Taiwan, U.K. sign aviation safety agreement
Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and its United Kingdom counterpart U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA) on Tuesday sealed a bilateral aviation safety working agreement which will recognize certification of aviation products and standards in both countries.
In a statement, the CAA said Lin Kuo-shian, director general of the Taiwan aviation agency, signed the agreement on Tuesday after UKCAA sent the copy signed earlier by Richard Moriarty, head of the U.K. agency, in London. The agreement became effective after Lin affixed his signature, the CAA said.
The bilateral aviation safety working agreement was inked after aviation authorities in Taipei and London completed mutual inspections of each other’s aviation production safety standards, regulations and procedures, and agreed on mutual acceptance of aviation product certification, the CAA added.
Such a bilateral agreement is expected to facilitate exchanges in the development of aviation products and related components, the CAA said, adding that both sides are expected to work more closely in aviation safety and speed up the pace of cooperation in the aviation industry.
Cited in the statement, Lin said after the U.K. left the European Union on Dec. 31, 2020, its aviation oversight authority shifted from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to UKCAA. As a result, certificates of airworthiness issued by EASA for the export of U.K.-made aviation products to Taiwan have become invalid, referring to products such as Rolls Royce engines used in Airbus A350s.
Due to the invalidation, the CAA has to inspect every shipment of U.K.-made aviation products imported to Taiwan, which has caused considerable inconvenience to Taiwanese carriers, Lin said.
To resolve the problems created by the change in jurisdiction over product certification of airworthiness, the CAA and UKCAA have engaged in bilateral negotiations since 2021, paving the way for the signing of the bilateral aviation working agreement.
On its website, UKCAA said such a working agreement provides for technical cooperation between national civil aviation authorities, helps reduce duplication of activity and aims for mutual acceptance of certification.
During the almost two years of talks between the CAA and UKCAA, Lin said the two sides held 10 video conferences and exchanged a huge amount of documents. The CAA provided UKCAA with comprehensive information about Taiwan’s aviation regulations, product inspection standards and inspectors’ qualifications, as well as records on Taiwan-made product certification to demonstrate Taiwan’s professional aviation product inspection capability, Lin added.
The CAA has also secured UKCAA’s recognition of Taiwan’s Technical Standard Order Approval (TSOA), which is expected to help Taiwan-made aviation products avoid duplication of inspections for exports to the U.K. and explore business opportunities in international markets. focustaiwan.tw