The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) have entered an agreement to recognise each other’s aircraft safety approvals.

Signed in accordance with the US-China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) 2005, the new deal seeks to acknowledge the countries’ regulatory systems regarding the airworthiness of aviation products and articles.

The newly signed Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness (IPA) document is also designed to enable FAA and CAAC to leverage approvals granted by both parties with respect to design, production and continued airworthiness.

“The new deal seeks to acknowledge the countries’ regulatory systems regarding the airworthiness of aviation products and articles.”

The IPA further expects to benefit from the compatibilities of both the authorities’ certification systems.

Furthermore, FAA and CAAC will be able to submit applications for validation for all categories of aviation products and address a range of challenges such as complex business models separating design and production.

Promoting FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service’s new certification strategy, the agreement expects to fulfil stakeholder requirements and facilitate the transfer of products and approvals worldwide.

Last month, FAA updated its existing aviation safety agreement with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The new agreement is aimed at improving the risk-based safety approach by optimising reliance on each authority’s expertise in aircraft certification through the ‘Revision 6 of the Technical Implementation Procedures (TIP)’.

The revision is expected to come into force in six months from the signing date of the deal.