Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 505 | Classification | MHW-224 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Acceptance | October 19, 1993 | Ministry/Agency Receiving Complaint | Economic Planning Agency |
| Responsible Ministries | Ministry of Health and Welfare | Related Laws | Waterworks Law |
| Complainant | Domestic firm | Exporting Countries | |
| Subject | Simplification and international harmonization of type approval procedures for imports of household water supply equipment | ||
| Details of Measures | 1. Because of waterworks operators' obligation to provide water meeting quality standards to users at all times, they may refuse to make contracts to supply water or they may stop providing water, when the structure or materials of water supply equipment does not conform to the Water Supply Law, in accordance with the relevant ordinances, and based on the Water Supply Law. It is up to individual waterworks operators to determine whether all types of water supply equipment conform to the Water Supply Law, and if the Japan Waterworks Association (hereafter, "the Association"), composed of waterworks operators throughout the country, did not conduct type approval and product testing based on uniform nationwide examination standards, under referral by individual waterworks operators, having each operator carry out the required checks would be inefficient and complicated. Since water is supplied by local public bodies, from the perspective of respecting local autonomy it is more appropriate for the ministry to limit its role to overseeing the Association, rather than carry out these checks directly instead of the operators. 2. Type approval carried out by the Association treats domestic and foreign products entirely without bias. Foreign products from over 50 companies from 12 countries, including the United States, have already received type approval, and if the complainant has a specific product for which they would like to obtain type approval, they should consult the Association. 3. The Association is studying the question of carrying out inspections in manufacturing plants abroad, and will reach a conclusion some time during fiscal 1994. Inspection of products by the Association, a non-profit organization, is carried out by the Association's own employees, and they can be relied upon to be impartial and to maintain confidentiality. 4. The complainant was advised that the period required from acceptance of application for type approval to issuance of the registration certificate is four months, in the case of new products, and approximately one month, in the case of minor modifications to products, and that the inspection fee is between 10,000-25,000yen. |
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| Classification of Processing | 1. Cc 2. Cc 3. A 4. Cc |
Directions | I-a II-a IV |
| Remarks | Improvement measures were taken in November 1994. | ||