Understanding the U.S.-EC Airworthiness Agreement

1
Understanding the U.S.-EC Airworthiness
Agreement

• U.S-EU Feedback Forum

2
Overview

• Status of Negotiations
• The Proposed Executive Agreement
• Annexes
• Airworthiness and Environmental Certification
• Technical Implementation Procedures

3
Status of Negotiations

• After several rounds of informal discussions
  since October 2003 and five formal negotiations,
  the U.S. and EU negotiating teams have a draft
  proposal for the Executive Agreement.
• --Formal coordination with Member States is
  expected to begin after U.S./Commission
  negotiation next week (June 14-15, 2006).

4
Status of Negotiations

• The Executive Agreement is applicable to all EU
  Member States.
• It applies to entities within the U.S. and the
  territory of the European Union.
• The application of the Annexes is limited to
  specified Member States.
• New agreement will have similar structure to a
  BASA
• ... but will be presented together with Annexes
  to be ratified by the European Community
  (European Parliament and Council.)

5
Status of Negotiations

• Because the U.S. and EU regulatory systems are
  different in several key areas, a treaty level
  document is necessary in Europe in order to
  provide a derogation from Community law.
• Involves formal ratification process in European
  Community.
• Expected to take at least 6 months.
• Agreement would remain an Executive Agreement in
  U.S. structure (not treaty level).

6
Agreement Format

• Three-tier concept was proposed by EU and
  accepted by agreed by U.S.
• Tiers 1 2 will be ratified by the European
  Parliament and Council. These documents are
  binding on all Parties, including the National
  Aviation Authorities.

Safety Agreement between US/EU
Technical Implementation Procedures
3
Exec. Agreement
Annexes
FAA
EASA
1

2
Guidance Materials

• Annex 1 Airworthiness
• Environmental Certification
• Annex 2 Maintenance

7
The Draft Executive Agreement

• New items in draft Executive Agreement
• Regulatory cooperation
• Formal oversight board mechanism
• More detailed dispute resolution provisions

8
The Draft Executive Agreement

• Contents
• 19 Articles
• ARTICLE I Definitions
• ARTICLE II Purpose and Scope
• ARTICLE III Executive Management
• ARTICLE IV General Provisions
• ARTICLE V Annexes
• ARTICLE VI Regulatory Cooperation and
  Transparency
• ARTICLE VII Cooperation in Quality Assurance
  and Standardization Inspection Activities
• ARTICLE VIII Cooperation in Enforcement
  Activities
• ARTICLE IX Exchange of Safety Data
• ARTICLE X Applicable Requirements, Procedures,
  and Guidance Material

9
The Draft Executive Agreement

• Contents (continued)
• ARTICLE XI Protection of Proprietary Data and
  Requests for Information
• ARTICLE XII Applicability
• ARTICLE XIII Unimpeded Access
• ARTICLE XIV Fees
• ARTICLE XV Preservation of Regulatory Authority
• ARTICLE XVI Other Agreements
• ARTICLE XVII Consultations and Settlement of
  Disputes
• ARTICLE XVIII Suspension of Acceptance of
  Findings
• ARTICLE XIX Entry into Force, Amendments, and
  Termination

10
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE I Key Definitions
•   Aviation Authority -- a responsible
  government agency or entity of a European Union
  Member State that exercises legal oversight on
  behalf of the European Community over regulated
  entities and determines their compliance with
  applicable standards, regulations, and other
  requirements within the jurisdiction of the
  European Community.
• Technical Agent-- for the United States, the
  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and for
  the European Community, the European Aviation
  Safety Agency (EASA.
• Regulated entity -- any natural or legal person
  whose civil aviation safety and environmental
  testing and approval activities are subject to
  the statutory and regulatory jurisdiction of one
  or both of the Parties.

