The
ASEAN MRA – TP Handbook
This Handbook will explain the MRA – TP
system and processes so that ASEAN NTOs are fully aware of this important
Arrangement and can take action to implement MRA – TP by
2015 as agreed by the ASEAN Member States. In addition, an
MRA Guidebook for Tourism Professionals
& Employers will be prepared to give a short and practical guide for
industry members.
What
is a Mutual Recognition Arrangement?
A mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) is an international agreement designed to promote economic
integration and increased trade between nations. This is
achieved by reducing regulatory impediments to the movement of goods and
services. MRAs facilitate trade because they smooth the
path in negotiation between nations. Each nation has its
own standards, procedures and regulations. If trade is to
flow freely between nations then agreement has to be reached on the equivalence
– or conformity - between these
regulations, standards and procedures. MRAs are the
instruments that are used to reach such agreement.
MRAs became important in the field of assessing
equivalent standards between partners in the early 1980s. They
were formalized by the World Trade Organization under the Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). This
agreement has become the guiding basis for all MRAs whether in the public
sector (where the majority are found) or
in the private sector.
Types
of MRAs
Whilst there are a number of types of MRAs, the most
common is designed to facilitate agreement on standards. This
type of MRA is an agreement between two or more parties to mutually recognize
or accept so one or all aspects of one another’s
conformity assessments. The term is also now applied to
agreements on the recognition of professional qualifications.
The early MRAs tended to operate on a bilateral
basis, facilitating agreement between two countries wanting to work together. However, as they grew and evolved, MRAs became more complex,
dealing with multi-lateral issues of trade, where a number
of nations are involved. This is the case in the European
Union, APEC, and also in ASEAN where 10 nations are involved. ASEAN
now has a variety of MRAs seeking conformance of standards in fields such as
nursing, telecommunications and tourism.
Benefits of MRAs
For
governments, MRAs ensure commitment and agreement to
international trade, and encourage the sharing of good practice and information
between partners. This can lead to:
•
Reduced costs;
•
Increased competitiveness;• Increased
market access; and
•
Freer flow of trade.
For tourism professionals and the
industry, MRAs provide the following benefits:
• Facilitate mobility of tourism professionals based on
the tourism competency qualification/ certificate
•
Enhance conformity of competency based training/education
•
Recognize skills of tourism professional
•
Improve the quality of tourism human resources (graduates are ready to work in the industry)
•
Enhance the quality of tourism services.
Purpose of MRA on Tourism
Professionals
The ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP) seeks to increase the international
mobility of tourism labor across the ASEAN region in line with ASEAN policy. Each ASEAN nation has its own standards, certification and
regulations for recognizing the competency of workers in the tourism sector. Therefore, there is a need for an MRA to facilitate agreement
on what constitutes equivalent competency to work in tourism by a worker, for
example from Indonesia, who is seeking a position in Malaysia. The
MRA – TP is therefore designed to:
a)
Address the imbalance between supply and demand for
tourism jobs across the ASEAN region; and
b)
Establish a mechanism for the free movement of
skilled and certified tourism labor across the ASEAN region. The
objectives of MRA – TP are threefold, to:
a) Facilitate mobility of Tourism Professionals;
b) Encourage exchange of information on best practices
in competency-based education and training for Tourism
Professionals; and,
c) Provide opportunities for cooperation and capacity
building across ASEAN Member States.
How was the MRA – TP Developed?
In January 2006 ASEAN Tourism Ministers supported the
decision by ASEAN NTOs to establish the ASEAN Task Force on Tourism Manpower Development
(ATFTMD) to prepare a Mutual
Recognition Arrangement (MRA – TP) for ASEAN Tourism Professionals. The
ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals was signed by the ASEAN Tourism Ministers in
2009 (See Annex I for the full text). The
ATFTMD was one of six tourism task forces formed to assist ASEAN NTOs (National Tourism Organizations) in all
matters related to tourism manpower development, especially in the
implementation of the Roadmap for Integration of the Tourism sector, the
Vientiane Action Program and the ASEAN Tourism Agreement.
The ATFTMD was dissolved in 2010 and the ASEAN
Tourism Professional Monitoring Committee (ATPMC) was formally established in June 2010, at Lombok, Indonesia,
to take over responsibility for promoting, updating, maintaining and monitoring
ACCSTP and CATC, and for disseminating information about MRA – TP. ATPMC will work closely with the Quality Tourism Working Group
which is primarily responsible for developing standards and in the
implementation of the MRA – TP
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