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| 7th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 18, 2002) |
1. Complainant: Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
3. Complaint:
With respect to foreign-made wooden fire-proof doors, even if a product has been certified in a test similar to the certification test in Japan, the certification in an exporting country is not valid in Japan. The product is required to undergo a certification test in Japan and obtain a certificate.(This requirement remains unchanged even after the enforcement of the revised Building Standards Law of 2000 that introduced performance provisions concerning fire-proof doors and other deregulatory measures.)
(1) In European countries, wooden fire-proof doors are widely used. European countries have accumulated more knowledge concerning performance tests than Japan and the performance tests are reliable. Demand for wooden fire-proof doors has been rising sharply in Japan. Therefore, with regard to foreign-made wooden fire-proof doors, we want the ministry 1] to accept certification results in Europe and other exporting countries as they are and obviate the need to be certified in Japan, or 2] to accept test data conducted in a foreign country and perform examination and certification based on the data, so that a foreign certification will be easily approved as conforming to the Japanese standard and that the import of wooden fire-proof doors into Japan will be promoted.
(2) As to the "type confirmation certification" system, under which a foreign manufacturer gets certification from a recognized certifying organization, there is no recognized certifying organization at present and therefore we cannot utilize the system that is originally purported by the revised law. Moreover, even if a foreign organization was approved as a recognized certifying organization, it would be difficult to use the organization unless one has a long transaction history with foreign manufacturers. In order for a foreign manufacturer to be approved as such, it would entail high costs, as the manufacturer has to be virtually guided by a Japanese firm.
Therefore, we want the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to take measures so that we can utilize the kind of "recognized certifying organization" system that was originally purported by the law.
(3) Moreover, although the law in question, which was revised by the law of 1998, has adopted performance provisions, the Enforcement Order of the Building Standards Law and the ministerial notifications on structural methods for fire-proof equipment are not performance provisions but rather prescribe qualifications for fire-proof doors, such as materials and thickness. From the standpoint of performance provision, which is the original purpose of the law, we would like the ministry to change the prescriptions to something like "(things) having the property of ..." and take measures in order to cope with technological progress or trends in international building standards.
(Second complaint)
(1) The problem is that Japanese performance provisions and testing methods to prove the performance are different from those in foreign countries. What does the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport think of this?
This is a bottleneck when we want to utilize the system of recognized performance evaluation organization.
(2) Please tell us in specific terms the procedures for a foreign performance evaluation organization to be recognized by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Please tell us how to get English language versions of papers necessary for the procedures and application.
(3) Which organizations are designated certifying organizations that include foreign countries in their scope of business? Do such designated certifying organization also perform recognized performance evaluation?
Is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aware of the fact that there is no recognized certifying organization? What does the ministry think the scheme should be under which foreign manufacturers obtain type approval certification by being certified by a recognized certifying organization beforehand?
If the ministry thinks the scheme is useful, then what kind of positive measures does it plan to take in order to prompt certification by recognized certifying organizations?
(Third complaint)
We accept (1) and (2) of the second corresponding policy.
With regard to (3), our question is if "(organization) that includes foreign countries in the scope of its business" means that there are Japanese organizations that evaluate performance tests conducted in a foreign country. It is a matter of course and we don't need to ask whether a Japanese organization can conduct tests and evaluate foreign-made fire-proof doors in Japan.
We are now considering importing wooden fire-proof doors made in Hong Kong, where certification is based on the BS standard of the U.K. due to its historical background. Specifically, performance evaluation is made by the testing method prescribed in BS476. As the ministry says in its corresponding policy 1., the Japanese testing method conforms with the ISO. Our method, therefore, is almost the same as the Japanese testing method.
Under the present conditions, if we want to have the fire-proof doors certified in Japan, we have to undergo almost the same tests again despite of the fact that they have already been tested and certified in Hong Kong. They have to be certified individually, and the cost for each type of the doors amounts to about 3 million yen. This constitutes a big import barrier.
Since not only Hong Kong but also many other countries have adopted a method that is in conformity with the ISO, examination of papers alone should be enough when certifying products that have been certified by a foreign country. We don't think it necessary to repeat the same tests.
