CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

firms may or may not enjoy the same level of preferential access available under either EPA, and may in those instances find themselves instead subject to the provisions of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), with potentially different criteria and technical barriers as it relates to market access and legal form. The Free circulation/movement of Mode 4 services suppliers will also be impacted due to potentially differing or more onerous visa regimes for any given category of temporary entrant, where movement occurs cross border between the UK and the EU. There will also be need for the negotiation of new or separate Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) between UK and CARIFORUM regulators to ensure continuation of the trade in services. Like all other regulatory requirements, MRAs will be fully subject to the domestic laws of the Parties, and thus the regulatory effect of these laws may change the conditions of access over time as they evolve. Considerations will also need to be given to issues surrounding cross-border data transfers between the UK and the EU by CARIFORUM services providers and the related implications of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for Mode 1 trade in services. There are, therefore, questions as to whether CARIFORUM firms will be exempt or whether the new regulations will apply. It should be noted, however, that on 28 June 2021, the EU formally adopted its ‘adequacy decisions’ for the UK, delivered through Article 45 of the GDPR and Article 36 of the Law Enforcement Directive. ‘Adequacy decisions’ allow for the on-going free flow of personal data from the EU/EEA to the UK, though it still remains unclear how such flows to and from third country juridical persons established in either party will be treated. Issues related to taxation also potentially arise, given that services exports to the UK from CARIFORUM firms established in the EU may face regulatory challenges such as VAT on digital services, as well as the need to restructure commercial establishments (ownership/legal form and

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