China is holding back on the formal signing of a bilateral aviation safety agreement (BASA) with the European Union due to a difference in interpretation of some provisions and their practical implementation.

The European Commission and China on Dec. 8, 2017 initialed a draft BASA, aimed at removing the duplication of oversight and certification activities for aeronautical products by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC). EU member countries in June adopted the text, negotiated on their behalf by the commission’s director-general for transport with the help of EASA.  

Officials expected the EU and China to formally sign the bilateral safety agreement at the high-level EU-China summit in Beijing earlier this month in the presence of transport commissioner Violeta Bulc.

The EU-China BASA is not yet signed by the parties, the Council of the EU and EASA confirmed to AIN. “Differences in the interpretation of particular provisions in the BASA and their practical implementation have prevented the Chinese side to sign the document. These differences need to be further discussed and a potential solution to be negotiated,” an EASA spokesman said. He declined to detail which provisions the Chinese authorities wanted to renegotiate.

An EASA official close to the matter said the issue centered on a more general difference in expectation from the Chinese party.

China always strived for full reciprocal recognition, but the agreement’s annexes set some restrictions on CAAC-certified products entering the EU market “to take account of the different levels of maturity of the regulatory systems implemented in the EU and in China,” an EU official explained. For instance, EASA will exercise special procedures and scrutiny during the first validation of a given product category.  

Talks on the BASA appendix on technical implementation procedures continue.

The delay in the ratification and execution of the EU-China BASA comes as unwelcome news for the European aerospace industry and the general aviation business, which had anticipated moving to a regime of reciprocal recognition of certifications. Eliminating the need for an additional certification of their product or part--on top of their EASA certification--by the CAAC saves costs and eliminates burdensome administration.

Airbus did not answer a request for comment by AIN, but Europe’s largest aerospace OEM appears frustrated by the delay. The agreement foresees namely that an EASA production certificate can extend to include EU manufacturing sites in China.

“Europe risks falling behind the U.S.,” a representative of an aerospace lobby group noted.

The U.S. and the CAAC in October last year signed the so-called Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness document under the U.S.-China BASA, allowing each authority to rely on approvals completed by the other with respect to design, production, and airworthiness as well as continued airworthiness

ATR is not relying on a wider EU-China certification framework. “We continue working directly with the Chinese authorities to obtain certification of our -600 series,” an ATR spokesman told AIN.  The CAAC received and accepted the filing. “We hope the Chinese authorities will certify the aircraft before the end of this year,” he said. “The airworthiness approval would unlock large commercial opportunities.” The Franco-Italian turboprop manufacturer signed MOUs for 13 ATR72s with two Chinese airlines, in 2017, and the sides can finalize the contracts only once the aircraft gains certification to operate in China.  ATR estimates it could place up to 300 aircraft in the country over the next 20 years.