Making it easier for people and businesses from PACER Plus countries to provide services to customers in each other's countries, offering increased depth in markets and a better standard of services.
The PACER Plus Agreement aims to make it easier for people and businesses from PACER Plus countries to provide services to customers in each other's countries. Trade in Services refers to activities which are part of a country's economy but are not concerned with producing or manufacturing goods. Across many Pacific Islands, services form the most significant component of economic activity. Services are also a potential source of export diversity, an important element for small island states where manufacturing capacity is limited.
Each PACER Plus country has identified comprehensive Schedules of Commitments in various sectors. PACER Plus Obligations within these sectors for Trade in Services aim to influence governments in the following areas:
PACER Plus countries do not impose numerical restrictions on services and service suppliers from other PACER Plus countries. PACER Plus countries do not require services suppliers from other PACER Plus countries to use a particular legal form if they want to establish a presence.
PACER Plus requires governments and officials to treat services and service suppliers from other PACER Plus countries in accordance with the national treatment obligation. Services and service suppliers from other PACER Plus countries are entitled to treatment no less favourable than the treatment a country provides, in like circumstances, to its own domestic services and services suppliers.
PACER Plus requires that, in respect of the sectors listed in its Schedule of Commitments, a country administers its procedures that apply generally to trade in services in a reasonable, objective and impartial manner.
Licensing requirements: where a government requires people to hold a licence to pursue a particular profession or occupation. Qualification requirements: rules that set out what qualifications are required. Verification of competence: competency of professionals from other PACER Plus countries should be verified by reviewing their education, experience, and licences or certifications.
PACER Plus allows countries to require official authorisation before services can be provided. For example, some countries require a licence to provide telecommunications services.
Governments have agreed not to restrict international transfers and payments for current transactions in economic sectors listed in the Schedules of Commitments on services. There is an exception where countries are in serious balance of payments and external financial difficulties.
In sectors not identified in a country's Schedules of Commitments, a range of obligations still apply for all PACER Plus countries:
The Services Chapter of the PACER Plus Agreement is relevant to any agency in a PACER Plus country that is involved in regulating the services sector. In most countries, this will cover a variety of agencies, including those that regulate professionals (e.g. doctors, lawyers, teachers) and utilities (e.g. telecommunications, electricity, water).
PACER Plus has a number of exceptions that allow countries to justify actions that would otherwise be in breach of the obligations of the Services Chapter. These exceptions are set out in Chapter 11 of the PACER Plus Agreement.
The outcome of all these provisions will provide a dynamic area that looks to benefit from laid out provisions. Countries will enjoy a higher quality of services, leading to new market access and generating competitiveness on the global scale.