11
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE II Purpose and Scope
• The agreement currently covers reciprocal
  acceptance related to
• Airworthiness certification
• Environmental certification
• Maintenance
• With the possibility of additional areas in the
  future.
•  

12
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE III Executive Management
• The agreement creates a Bilateral Oversight Board
  (BOB)
• U.S. represented by FAA
• EU represented by European Commission, assisted
  by EASA
• Major functions of the BOB
• Oversee functioning of the agreement
• Dispute resolution
• Amendment of the Annexes and adoption of new
  Annexes
• Early warning of draft regulations or
  legislation
• Discussion forum for safety issues

13
Responsibilities
Agreement
USA
EU Council EP
FAA (BOB)
EC (BOB)
Annexes
FAA
Technical Implementation Procedures
EASA
14
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE IV General Provisions
• Terms and conditions for the reciprocal
  acceptance of findings and approvals are defined
  in the Annexes.
• Recognize each others systems of delegation to
  designees or regulated entities existing as of
  the date of entry into force of the Agreement.
• New delegation systems are subject to confidence
  building.
• Agreement, including its Annexes, are binding.

15
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE V Annexes
• Defines the contents required to be in each
  Annex.
• ARTICLE VI Regulatory Cooperation
• Develop and adopt procedures, based on US/EU
  joint guidelines.
• Procedures must include
• the opportunity for consultation and
  participation by one Partys Technical Agent and
  industry experts with the other Partys Technical
  Agent, whenever possible in the early stages of
  drafting civil aviation regulatory materials.

16
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE VII, VIII IX and X Areas for Specific
  Cooperation
• Participation in standardization and quality
  assurance inspections
• Cooperation in enforcement proceedings
• Timely exchange of safety data related to
  accidents and incidents
• Notification of applicable guidance

17
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE XI Protection of Proprietary Data
• Commits both Parties to protect intellectual
  property, confidential business data, proprietary
  data, etc. unless otherwise required by law (e.g.
  a court action).
• Neither Party shall copy, release, or show
  information identified as restricted to anyone
  other than an employee of that Party without
  prior written consent of the person or entity
  possessing confidentiality interests in the
  restricted information.
• European Community will ensure that Aviation
  Authorities similarly protect data.
• Also addresses how requests from the public for
  information will be handled.

18
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE XII Applicability -- the United States
  and the European Community.
• ARTICLE XIII Access -- commits both Parties to
  assist with access to facilities of regulated
  entities.
• ARTICLE XIV Fees reasonable and commensurate
  with services provided.

19
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE XV Preservation of Regulatory Authority
• The Parties reserve the right to take individual
  action as necessary within their respective
  systems.
• ARTICLE XVI Other Agreements
• Take measures to terminate or amend other
  bilateral agreements with Member States.
• Continued validity of findings and approvals
  recognized under prior bilateral agreements until
  such approvals are amended or canceled.

20
The Draft Executive Agreement

• ARTICLE XVII Consultations and Settlement of
  Disputes
• Provisions for consultations by the Parties at
  any time.
• Annexes will contain additional information on
  how the Technical Agents will consult.
• Matters can be referred as necessary to the BOB.
• ARTICLE XVIII Suspension of Acceptance of
  Findings
• If consultations are not successful, Parties may
  suspend acceptance of findings with 30 days prior
  written notice.

21
Annexes

• In accordance with Article V, two annexes have
  also been negotiated.
• Annex 1 Airworthiness and Environmental
  Certification
• Annex 2 Maintenance
• These annexes will be submitted for ratification
  along with the Executive Agreement.

22
Technical Implementation Procedures

• The Annexes also provide for details to be
  outlined in technical implementation procedures.
• Two sets of procedures are drafted
• Airworthiness and environmental certification
• Maintenance

23
Next Steps/Open Issues

• Resolution of open items from FAAs two
  assessments of EU regulatory system.
• Closure of FAAs findings may take until December
  2006.
• Resolution of open items in the Maintenance Annex
  text and completion of Technical Implementation
  Procedures and Guidance Material for Maintenance.
• Agreed text of the agreement and its annexes will
  need to be translated into the other 19 official
  EU languages and ratified by the European
  Community.