4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:
(1) As to foreign-made fire-proof doors, the Building Standards Law was revised in 1998 (and enforced in June 2000) in order to certify the conformity to the Japanese fire-proof standard by using test data of the country in question. If a foreign performance evaluation organization is recognized by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a product accompanied by a performance certificate issued by the performance evaluation organization (to be called recognized performance evaluation organization) can be certified by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Therefore, the complainant is advised to utilize the recognized performance evaluation organization system.
(2) In designating (domestic) or recognizing (foreign) a certifying organization that will conduct type approval certification, the ministry imposes the same requirements regardless of whether it is a Japanese organization or a foreign organization. If an organization meeting the requirements makes an application, it can be recognized as a recognized certifying organization.
There are already designated certifying organizations that include foreign countries in their scope of business. Since foreign manufacturers can obtain a type approval certificate from such an organization, the complainant is advised to utilize the type approval certification system through a designated certifying organization that includes foreign countries in of the scope of its business.
(3) The Building Standards Law was revised in 1998 (and enforced in June 2000) and the law now has performance provisions concerning building standards on fire-proof equipment. As a result, under the Enforcement Order of the Building Standards Law, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport may certify a wooden fire-proof doors regardless of its material and thickness as long as it has flame insulation property of 20 minutes to one hour depending on the part of the door. Therefore, the point raised by the complaint that "we would like the ministry to change the prescriptions to something like '(things) having the property of ... '" has already been amended.
The complainant also says that "the ministerial notifications on structural methods for fire-proof equipment are not performance provisions but rather prescribe qualifications for fire-proof doors, such as materials and thickness." Since the notification in question is designed to show an example of specifications having required properties, the notification is not necessary if a product satisfies the required properties.
In the case of a foreign-made wooden fire-proof door that satisfies the required properties, it is advised to utilize the property standards of the Building Standards Law.
(Second corresponding policy)
(1) The fire-proof testing method under the Japanese Building Standards Law conforms to the international standard ISO30008. If the complainant claims that the Japanese method differs from foreign testing methods, we would like to know in specific terms in what points it differs.
(2) The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designates/recognizes a performance evaluation organization on the basis of Article 77-57 of the Building Standards Law and Articles 72 through 79 of the ministerial ordinance concerning designated confirmation bodies based on the Building Standards Law.
For detailed procedures concerning application, the complainant is advised to consult the Building Guidance Division, Housing Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
(3) Certification of structural methods, etc. refers to the system, under which the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport certifies that products not regulated by example specifications in the Building Standards Law have required properties on the basis of the performance evaluation performed by a designated/recognized performance evaluation organization. Type approval certification refers to the system, under which a designated/recognized certifying organization certifies beforehand the conformity to a certain set of standards (fire-proof, structure, etc.) prescribed in the Building Standards Law and part of building confirmation can be omitted. Since the complaint made by the complainant seems to be about certification of structural methods, etc. of fire-proof doors, we respond to the question about designated/recognized performance evaluation organization.
Among the designated performance evaluation organizations that include foreign countries in their scope of business are as follows;
The Building Center of Japan (BCJ)
The Center for Better Living
The General Building Research Corporation of Japan
These organizations conduct fire-proof tests and performance evaluation of foreign-made fire-proof doors.
In recognizing a recognized performance evaluation organization, the ministry imposes the same requirements as it imposes in designating a domestic designated performance evaluation organization. Since there is no recognized performance evaluation organization at the present time, foreign manufacturers can utilize performance evaluation by a designated performance evaluation organization that includes foreign countries in of the scope of its business.
(Third corresponding policy)
(1) Under the revised Building Standards Law that was enforced in June 2000, a foreign testing organization can be recognized by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, if the organization has a fair, neutral examination system, high technical examination capability and proper test implementation system. In recognizing an organization, the same examination standards will be applied regardless of whether it is a Japanese organization or a foreign organization.
(2) If a fire-proof door undergoes performance evaluation conducted by a recognized testing organization in a testing method conforming to the ISO, the fire-proof door can be certified by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and it does not undergo a test again in Japan.
(3) Incidentally, procedures for recognition of organizations are under way in several countries. (We have not been consulted by any Hong Kong testing organizations concerning application for recognized performance evaluation organization.
5. Remarks
The complainant accepted this policy.