Bilateral Agreements

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What are bilateral agreements?
Bilateral agreements facilitate the reciprocal airworthiness certification of civil aeronautical products imported/exported between two signatory countries. A Bilateral Airworthiness Agreement (BAA) or Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness (IPA) provides for airworthiness technical cooperation between the FAA and its counterpart civil aviation authorities.

Bilateral Airworthiness Agreement
Bilateral Airworthiness Agreements are executive agreements concluded prior to 1996 through an exchange of diplomatic notes between the U.S. Department of State and its foreign counterpart based on FAA technical recommendations. (Note: The U.S. no longer concludes Bilateral Airworthiness Agreements.)

Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement
In addition to airworthiness certification, Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreements provide for bilateral cooperation in a variety of aviation areas, including maintenance, flight operations, and environmental certification. For aircraft certification, an additional document, an Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness, is developed to address specific areas such as design approvals, production activities, export airworthiness approval, post-design approval activities, and technical cooperation.

Bilateral agreements policies & guidance