The World Assembly,
Recognising that many professionals seek to work across borders and would strongly benefit from international, mutual recognition of their qualifications;
Aware, however, that - in the absence of comprehensive regulation - some of these professionals may be denied access to the international job market for arbitrary reasons such as where they originally plied their trade; and
Convinced that fair, clear and non-arbitrary procedures for the international recognition of job titles and responsibilities must be enacted with due haste;
Hereby enacts the following provisions:
- Every member state ("member state" is defined as any member nation or political subdivision which oversees professional qualifications) shall designate a singular body which shall determine whether individuals who are qualified to practice a particular profession in another country would be so qualified in that member state (hereinafter a "regulator"). No entity in any member state other than the regulator may make 'official' determinations in that member state.
- Each regulator must:
- identify those professions which, by law, cannot be practiced in their nation without profession-specific qualifications (hereinafter "regulated professions");
- for each regulated profession, identify those overseas profession-specific qualifications which are as rigorous (meaning as thorough and as detailed) as, or more rigorous than, the equivalent qualifications in that nation (hereinafter "Article IIb qualifications"); and
- regularly update the lists of regulated professions and Article IIb qualifications, and publish the most up-to-date versions of those lists.
- No person may be barred from practicing a regulated profession or regulated vocation in a member state, simply because they do not hold the necessary qualifications for that job, if:
- that member state's regulator deems the relevant profession-specific qualifications they hold overseas to be Article IIb qualifications, or
- they obtain the qualifications required to practice that profession, even if they do not hold any relevant Article IIb qualifications overseas.
- Where a person seeks to practice a regulated profession in a member state, but their overseas qualifications are determined by that member state's regulator not to be Article IIb qualifications, they may appeal that determination to that regulator. Such appeals must be conducted fairly and without prejudice.
- Member states may organise or subdivide their regulator offices to complement their system of government.
- All member states are required to submit detailed information on the levels of qualifications in their education systems including:
- the types of qualifications that correspond to each level of qualification;
- the grading and degree classification system deployed in their member state; and
- changes to previously submitted information.
