Increase of Worldwide Product Certification Activities - New Challenges for the Agency

Background

For many decades, the market for civil transport aircraft in the Western Hemisphere was shaped by a rather limited number of major manufacturers located in Europe, the US, Canada and Brazil. These countries also supplied most of the aviation products in the field of regional transport aircraft, business jets, helicopters and general aviation.

This picture was complemented by a few large companies located in the former Soviet Union mainly delivering civil products to well protected markets.

With the fall of geopolitical barriers, this situation has been changing dramatically due to the continuous increase in worldwide design activities.

International product certification cooperation

In line with the growing strength of the national manufacturing industry, the responsible civil aviation authorities have developed their own specific certification expertise, resources and working methods.

To facilitate the exchange of aviation products and to implement a more efficient but safe oversight system, many countries developed State to State treaties (Bilateral Agreements) in order to support each other’s work and mutually accept certification decisions.

At working level, close working relationships between authorities have been developed via formal Working Arrangements. These arrangements specify how authorities assist and support each other in the field of product certification and also cover the exchange of safety information or any other relevant cooperation item.

Both Bilateral Agreements and Working Arrangements are based on sound knowledge of each others legal systems and working methods. Comprehensive confidence building processes, including formal assessment visits, and regular management meetings are cornerstones for trustful cooperation between authorities.

EASA, acting as “State of Design” on behalf of 31 European States, also relies on good working relationships and clear legal frameworks with its major partner authorities. For the time being, existing national Bilateral Agreements between EU member States and non-EU countries are executed by the Agency while new EU treaties with US, Canada and Brazil are in progress under the overall management of the European Commission. The new EU agreements will soon replace the existing national ones providing a new framework for the mutual acceptance of findings. In addition a number of new Working Arrangements with some 20 different Aviation Authorities were concluded under the Agency’s own competence during recent years.

The new challenges

Recent air transport designs are characterised by new materials, highly integrated systems and complex architectures. Environmental compatibility is a must. For the new technologies and the environmental aspects, the applicable certification standards have to be developed in due time.

The manufacturing business models are also constantly changing. During the recent years Global Manufacturing and Risk Sharing Partnerships
emerged as trends where large networks of specialized parts suppliers from around the world support the main manufacturers, who sometimes provide
only the initial design and final assembly in their own plants. The coherent oversight of such networks and its complex interfaces is a demanding
task for civil aviation authorities around the globe.

In addition, two developments will have a significant impact on the Agency’s future work programmes:

Product certification requirements from “emerging” countries

Countries with no or only minor design activities have traditionally accepted products from other countries without any further technical investigations. Certificates issued by Authorities from main manufacturing states have been automatically accepted, or a very limited validation process was applied. Today, many of those countries, typically with significant customers of transport aircraft, are implementing more thorough regulatory oversight systems.

Whether the new legal frameworks are based on FAA rules and procedures or on the European system, it is common that certification decisions by the State of Design Authorities are increasingly challenged or that additional technical conditions apply. In the field of continuous airworthiness oversight, the State of Design Authority has to provide more information and has to answer questions in a timely manner. As a consequence, the Agency has to spend more and more efforts into the support of European Industry for obtaining foreign certificates. Appropriate Working Arrangements and trustful working relations are vital to keep the associated additional workload at reasonable levels.

New Projects from “emerging” countries

New products are designed in countries which previously did not have significant design activities. The most important newcomers in the field of design are located in China (COMAC ARJ21 & C919), Japan (Mitsubishi Jet), India (HAL Dhruv Helicopter), Russia (Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Tupolev) and Ukraine (Antonov), and a few smaller players are located in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and South Korea. As all these new players are designing products for the worldwide market, certification by EASA is usually requested. Once these products are certified the continuous airworthiness oversight during their entire lifecycle is part of the Agency’s responsibilities.

Applicable working methods and technical involvement varies from country to country and depends from the level of confidence established. Also the technical capabilities of the new State of Design Authorities are different. Cultural differences, language issues, long distance travel needs and time differences are some additional complications.

The Agency certainly will prepare itself for the new challenges by adapting its work programmes and related resource planning, working methods and training. It also relies on the responsible European institutions and political decision makers for providing the necessary framework and resources in order to achieve the common objective: promote the highest common standards of civil aviation safety and environmental protection, in Europe and worldwide.