WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/N/67
16 March 1998
(98-1047)
Council for Trade in Services Original:  English
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE VII:4 OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES
Accounting
The following notification has been received from the delegation of Australia.
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1. Member Notifying:
Australia
2. Notification under:
Article VII (Paragraph 4) - Recognition
3. Date of entry into force/duration:
A Principles Agreement for Reciprocal Licensing (approved in October 1996) was reached
between the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA -  a national pro-fessional
association that represents the chartered accountancy (CA) profession across all states), and
the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA - a national professional
association that is responsible for the profession's self-regulatory activities, in coordination
with state societies of CPA's in the 54 sub-federal U.S. licensing jurisdic-tions), together withthe National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA - a national association of
sub-federal regulatory authorities representing 54 licensing jurisdic-tions).   It is not a
government to government agreement.
In Australia, the agreement is implemented on a national basis.  The date of entry into force
being 8 October 1996, the date of signing of the agreement.
The agreement shall be in force for a period of five years from the date of signing and may be
renewed or extended by mutual consent of the Parties.
4. Agency responsible for enforcement of the measure:
In Australia, from the date of the agreement, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
Australia is responsible for enforcement (refer point 7 for  address).S/C/N/67
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5. Description of the measure:
The agreement is based on a detailed review of the examination, education, and experi-ence
requirements that must be met in order to be licensed as a chartered accountant (CA) in
Australia and a certified public accountant (CPA) in the United States.  The participants found
that the designations were of comparable standing when the examination require-ments werecombined with the education and experience requirements discussed in the agreement.  The
participants agreed that reciprocity should be available to Australian CAs and United States'
CPAs on the terms stated in the agreement.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia will administer the agreement and handle
reciprocity requests from United States professional associations and licensing authorities.
6. Members specifically affected:
United States
7. Text available from:
WTO Secretariat
Inquiries concerning the agreement can be directed to:
Mr Stephen Harrison
Executive DirectorThe Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
Chartered Accountants House
Level 14, 37 York Street
SYDNEY  NSW  2000
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 612-9290-5609
Fax: 612- 9262-5469S/C/N/67
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ANNEX
PRINCIPLES  AGREEMENT  FOR  RECIPROCAL  LICENSING
Accountants
Jurisdictions in Australia that are willing to consider certified public accountants for licensure as
Chartered Accountants based on the United States Certified Public Accountants Examination
- All States and Territories.
Jurisdictions in the United States that are willin g to consider chartered accountants for licensure as
Certified Public Accountants in accordance with provisions of the agreement applicable to Australian
candidates
- States (19): Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Da kota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee,
Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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