Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 454 | Classification | MOT-38 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Acceptance | July 18, 1991 | Ministry/Agency Receiving Complaint | Economic Planning Agency |
| Responsible Ministries | Ministry of Transport | Related Laws | Road Vehicles Law |
| Complainant | The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (proxy complaint) | Exporting Countries | USA |
| Subject | Acceptance of U.S. automobile manufacturers' certification | ||
| Details of Measures | Under the Road Vehicles Law, vehicles must undergo new inspection carried out by the Minister for Transport, or apply for type designation. The Japanese certification system is a government system and the government is responsible for ensuring vehicle safety and preventing pollution. Accordingly, self-certification cannot be accepted. European countries also use government certification systems, and the United States employs a government certification system for emissions. From Japan's perspective, the problems with accepting self-certification are that there are major differences in traffic conditions and in the concepts of product liability between Japan and the United States. Therefore, problems with ensuring safety and preventing pollution, lack of protection for consumers and the large risk to auto manufacturers and dealers are anticipated and introducing this system is very difficult. A prior certification system administered by the government which can prevent the distribution of defective products and accidents resulting from this are superior from the viewpoints of protecting the public's health and safety, efficiency of government administration and overall social costs. As part of market opening measures, Japan has conducted a major review of its certification systems since 1982. The type designation system has been simplified, eliminating the requirement for documentation accompanying applications and speeding up the application procedure and technical-level meetings are being conducted concerning the introduction of a special system for handling imported vehicles. The government replied that it will continue its efforts to promote mutual understanding concerning the certification system and will continue studying requests concerning the present certification system. The ministry says that although it cannot accept the self-certification system, it will apply the special handling system for imported vehicles (PHP) to 2,000 vehicles per type yearly, and than when an application for type designation is made for vehicles which have reached the 2,000 mark, yearly imports of 3,000 vehicles per year per type will be allowed until type designation is obtained. The ministry has also notified the U.S. government in January 1992 that it will dispatch inspectors to the U.S. to simplify obtaining type designation. The provisions for handling PHP were amended on March 18, 1992 and the changes were implemented from April 1, 1992. |
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| Classification of Processing | A | Directions | II-a |
| Remarks | Improvement measures were taken on April 1, 1992. | ||