24
THE AIRWORTHINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION
ANNEX
25
Airworthiness Annex

• The airworthiness and environmental certification
  annex contains the specific rights and
  obligations related to acceptance of findings,
  approvals and documentation for
• airworthiness and continued airworthiness of
  civil aeronautical products (aircraft, aircraft
  engines, propellers, and appliances including
  parts) and
• noise, fuel venting, and exhaust emissions.

26
Airworthiness Annex The Vision

• The negotiating team worked to identify
• Industry concerns,
• Redundancy,
• Areas where streamlining would be beneficial.
• The proposed annex creates a framework for
  greater reciprocal acceptance in the future.

27
Airworthiness Annex The Vision

• Under the new agreement, validation would be
  limited to fewer items.

28
Airworthiness Annex

• Annex has 8 Articles
• Article 1 Scope
• Article 2 Joint Coordination Body
• Article 3 Implementation
• Article 4 Acceptance of Findings and Approvals
• Article 5 Communications
• Article 6 Technical Consultations
• Article 7 Technical Assistance
• Article 8 Notification of Investigation or
  Enforcement Action
• In the following slides, ? denotes a new feature
  of this agreement

29
Airworthiness Annex

• Drafted as high level binding text, with
  procedural details in the third level technical
  implementation procedures.
• 1. SCOPE
• Reciprocal acceptance of findings of compliance,
  approvals, and documentation
• Technical assistance

30
Airworthiness Annex

• 2. Establishes a Certification Oversight Board as
  a Joint Coordination Body. ?
• Certification Oversight Board is accountable to
  the BOB
• Jointly led by FAA and EASA
• Meets regularly to ensure functioning of this
  Annex
• Reports unresolved issues to the BOB and ensures
  the implementation of decisions from the BOB

31
Airworthiness Annex

• Functions of the Certification Oversight Board
• Approve and revise the technical implementation
  procedures
• Share information
• Resolve technical issues within its
  responsibilities examine other issues
• Develop means for cooperation and exchange of
  info on certification, environmental standards,
  quality management standardization
• Propose amendments of this Annex to the BOB

32
Airworthiness Annex

• Implementation section contains 4 subsections
• 3.1 General
• 3.2 Design Approvals
• 3.3 Continued Airworthiness
• 3.4 Production
• 3.5 Export Airworthiness Certification
• These are the principles underlying all
  activities related to airworthiness and
  environmental certification between the U.S. and
  the European Community

33
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.1 General
• Technical implementation procedures to address
  the differences between the two systems. ?

34
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.2 Design Approvals
• To benefit from reciprocal acceptance under this
  agreement ?
• EU applicant applies to EASA
• U.S. applicant applies to FAA.

35
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.2 Design Approvals (cont.)
• Validation process used for
• Design of aircraft,aircraft engines, propellers
  and appliances
• Supplemental type certificates
• Certain major changes to type designs
• Acoustical and emission changes ?

36
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.2 Design Approvals (cont.)
• New form of concurrent validation is
  introducedjoint certification process. ?
• Requires agreement from FAA, EASA and applicant
• Applies where components of a product are
  designed by an entity under the authority of the
  other Party and where compliance demonstration
  and findings can be made locally.
• Joint certification bases and means of compliance
• Common Issue Papers/CRIs
• Delegation and work sharing program

37
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.2 Design Approvals (cont.)
• Comparable systems for approval of parts, repair
  design data and design changes.
• Accept parts, repair design data, design changes
  (including FAA alterations), without a separate
  VA (FAA/EASA) approval, once they are approved
  through the CAs system.?
• Some exceptions are outlined in the technical
  implementation procedures.

38
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.2 Design Approvals (cont.)
• Certifying statements are to be defined in the
  technical implementation procedures.
• EASA accepts U.S. procedures (Part 21) as an
  acceptable alternative to EU requirements for the
  organizational demonstration of capability (DOA).
  ?

