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The Office of the United States Trade Representative

U.S.-Japan Telecom Mutual Recognition Agreement Set to Enter into Force
11/21/2007
 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States and Japan today completed final steps for implementation of a bilateral agreement to facilitate trade in telecommunications equipment and expand opportunities for U.S. certification bodies.

United States Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer and Japan Foreign Minister ad interim Nobutaka Machimura exchanged diplomatic notes in Tokyo, signaling completion of the necessary steps for entry into force of the United States-Japan Agreement on Mutual Recognition of the Results of Conformity Assessment Procedures (MRA) for telecommunications equipment on January 1, 2008.

Japan is the United States’ fourth largest trading partner.  This agreement will help build upon the strong bilateral trade relationship already benefiting our countries,” said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John K. Veroneau.  “This agreement will lower the costs and increase the speed of marketing telecommunications equipment traded between our countries.  This should be of important help to U.S. companies and workers, given that Japan is the fifth largest export market for U.S. telecommunications equipment.”

Background

The MRA was signed in Washington on February 16, 2007 and subsequently approved by the Japanese Diet on June 19.

This is the United States’ sixth telecommunications MRA covering certification, following MRAs with the EU and EEA-EFTA (Iceland, Lichtenstein, and Norway) that cover telecommunications equipment among other things, and with Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) telecommunications MRA.

Based on this agreement, both the United States and Japan will be able to designate private-sector entities in their respective territories to test and certify telecommunications terminal and radio equipment as meeting the technical requirements of the other country.

This agreement is expected to enhance speed to market, and lower costs in the $2.2 billion trade in telecommunications equipment between the two countries.  Japan is now the fifth largest export market for U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturers, and this agreement is particularly important given the innovation and fast paced growth that characterized both markets.

The text of the agreement is available at:
http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Sectors/Telecom-E-commerce/Section_Index.html

A fact sheet on this MRA is available at: 
http://www.export.gov/infotech

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