

2. restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service.

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Article 905: Local Presence

Neither Party may require a service supplier of the other Party to establish or maintain a representative office or any form of enterprise, or to be resident, in its territory as a condition for the cross-border provision of a service.

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Article 906: Non-Conforming Measures

1. Articles 902, 903, 904 and 905 do not apply to:

2. Articles 902, 903, 904 and 905 do not apply to measures that a Party adopts or maintains with respect to sectors, sub-sectors or activities, as set out in its Schedule to Annex II.

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Article 907: Domestic Regulation

1. The Parties note their mutual obligations related to domestic regulation in Article VI:4 of the GATS and affirm their commitment respecting the development of any necessary disciplines pursuant to Article VI:4. To the extent that any such disciplines are adopted by the WTO Members, the Parties shall, as appropriate, review them jointly with a view to determining whether this Article should be supplemented.

2. Where authorisation by a Party is required for the supply of a service, the competent authorities of that Party shall, within a reasonable period of time after the submission of an application that is considered complete under domestic laws and regulations, inform the applicant of the decision concerning the application. At the request of the applicant, the competent authorities of the Party shall provide, without undue delay, information concerning the status of the application.

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Article 908: RecognitionFootnote 3

1. For the purposes of fulfillment, in whole or in part, of its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of services suppliers, and subject to the requirements of paragraph 4, a Party may recognize the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in a particular country. Such recognition, which may be achieved through harmonization or otherwise, may be based on an agreement or arrangement with the country concerned or may be accorded autonomously.

2. A Party that is a party to an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1, whether existing or future, shall afford, if the other Party is interested, adequate opportunity for the other Party to negotiate accession to such an agreement or arrangement or to negotiate a comparable agreement or arrangement. Where a Party accords recognition autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for the other Party to demonstrate that the education, experience, licences or certifications obtained or requirements met in that other Party’s territory should be recognized.

3. No Party may accord recognition in a manner that would constitute a means of discrimination in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing or certification of services suppliers, or a disguised restriction on trade in services.

4. The Parties shall endeavour to ensure that the relevant professional bodies in their respective territories of certain professional service sectors:

The professional service sectors to which this paragraph applies shal be determined by the Working Group within six months following the entry into force of this Agreement.

5. On receipt of a notification referred to in subparagraph 4(d), the Commission shall review the agreement or arrangement within a reasonable time to determine whether it is consistent with this Agreement. Based on the Commission’s review, each Party shall ensure that its competent authorities, where appropriate, implement the agreement or arrangement within a mutually agreed time.

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Article 909: Temporary Licensing

1. Where the Parties agree, each Party shall encourage the relevant professional bodies in its territory to develop procedures for the temporary licensing of professional services suppliers of the other Party.

2. Each Party shall consider establishing a work program to provide for the temporary licensing in its territory of nationals of the other Party who are licensed as engineers in the territory of the other Party. To this end, each Party shall coordinate with the relevant professional bodies of its territory as appropriate.

3. In furtherance of paragraph 2, the Working Group established under Article 912 shall consult with the relevant professional bodies to obtain their recommendations on:

4. The Working Group shall request that the relevant professional bodies make recommendations on the matters referred to in paragraph 3 within 18 months of the date of their first meeting.

5. The Working Group shall encourage the relevant professional bodies of each Party to meet at the earliest opportunity with a view to cooperating in the development of joint recommendations, within two years following the entry into force of this
Agreement, on the matters referred to in paragraph 3. The Working Group shall request an annual report from the relevant professional bodies on the progress achieved in developing recommendations.

6.The Working Group shall promptly review a recommendation made pursuant to paragraphs 4 or 5 to ensure its consistency with this Agreement. If the recommendation is consistent with this Agreement, the Working Group shall encourage the competent authorities of each Party to implement the recommendation within one year.

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Article 910: Transfers and Payments

1. Each Party shall permit all transfers and payments relating to the cross-border supply of services to be made freely and without delay into and out of its territory.

2. Each Party shall permit such transfers and payments relating to the cross-border supply of services to be made in a freely usable currency at the market rate of exchange prevailing on the date of transfer.

