The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated a rulemaking process aimed at broadening mutual recognition of non-U.S. maintenance organization certificates through bilateral agreements. This effort responds to industry demands for streamlined approval procedures and aims to reduce duplicative certification processes, which are costly and time-consuming with limited safety benefits.
FAA Flight Standards Service General Aviation Group Manager Chris Parfitt announced during the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) Annual Symposium that the new regulation will permit the FAA to enter into bilateral mutual recognition agreements. These agreements would allow foreign repair stations to be recognized under U.S. standards without requiring separate FAA approval, except for countries where existing bilateral safety agreements (BASA) are in place.
Currently, the FAA must issue approvals for foreign repair stations, even in countries with BASA, such as France, due to legal limitations in U.S. law. Canada is an exception, where mutual recognition is permitted under existing regulations. The proposed rule seeks to extend this recognition to other countries, including the European Union, which already have BASA with the U.S.
Industry groups, including ARSA, have petitioned the FAA to make these regulatory changes, emphasizing that eliminating redundant audits and certifications would save costs and streamline operations while maintaining safety standards. The petition, submitted in 2020, advocates for reciprocal acceptance of certificates issued by partner countries.
Parfitt indicated that the rule has completed the initial regulatory stages and has been assigned a regulation identifier number, signaling imminent implementation of the expanded recognition framework.
