Background

Terms of reference

Recognising the international market pressures and the regulations towards liberalisation of trade driven by WTO, FIG should review the area of mutual recognition of qualifications within the world wide surveying community and develop a framework for introduction of standards of global professional competence in this area. In pursuing this aim the task force will:

• Undertake regional studies to investigate existing agreements of mutual recognition and reciprocity.

• Develop guidelines for assuring competence for entering the surveying profession, e.g. educational requirements for professional practice.

• Develop guidelines for the establishment of agreements for mutual recognition and reciprocity, including standards for quality assurance in surveying education and standards for adaptation criteria with regard to professional practice.

• Develop a concept and a framework for implementation of threshold standards of global professional competence in surveying.

The task force will develop a framework for reviewing the benefits of and barriers against introducing standards of global professional competence. This should be seen as only the first step in this direction, to reflect FIG´s aim to drive these developments instead of being driven by them.

Output

A report on global professional competence to be adopted by the General Assembly and produced in the FIG publication series for the benefit of member associations and in support of the on-going interaction between FIG and other NGOs such as the WTO and UNESCO.

Timetable

Initial discussions on the aims and objectives will take place at a brake out session at the FIG Congress in Brighton, July 1998 and further developed at the FIG working week, South Africa, June 1999. A progress report will be presented for discussion at the FIG working week, Prague, 2000; and a draft report will be presented for discussion at the FIG working week in Korea, 2001. The final report will be presented for adoption at the FIG Congress in Washington 2002.

Membership

• Stig Enemark (Denmark), Chairman
• Tom Kennie (United Kingdom), Vice President of FIG
• John Parker (Australia)
• Pedro Cavero (Spain)
• David Coleman/Ken Allred (Canada)
• Heinz Ruther (South Africa)
• Vaclav Slaboch (Czech Republic)
• Teo Chee Hai (Malaysia) 

Revised June 1999, Stig Enemark