The Hindu Business Line : Inclusion of co secretarial services under WTO — ICSI asked to muster support from sister institutes abroad

THE Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), which is building grounds for inclusion of company secretarial services as a separate professional class under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has stepped up its efforts for the purpose. This follows a suggestion from the Commerce Ministry to get support from sister institutes overseas in order to present a combined case for purpose.

The company secretary professionals have been pushing for creation of a separate head for corporate governance and company secretarial services under the Services Sectoral Classification of WTO for some time now.

The inclusion of the category for corporate governance, compliance and secretarial advisory services under professional services is to enable the members of the company secretary institutes to render services abroad under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Mr R. Ravi, President of ICSI, said.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ravi said, "We have received a positive response from the Commerce Ministry, however, they have asked us to muster similar resolutions like the one passed by us from institutes so that stronger case can be made before the WTO."

The institute has been pressing for creation of a separate head for secretarial services, as company secretaries have different professional labels in different parts of the world, he added.

The WTO Secretariat has divided all services into 12 sectors, which has been further sub-divided into 161 sub-sectors. This classification contains accounting, auditing and book keeping services (CPC 862), while the corporate secretarial services do not find place in classification of professional services.

This would be one of the important developments towards globalisation, Mr Ravi said. The feed back from the heads of the institutes of countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and UK is very positive, he added. "Most of the institutes hold unanimous view that the respective Governments of their countries should take up the matter before WTO. This will enable the members to have better recognition of company secretary services," Mr Ravi said.

The institute, through multi-national platform, had approached Governments of different countries to agitate at the WTO Forum for inclusion of a new head for corporate governance and company secretarial services. Further, the International Federation of Company Secretaries (IFCS), a body to bring company secretary professional in different countries under one umbrella, would take up the issue. ICSI along with the institutes of Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan took lead and constituted IFCS to help the professionals to work together at the WTO and such multi-lateral forums.

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