Country A and Country B are neighbouring states and they are both WTO members. David is a citizen of
Country B, where he is accredited as a professional architect. He is running a small architecture company m Country B and is currently looking for business opportunities in the neighbouring Country A.
As the first step, David would like to be accredited and qualified as an architect in Country A. After carefully reading the relevant criteria set by the Architect Association of Country A, David found himself being able to meet all the listed requirements except one, which requires the applicant to be either the citizen of Country
A, or the resident in Country A in consecutive three years, by the time the accreditation application is made.
Furthermore, David is also looking into the possibilities of:
l. offering his architectural design services directly to individual clients in Country A;
2. offering on-site visits to the construction projects located in Country A;
3. openmg a branch of his company in Country A, in cooperation with a local architecture company.
You are a lawyer that have been advising Davids business for years. Please provide your opinion on the following issues:
a. whether the residency requirement provided for architect accreditation is Country A is in compliance with Country As commitments made in the service schedule (see below)? You need to explain the reasons in details.
b. According to Country As commitments made in service schedule (see below), whether avid is able to develop business as listed in I — 3? You need to explain the reasons in detail
Service Schedule of Country A in the Sector of Architectural Services
Modes ofsupply: l) Cross-border supply; 2) Consumption abroad; 3) Commercial presence; 4) Presence ofnatural person
Sector or subsector Limitations on market access Limitations on national treatment Additional commitments
d) Architectural services, including:
Advisory and pre-design architectural services (CPC 86711)
Architectural design services (CPC 86712)
Contract administration services (CPC 86713)
Combined architectural design and contract administration services
Other architectural services l) None
2) None
3) None, other than
Architects: Commervial presence must take the form of a sole proprietorship
4) Unbound, except
Architects: accredited in the country of residency;
Landscape architects: accredited in the country of residency l) None
2) None
3) None
4) Unbound