4Authorisation to enter into regulator recognition agreements
(1)The appropriate national authority may by regulations make such provision as the authority considers appropriate for the purpose of, or in connection with, authorising a regulator of a regulated profession to enter into regulator recognition agreements.
(2)A “regulator recognition agreement” means an agreement that—
(a)is between—
(i)a regulator of a regulated profession, and
(ii)an overseas regulator of a corresponding profession practised in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, and
(b)provides for, or relates to, either or both of the following matters—
(i)the recognition of UK qualifications or UK experience for the purpose of determining whether individuals are entitled to practise the corresponding profession in that country or territory, and
(ii)the recognition of qualifications or experience obtained in that country or territory for the purpose of determining whether individuals are entitled to practise the regulated profession in the United Kingdom or a part of it.
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2)—
(a)qualifications are obtained in the country or territory mentioned in that subsection if they are issued by a body that is based in that country or territory, and
(b)experience is obtained in the country or territory mentioned in that subsection if it is obtained mainly in that country or territory.
(4)In subsection (2)—
“corresponding profession” means a profession that ordinarily consists of activity that is the same as, or substantially corresponds to, activity that ordinarily comprises the practice of the regulated profession mentioned in that subsection;
“overseas regulator”, in relation to the corresponding profession mentioned in that subsection, means a person exercising functions that relate to the regulation of the profession in the country or territory mentioned in that subsection.