Translating into a speaker's second language has long been the subject of international debate. While the Nairobi Declaration is rather strict regarding the requirements for a translator working into another language, the Charter of FIT is somewhat vaguer. However, in both cases it is far from clear what the exact level of competence should be for a translator to be allowed to work in to a non-native language: what are the criteria for viewing the translator's mastery of a non-native language as 'equal' to that of her/his mother tongue and when can a translator be said to have mastered the language into which s/he translates? The author leaves these questions to further research but focuses instead on the mother tongue principle itself, and the notion of 'native speaker', in particular in relation to the translation situation in The Netherlands. The focus in this article is on translating specialised not literary nor general-language texts into English as a non-native language. The author argues that the mother tongue principle is too rigid, that the concept of the native speaker needs revision, and that the Nairobi Declaration and the Charter of FIT can easily be neutralised.