3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, a Party may prevent or delay a transfer or payment through the equitable, non-discriminatory, and good faith application of its laws relating to:

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Article 911: Denial Benefits

A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter to a service supplier of the other Party:

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Article 912: Working Group

1. The Parties shall establish a Working Group at the entry into force of this Agreement comprising representatives of each Party. The representatives of each Party shall be:
For Canada:

For Colombia:

2. The Working Group's functions shall include:

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Article 913: Definitions

For purposes of this Chapter:

aircraft repair and maintenance services mean such activities when undertaken on an aircraft or a part thereof while it is withdrawn from service and do not include so-called line maintenance;

computer reservation system (“CRS”) services mean services provided by computerised systems that contain information about air carriers’ schedules, availability, fares and fare rules, through which reservations can be made or tickets may be issued;

cross-border trade in services or cross-border supply of services means the supply of a service:

but does not include the supply of a service in the territory of a Party by a covered investment, as defined in Article 838 (Investment – Definitions);

enterprise means an enterprise as defined in Article 106 (Initial Provisions and General

Definitions – Definitions of General Application), and a branch of an enterprise;

enterprise of a Party means an enterprise organized or constituted under the laws of a Party and a branch located in the territory of a Party and carrying out business activities there;

measures adopted or maintained by a Party means measures adopted or maintained by:

professional services means services, the supply of which requires specialized post secondary education, or equivalent training or experience, and for which the right to practice is granted or restricted by a Party, but does not include services supplied by trades-persons or vessel and aircraft crew members;

selling and marketing of air transport services mean opportunities for the air carrier concerned to sell and market freely its air transport services including all aspects of marketing such as market research, advertising and distribution. These activities do not include the pricing of air transport services nor the applicable conditions; and

service supplier of a Party means a person of that Party that seeks to supply or supplies a service Footnote 4.

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Annex 908.4

Guidelines for Mutual Recognition Agreements or Arrangements (“MRAs”) for the Professional Services Sector

Introduction

This Annex provides practical guidance for governments, negotiating entities or other entities entering into mutual recognition negotiations for the professional services sector. The guidelines contained in it are non-binding but a Party shall consider them when negotiating MRAs. They do not modify or affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under this Agreement.

The objective of these guidlines is to make it easier for each Party to negotiate MRAs.

The examples listed under the various sections of these guidlines are provided by way of illustration. The listing of these examples is indicative and is intended neither to be exhaustive nor as an endorsement of the application of such measures by a Party.

A. Conduct of Negotiations and Relevant Obligations under this Agreement

With reference to the obligations under Article 908, this section sets out elements considered useful in the discharge of these obligations.

1. Opening of Negotiations
The information supplied by a Party to the Commission should include the following:

2. Results - On the conclusion of an MRA by a Party, the information it should supply to the Commission should include:

3. Follow-Up Actions
Follow-up actions by the Parties supplying information under paragraph 1 should include ensuring that:

4. Single negotiating entity
Where no single negotiating entity exists, the Party is encouraged to establish one.

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B. Form and Content of MRA

This section sets out various issues that may be addressed in any negotiations and, if so agreed, included in the final MRA. It outlines some basic ideas on what a Party might require of foreign professionals seeking to take advantage of an MRA.

Participants
The MRA should identify clearly:

2. Purpose of MRA
The purpose of the MRA should be clearly stated.

3. Scope of agreement
The MRA should set out clearly:

4. Mutual recognition provisions
The MRA should clearly specify the conditions to be met for recognition in the territories of each party and the level of equivalence agreed between the parties. The precise terms of the MRA will depend on the basis on which the MRA is founded, as discussed above. In case the requirements of the various sub-national jurisdictions of a party to an MRA are not identical, the difference should be clearly presented. The MRA should address the applicability of the recognition granted by one sub-national jurisdiction in the other sub-national jurisdictions of the party.

5. Mechanisms for implementation
The MRA should state:

As a guide to the treatment of individual applicants, the MRA should include details on:

The MRA should also inlclude the following commitments:

6. Licensing and other provisions in the host country
Where applicable:

7. Revision of the MRA
If the MRA includes terms under which it can be reviewed or revoked, the details should be clearly stated.

Date Modified: