be it artistic, medical, legal, financial, management or tourism. For example, a professional singer who earns his livelihood singing at hotels in one of the seven Protocol Member States or a medical doctor with a practice in one Protocol Member State can both travel to any of the other Protocol Member States to do the same without requiring permission from the Government authorities in the recipient country; Prior to the Economic Union Protocol, nationals of the seven Protocol Member States had to obtain a work permit from the Government of an Economic Union country in order to work or conduct business in that country. This is no longer necessary.
FREE MOVEMENT OF SERVICES
Complementing the free movement of goods and people is the free movement of services. Under the provisions for free moment of services, citizens of the seven Protocol Member States can establish a business in any of the seven Protocol Member States with minimal restrictions. They have the right to provide professional services once they meet the relevant regulatory requirements which apply to nationals of the country, such as licensing and registration, in any Economic Union Member State and in any field; Page 28
Trade in services can be carried out through four main modes of supply: 1. Cross border supply – for example, an architect in Saint Lucia can submit plans via email for the construction of a building to a client in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and undertake meetings with the client via web conferencing. 2. Consumption abroad occurs, if, for example, a Dominican travels to Antigua and Barbuda to undertake a medical procedure or when hotel services are provided for a visitor to Saint Lucia from the USA. 3. Commercial presence – an example of this would be, a Credit Union from Saint Lucia establishing a branch in Grenada. 4. Movement of Natural Persons is the fourth mode; in this case, for example, a singer from Montserrat performs at a festival in St. Kitts and Nevis and returns home thereafter.
