European Commission inks bilateral civil aviation safety agreement with Japan

European Commission signed (22-Jun-2020) a bilateral civil aviation safety agreement with Japan. The agreement expands on the parties' partnership agreement signed in 2019 and aims to support EU manufacturers of aeronautical products to increase their trade and market share in the Japanese market. The main objective of the agreement is to ease the trade of aircraft and related products, removing unnecessary duplications of evaluation and testing activities for aeronautical products, decreasing costs for authorities and the aviation industry and promoting cooperation between the civil aviation authorities of the EU and Japan. It will also reduce the time required for aerospace manufacturers to achieve the approvals for exports to Japan and provide a stronger level of legal certainty, including on intellectual property rights. [more - original PR]