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This presentation aims to raise a number of issues concerning the understanding and interpretation of elements which, in the opinion of the authors and given their inclusion in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), need to be specified and implemented.
Nowadays there are regulations providing for quality control procedures for educational services, whether in the form of requirements for new establishments or regular subsequent checks. Under no circumstances can such precautions taken by States be compared to trade barriers. What really is at issue here, especially in cases involving some form of cross-border supply, when local regulations do not apply, is the need for agreements to be reached on the means of controlling the quality of the services offered and users' and consumers' right to such services on an equal basis.
On the same way, talking about professional services, and given that the providers of such services have themselves had to gain qualifications involving study and success on a higher education course, guarantees are required about quality of such services. It must be -at least- equivalent to that of the services available in the country itself, or failing that, that reliable information on professional service quality is available to people seeking such services, thus enabling them to make their own comparisons.
The challenge facing us is therefore to develop acceptable and reliable quality standards which take progress in the fields of educational competence into account, drawing on the experience gained at regional and multilateral forums on integration and cooperation in education and professional services, such as those of the European Union and Mercosur, inter alia.