<p>The simplest answer is: <strong>some do, some don't</strong>.</p>

<p>Trade in goods and trade in services are dealt with quite separately, so structurally, you wouldn't find a couple of clauses on services within an FTA.  You would generally find a chapter on goods and (possibly) another on services, reflecting the division in the WTO between the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade" rel="nofollow noreferrer">GATT (goods)</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Trade_in_Services" rel="nofollow noreferrer">GATS (services)</a>.</p>

<p>Quantitatively, there is a roughly equal split between goods-only agreements and agreements that cover both (<a href="http://rtais.wto.org/UI/PublicAllRTAList.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">153 for goods only and 154 combined agreements have been notified to the WTO</a> as of December 2018).</p>

<p>You also often find a group of countries negotiating a goods-only FTA first, then extending to cover services later on (for example by adding a protocol to an existing treaty).  This reflects the fact that an integrated services market is usually seen as a "deeper" form of integration than tariff-free trade.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-14T19:44:57.560Z
2018-12-14T19:44:57.560Z
Dan
<p>No, but there is a proposed free trade in services agreement on the table, but reciprocal recognition of licenses isn't intrinsically part of it.  However, it does have a provision that once a trade barrier is dropped, it can never be reintroduced in some form.  So, for example, a Canadian physician cannot practice in the US and vice versa automatically, but under the proposed treaty, if the two nations acknowledged the validity of each other's licenses, then they could never reverse that decision.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-14T18:03:05.817Z
Ben has asked about free-trade agreements in general, but you seem to have answered about one in particular.
410 gone
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-14T18:05:32.433Z
My answer, in general, is no.
Dave Harris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-14T17:50:43.460Z
2018-12-14T18:05:44.470Z
2018-12-14T18:05:44.470Z
Dave Harris
<p>Do free-trade agreements typically include clauses relating to services?</p>

<p>For example, reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications.</p>

<international-trade><free-trade>
Do free-trade agreements typically include clauses relating to services?
52d6c6af
# Do free-trade agreements typically include clauses relating to services?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-12)

Do free-trade agreements typically include clauses relating to services?

For example, reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications.

**Tags:** international-trade, free-trade


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-14. Score: 1

The simplest answer is: **some do, some don't**.

Trade in goods and trade in services are dealt with quite separately, so structurally, you wouldn't find a couple of clauses on services within an FTA. You would generally find a chapter on goods and (possibly) another on services, reflecting the division in the WTO between the [GATT (goods)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade) and the [GATS (services)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Trade_in_Services).

Quantitatively, there is a roughly equal split between goods-only agreements and agreements that cover both ([153 for goods only and 154 combined agreements have been notified to the WTO](http://rtais.wto.org/UI/PublicAllRTAList.aspx) as of December 2018).

You also often find a group of countries negotiating a goods-only FTA first, then extending to cover services later on (for example by adding a protocol to an existing treaty). This reflects the fact that an integrated services market is usually seen as a "deeper" form of integration than tariff-free trade.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-14. Score: -2

No, but there is a proposed free trade in services agreement on the table, but reciprocal recognition of licenses isn't intrinsically part of it. However, it does have a provision that once a trade barrier is dropped, it can never be reintroduced in some form. So, for example, a Canadian physician cannot practice in the US and vice versa automatically, but under the proposed treaty, if the two nations acknowledged the validity of each other's licenses, then they could never reverse that decision.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Ben has asked about free-trade agreements in general, but you seem to have answered about one in particular.  
> **username_2**: My answer, in general, is no.  

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