Report of project group meeting
Towards Mutual Recognition of Transport Professional Qualifications
TPT-WG17, Singapore, Monday 27 March 2000

The project group on Towards Mutual Recognition of Transport Professional Qualifications met on Monday 27 March 2000 at TPT-WG17, and was attended by:-Australia (project leader); Canada; Brunei; China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; United States. PECC also attended. The meeting heard a report on progress on Stage 2 of the project, considered a draft survey questionnaire for the conduct of Stages 2 and 3, and also considered a new project proposal for Stage 4 of the project.

The project's objective is to identify best practice approaches to the mutual recognition of transport professional qualifications for the purpose of facilitating the mobility of qualified transport personnel and promoting transparency in regulatory requirements.

Stages 2 and 3 – Survey questionnaire

Since TPT-WG16 a selection process has been conducted for a consultant to carry out Stages 2 and 3 of the project, which involve a survey of selected professions and analysis and report of the survey findings. Austraining International Pty Ltd has been selected to carry out this work.

The meeting considered a draft questionnaire developed by Austraining (TPTWG17SC/TMR/4/2). The questionnaire is in the form of a set of six questionnaires covering the professions of railway engineer, air traffic controller, flight crew, licensed aircraft maintenance engineer, intermodal/logistics systems manager, and long distance truck driver.

The meeting reviewed the draft questionnaires and agreed a number of amendments. The more significant of these were:- tailoring the definition of the term 'mutual recognition' for each of the selected professions to ensure that in each case the definition reflects as clearly as possible the prevailing arrangements for that profession; clarification of which professions are included in the term 'flight crew'; clarification of the terminology to be used to refer to long distance truck drivers or commercial vehicle operators and clarification of the kind of data to be collected in relation to training programs and qualifications.

The content of the survey was agreed with these and several other more minor edits to be made. Australia as project leader will liaise with Austraining on finalisation of the questionnaire to take account of the amendments.

There was discussion of the difficulties which can be encountered in achieving a high level of response to surveys, noting experiences with obtaining responses to the survey for Phase 2 of the Seafarers Training Project. In distributing the survey the consultant will initially ask Heads of Delegations to indicate their preferences for distribution of the survey within their economies and return of the survey (either coordinated centrally in economies or direct by relevant bodies) and the preferred process for the consultant to follow up where necessary to obtain responses. As many completion options as possible will be made available, for example hard copy circulation and website download.

Stage 4 – New project proposal

The purpose of Stage 4 is to establish a framework of recommended practices focusing on particular characteristics in demand or of a high degree of mobility, and a mechanism to facilitate recognition. Stage 4 was identified as part of the project in the project proposal for Stages 2 and 3, and is planned to be undertaken in early 2001.

The meeting considered a new project proposal submitted by Australia (TPTWG17/SC/TMR/4/1 ) for Stage 4 which seeks funding of $US20000 from the APEC Operational Account. Indonesia and the United States have agreed to co-sponsor the proposal. The United States proposed that the results of the survey on aviation professions be shared with the Aviation Safety Initiative (SCSE) for further analysis.

It was agreed that the proposal should be amended to include reference to wording in the Osaka Action Agenda to bilateral arrangements to facilitate the mobility of qualified persons in the region and to insert the definition of 'mutual recognition' to be used for aviation professions in the Stage 2 questionnaire. There will also be included in the Linkages section a reference to the proposed project on reciprocal acceptance of aircraft certification and continuing airworthiness arrangements.

The meeting agreed the new project proposal for Stage 4 with these amendments.

Recommendations

The project group proposes that the Human Resources Development Steering Committee recommend to Plenary that:-

• TPT-WG agree the draft questionnaires to be used to survey selected transport professions in Stages 2 and 3 of the Towards Mutual Recognition of Transport Professional Qualifications project;
  
• TPT-WG submit for APEC funding the new project proposal for Stage 4 of the project.

This page was last updated on 12 March, 2008