Bilateral agreements and acceptance

Framework versus implementation

A BASA establishes the intent and the scope of cooperation. An implementation procedure states which products and articles are eligible, how validation is applied for, and how continued airworthiness is handled. The implementation procedure is where a specific part number is actually settled.

• BASA — the agreement between the two states
• IPA — Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness, made under the agreement
• TIP — Technical Implementation Procedures, the term used in the EU–China arrangement

United States and China

The United States and China signed a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement in 2005. The Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness followed in 2017, setting out the scope of products and articles eligible for validation and the technical procedures for validation and continued airworthiness.

Under those procedures, certain parts manufacturer approvals are mutually and reciprocally accepted, and three paths exist for approval: acceptance, streamlined validation and technical validation. Which path applies determines how much work sits between an application and an approval.

European Union and China

The EU–China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement entered into force in September 2020, alongside the adoption of technical implementation procedures. The agreement simplified product approval processes in both directions and required certain earlier arrangements to be revised.

What this means when you are buying

A part can be perfectly approved in the country of manufacture and still need additional steps for installation on an aircraft on another registry. State the registry in your enquiry, because it changes what counts as an acceptable answer.