Page 307 - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

4, a Party may recognise the education or experience obtained, the relevant market, act in a manner inconsistent with that Party’s
requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in a obligations under Article 8.4 (National Treatment) and Article 8.5
particular country. Such recognition, which may be achieved (Market Access).
through harmonisation or otherwise, may be based upon an
agreement or arrangement with the country concerned, or may be 2. Where a Party’s monopoly supplier of a service competes, either
accorded autonomously. directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of a service
outside the scope of its monopoly rights and which is subject to
2. A Party that is party to an agreement or arrangement of the type that Party’s commitments, that Party shall ensure that such a
referred to in paragraph 1, whether existing or future, shall afford supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory
adequate opportunity for the other Parties, upon request, to in a manner inconsistent with such commitments.
negotiate their accession to such an agreement or arrangement,
or to negotiate comparable ones with it. Where a Party accords 3. If a Party has a reason to believe that a monopoly supplier of a
recognition autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for service of any other Party is acting in a manner inconsistent with
any other Party to demonstrate that education, experience, paragraph 1 or 2, it may request that other Party establishing,
licences, or certifications obtained or requirements met in that maintaining, or authorising such a supplier to provide specific
other Party’s territory should be recognised. information concerning the relevant operations.

3. Nothing in Article 8.6 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment) shall be 4. This Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive service
construed to require any Party to accord such recognition to the suppliers, where a Party, formally or in effect:
education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences
or certifications granted in another Party. (a) authorises or establishes a small number of service
suppliers; and
4. A Party shall not accord recognition in a manner which would
constitute a means of discrimination between other Parties in the (b) substantially prevents competition among those suppliers
application of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, in its territory.
licensing, or certification of service suppliers, or a disguised
restriction on trade in services.
Article 8.18: Business Practices
5. Where appropriate, recognition should be based on multilaterally
agreed criteria. In appropriate cases, Parties shall work in 1. The Parties recognise that certain business practices of service
cooperation with relevant inter-governmental and non- suppliers, other than those falling under Article 8.17 (Monopolies
governmental organisations towards the establishment and and Exclusive Service Suppliers), may restrain competition and
adoption of common international standards and criteria for thereby restrict trade in services.
recognition and common international standards for the practice
of relevant services trades and professions. 2. Each Party shall, on request of any other Party, enter into
consultations with a view to eliminating practices referred to in
6. As set out in Annex 8C (Professional Services), each Party shall paragraph 1. The requested Party shall accord full and
endeavour to facilitate trade in professional services, including sympathetic consideration to such a request and shall cooperate
through encouraging relevant bodies in its territory to enter into through the supply of publicly available non-confidential
negotiations for agreements or arrangements on recognition. information of relevance to the matter in question. The requested
Party may also provide other information available to the
requesting Party, subject to its laws and regulations and to the
Article 8.17: Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers conclusion of a satisfactory agreement concerning the
safeguarding of its confidentiality by the requesting Party.
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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