2nd Report of the Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 14, 1995)

5-(1) Improvement of the inspection system for multi-story car parks

1. Complainant: German Embassy

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Construction

3. Complaint:

The structures and facilities of off-road car parks (car parks for general public use) designated in the Car Park Law and having a vehicle parking surface of 500 square meters or more, are set down in the Building Standard Law and other ordinances. In addition, the regulations of Clause 11 of the Car Park Law states that the technical standards applied shall be those set out by the Building Standard Law.

Since off-road car parks using special equipment like the vertical circulation or double-tier method do not come under technical standards, car parks with standards of the equivalent effect as the above-mentioned standards may not be used for general public use unless they are approved by the Construction Minister. Regarding clerical work for examination pertaining to such approval by the Minister, the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association has been requested to carry out safety examinations of special equipment from the technical viewpoint since 1965.

The following complaints have been made concerning technical examination for approval by the Minister.

First, regarding examinations by the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association, the complainant is concerned that since the Examination Committee includes engineers from companies competing with the applicant, examinations may not be impartial and that competitors' employees involved in the examination may use technical data presented during examination for their own companies' benefit, the system should be changed so that competitors' employees cannot influence authorization.

Further, since it is difficult to build structures like multi-story car parks in Japan exclusively for testing purposes, inspections of similar structures already built in foreign countries carried out according to Japanese standards should be allowed, and that in such cases, TUV (Technical Inspection Association) Rhineland, which is recognized worldwide for technical expertise and which has an office in Japan, should be asked to carry out technical examinations.

4. Results of deliberation:

(1) Since the ministerial approval which is the subject of this complaint is a government certification, efforts should be made to carry out examinations more impartially.

Regarding technical examinations by the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association, since only a limited number of people have the required technical expertise, the Ministry has included persons from private sector companies on the Examination Committee. Regarding the impartiality of examinations, the Ministry has issued written directives to the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association. According to the Ministry, decisions regarding examinations have not been affected by competing companies and the system currently operates fairly. However, to avoid arousing concerns like those mentioned by the complainant, the examination system will be improved during FY1995, such as by making the Committee set up a committee composed of neutral academic experts and so on.

(2) Regarding special equipment for multi-story car parks, in view of the cost which may be involved in installing prototype equipment in Japan for inspection purposes, it may be practical in some cases to carry out inspections in foreign countries where the equivalent equipment is already built. In these cases, the Ministry will consider dispatching members of the Examination Committee from the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association abroad to carry out on-site inspection, if the applicant so requests. This type of flexible response measures is actively taken to facilitate the entry of high-quality foreign products.

(3) The Ministry will consider the use of foreign inspection organizations for technical examinations of multi-story car parks, if the inspection organization in question has sufficient experience and ability and if there is concrete demand for this among foreign producers. The Ministry will begin by giving TUV's Japan office an opportunity to provide a detailed description of its study system, and will carry out an on-site inspection at an early date in FY1995. This is a positive step from the viewpoint of facilitating market access and a specific study of this matter should be undertaken soon.

Government decision (March 28, 1995)

5-(1) Improvement of the inspection system for multi-story car parks, etc.

Regarding the safety of special devices from the technical viewpoint, the following measures will be taken regarding approval of off-road car parks by the Minister of Construction :

(1) The examination system will be improved during FY1995, such as making the Examination Committee of the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association be composed of neutral academic experts and so on.

(2) Dispatching of members of the Examination Committee of the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association abroad for on-site inspections, by request will be considered.

(3) The use of foreign inspection organizations will be considered at an early date, after ascertaining that the organizations in question have sufficient experience and ability and that there is concrete demand among foreign producers. Toward this end, an on-site study of the organizations in question will be undertaken at an early time in FY1995.

Follow-up (May 27,1996)

5-(1) Improvement of the inspection system for multi-story car parks

(1) The Director General of the Metropolitan Bureau advised the Chairman of the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association in writing (on March 29, 1996) that no member of the Examination Committee shall be either an employee of private sector companies dealing with special equipment for parking, or a person with vested interests in the approval of the equipment in question by the Minister of Construction. Based on this, the Association changed the makeup of its Examination Committee on April 1, 1996.

(2) In order to further improve market access and to smooth entry in the domestic market of high-quality foreign mechanical parking equipment, the Director of the Urban Redevelopment Division of the Metropolitan Bureau made a written request (March 29, 1996) to the Chairman of the Multi-story Car Park Industry Association that the Association should establish a system of dispatching members of the Examination Committee abroad when on-site inspection is required abroad for examinations of foreign products related to the approval by the Minister under Clause 15 of the Executive Order of the Car Park Law. Based on this request, the Association replied that it would be willing to dispatch Examination Committee members to conduct on-site inspection when such inspection is needed in foreign countries.

(3) TUV's Japan office was invited to a hearing by the ministry and given an opportunity to explain its inspection system in March 1995. The ministry conducted an on-site inspection in Germany in March 27 to April 7 1995. It was ascertained that the complainant, the manufacturer of parking equipment, do not necessarily wish to utilize foreign inspection organizations if access to Japanese markets can be improved by establishing a dispatch system for on-site inspections abroad. Therefore, there are no plans to use foreign inspection organizations for the time being.