ABSTRACT
Introduction The Uruguay Round trade negotiations that led to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) brought services trade under multilateral rules for the first time.! In the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), one of the major Uruguay Round achievements, governments made legally binding commitments with respect to market access and national treatment in a wide range of services sectors, including professional services. Recognizing the potentially restrictive effects of domestic regulatory measures, WTO Members also agreed on the need to develop specific disciplines to ensure that government regulations are not unduly trade restrictive. The result was Article VI: 4 of the GATS, which refers to three types of regulation (licensing requirements, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards) and mandates the development of 'any necessary disciplines'.
