CIAB: End Global Trade Barriers

NU Online News Service, Sept. 18, 11:11 a.m. EST?The president of a U.S.-based insurance brokers association is urging the international community to drop trade barriers impeding brokerage firms and to open up their insurance markets.

Ken Crerar, president of Washington, D.C.-based Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, who conceded that trade reforms are needed at home, made his remarks during the 18th annual Progres International Seminar in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting was sponsored by the Geneva Association, an international insurance research group.

According to a news release from CIAB, Mr. Crerar told attendees that lowering trade barriers to provide greater market access and putting more liberal trade rules in place are critical to creating a level international playing field for all agents and brokers.

He said the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries, representing brokers internationally, is unified in its commitment to achieving a competitive global marketplace.

The group, he said, is pressing for three improvements in trade rules in the General Agreement on Trade in Services discussions taking place in conjunction with the Doha Round of international trade talks. Those objectives are:

? Removal of restrictions on the right of establishment for brokerage firms.

? Approval of cross-border placement for Marine, Aviation and Transportation insurance and reinsurance.

? An agreement that would allow brokers to freely provide insurance products and services to clients.

In return for seeing a competitive marketplace, WFII would be prepared to work harder for sound regulation of the global insurance industry.

Mr. Crerar said among the initiatives favored by the group are a new policy setting insurance company solvency as a priority issue for the organization and the endorsement of minimum standards for regulating intermediaries and ensuring consumer protections.

He said WFII also has joined with other industry organizations to support the Financial Leaders Group's Model Schedule of commitments for insurance.

The Model spells out the necessary ingredients for a competitive, open and well-regulated insurance market in any country. Trade officials have been asked to incorporate those principles into their commitments.

Mr. Crerar said that in pressing for global trade liberalization, the WFII and CIAB are acutely aware of the need for major reforms in the U.S. marketplace. He called state regulation "a barrier to domestic and international trade."

The association, Mr. Crerar said, would continue to press for an optional federal charter for insurance agents and brokers. He urged international insurers to add their voices to the debate.

"In today's global marketplace, it is difficult to defend a state-based system," he told the Geneva Association.

Mr. Crerar delivered his remarks, CIAB said, on Sept. 13, on behalf of both the WFII, founded in 1999 to represent the international interests of brokers, and CIAB, which represents brokers and agents in the U.S.

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CIAB: End Global Trade Barriers

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