However, in doing so, they are also probably limiting opportunities for their own service providers in foreign markets. One of the areas of the GATS negotiations is professional services, such as accounting, engineering, architecture and law. These have been adopted by the Council for Trade in Services but have no legal effect until disciplines for other professions are drafted and approved through the GATS negotiations. The accounting disciplines require that licensing requirements, technical standards and qualification requirements not be adopted or applied so as to create unnecessary barriers to trade. This does not prevent regulation for legitimate objectives such as protection of consumers, quality of services, professional competence and integrity of the profession.
Requirements are to be pre-established, publicly available, objective and transparent.
Licensing and qualification procedures are not to be too burdensome or lengthy. A foreign professional's qualifications are to be considered in terms of their potential equivalency. One of the big questions is whether the accounting disciplines will simply be used as a model for the other professions, including the legal profession. The position of the CBA is that the unique characteristics and core values of the legal profession in a democratic society require it to be treated separately, and in some key respects quite differently. Each category has been subdivided into advice and representation in court.