39
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.3 Continued Airworthiness
• EASA, FAA and Aviation Authority commitments
• Address unsafe conditions and exchange
  information on failures, malfunctions and defects
• Exercise the applicable ICAO Annex 8
  responsibilities for the life cycle of the
  product.
• Timely communicate changes to ownership or
  airworthiness status of certificates. ?

40
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.4 Production
• Production approvals required for products to be
  exported between the US and EU. ?
• Local production approval satisfactoryno
  separate FAA/EASA production approval needed. ?
• Defines which production approvals granted or
  extended outside the territory of the US and EU
  may be recognized.

41
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.4 Production
• Defines conditions for reliance on the
  surveillance system of the local authority.
• Surveillance assistance is requested
• Manufacturing facility holds a production
  approval of similar scope
• FAA, EASA or Aviation Authority, as applicable is
  willing to undertake assistance
• Details of assistance are documented

42
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.4 Production
• Introduces conditions for the acceptance of each
  others authorized release certificates for parts
  (a local release) in lieu of FAA or EASAs
  release document.?
• Means EASA Form 1 will be recognized for U.S.
  parts manufactured in the EU, and vice versa.
• Privileges are granted to specific countries
  identified in attachment to the Annex.

43
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.5 Export Airworthiness Certification
• Defines acceptance of Certificates of
  Airworthiness and Authorized Release Certificates
  
• Covers new products, rebuilt engines, ? and used
  civil aircraft
• Mandates what is to be certified, (e.g. conforms
  to a design approved by the importing authority,
  is in a condition for safe operation, etc.)
• Requires specific certifying statements and
  records to be defined in the technical
  implementation procedures.

44
Airworthiness Annex

• 3.5 Export Airworthiness Certification
• Requires coordination of exceptions if
  requirements for issuing an airworthiness
  certification are not met.
• Allows for import of used aircraft only if a TC
  holder exists to support continued airworthiness.
  ?
• Exempts U.S. parts from the European Parts
  Approval (EPA) marking requirements. ?

45
Airworthiness Annex

• 4. Acceptance of Findings and Approvals ?
• New section outlining the qualification
  requirements of FAA, EASA, and Aviation
  Authorities.
• Documented system
• Demonstrated knowledge of each others systems
• Appropriately qualified staff and training
• Internal quality audits and standardization
  inspections

46
Airworthiness Annex

• 4. Acceptance of Findings and Approvals ?
• FAA and EASA meet the qualification requirements
  for airworthiness certification.
• Confidence building process to be conducted for
  environmental certification.
• Aviation Authorities that meet the conditions are
  listed in Appendix 1.
• Provides for the addition of Aviation Authorities
  following a consultation process and action by
  the Bilateral Oversight Board.

47
Airworthiness Annex

• 5. Communications
• English language
• Technical Consultations
• Resolve issues through consultation.
• Process to be defined in technical implementation
  procedures
• Principle is to attempt to resolve at the lowest
  level

48
Airworthiness Annex

• 7. Technical Assistance
• Upon request and after mutual agreement, FAA,
  EASA and Aviation Authorities shall provide
  technical assistance to each other.
• Use its own regulatory system and procedures.
• Delegated organizations may conduct certain
  tasks.
• Assistance may be requested related to import of
  used aircraft and obtaining information from the
  original manufacturer.

49
Airworthiness Annex

• 8. Notification of Investigation or Enforcement
  Action ?
• Prompt notification of investigation or
  enforcement action that may involve a product,
  regulated entity, or violation of this Annex.
• Cooperation in sharing information needed for the
  investigation or enforcement action.

50
Summary

• Executive Agreement is essentially complete.
• Both sides have worked intensively to draft text
  on airworthiness and environmental certification
  that progresses bilateral cooperation in new
  areas.
• Closing FAA assessment findings are key to timing
  of final signature.