Page 306 - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

4, a Party may recognise the education or experience obtained,
requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in a
particular country. Such recognition, which may be achieved
through harmonisation or otherwise, may be based upon an
agreement or arrangement with the country concerned, or may be
accorded autonomously.

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

3. Nothing in Article 8.6 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment) shall be
construed to require any Party to accord such recognition to the
education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences
or certifications granted in another Party.

4. A Party shall not accord recognition in a manner which would
constitute a means of discrimination between other Parties in the
application of its standards or criteria for the authorisation,
licensing, or certification of service suppliers, or a disguised
restriction on trade in services.

5. Where appropriate, recognition should be based on multilaterally
agreed criteria. In appropriate cases, Parties shall work in
cooperation with relevant inter-governmental and non-
governmental organisations towards the establishment and
adoption of common international standards and criteria for
recognition and common international standards for the practice
of relevant services trades and professions.

6. As set out in Annex 8C (Professional Services), each Party shall
endeavour to facilitate trade in professional services, including
through encouraging relevant bodies in its territory to enter into
negotiations for agreements or arrangements on recognition.

Article 8.17: Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers

1. Each Party shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service
in its territory does not, in the supply of the monopoly service in

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