Council Decision of 26 September 2011 on the conclusion of an Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil on civil aviation safety

1 The Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil on civil aviation safety (‘the Agreement’) is hereby approved on behalf of the Union.

2 The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to make the notification provided in Article 16(1) of the Agreement.

1 The Union shall be represented in the Joint Committee of the Parties established in Article 9 of the Agreement by the European Commission assisted by the European Aviation Safety Agency and accompanied by the Aviation Authorities as representatives of the Member States.

2 The Union shall be represented in the Joint Sectorial Committee on Certification provided for in paragraph 2.1.1 of Annex A to the Agreement and in the Joint Sectorial Committee on Maintenance provided in paragraph 4.1.1 of Annex B to the Agreement by the European Aviation Safety Agency assisted by the Aviation authorities directly concerned by the agenda of each meeting.

1 The Commission, after consultation with the special committee appointed by the Council, shall determine the position to be taken by the Union in the Joint Committee of the Parties with respect to the following matters: the adoption or amendment of the rules of procedure of the Joint Committee of the Parties provided for in Article 9 of the Agreement.

2 The Commission, after consultation with the special committee referred to in paragraph 1 and taking full account of its opinion, may take the following action: adopt safeguard measures in accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement, request consultations in accordance with Article 15 of the Agreement, take measures for suspension in accordance with Article 10 of the Agreement, provided that the Commission has submitted a thorough factual analysis of the effects and feasibility of the intended modifications, amend annexes to the Agreement in accordance with Article 16(5) of the Agreement in so far as such amendments are consistent with, and do not entail any modification of, relevant Union legal acts, remove individual annexes in accordance with Article 16(3) and (5) of the Agreement, any other action to be taken by a Party as provided for in the Agreement, subject to paragraph 3 of this Article and EU law.

3 The Council shall decide, acting by qualified majority, on a proposal from the Commission and in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty, with respect to any other amendments to the Agreement not falling within the scope of paragraph 2 of this Article.

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

The objectives of this Agreement are: (a) To establish, consistent with the legislation in force within each Party, principles and arrangements in order to enable the reciprocal acceptance of approvals issued by either Party’s Competent Authorities in the fields covered by this Agreement, as detailed in Article 4. (b) To allow the Parties to adapt to the emerging trend toward multinational design, manufacture, maintenance, and interchange of Civil Aeronautical Products, involving the common interests of the Parties concerning civil aviation safety and environmental quality. (c) To promote cooperation toward sustaining safety and environmental quality objectives. (d) To promote and facilitate the continuing exchange of Civil Aeronautical Products and services.

The following terms and definitions shall apply to this Agreement: (a) ‘Airworthiness Approval’ means a finding that the design or change to a design of a Civil Aeronautical Product meets airworthiness standards established by the applicable legislation in force in either Party or that a product conforms to a design that has been found to meet those standards and is in a condition of safe operation. (b) ‘Civil Aeronautical Product’ means any civil aircraft, aircraft engine, or aircraft propeller or sub-assembly, appliance, or part, installed or to be installed thereon. (c) ‘Competent Authority’ means a government agency or entity that is designated as a Competent Authority by a Party for the purposes of this Agreement, that exercises a legal right to assess conformity of, to monitor and to control the use or sale of, Civil Aeronautical Products or services within a Party’s jurisdiction and that may take enforcement action to ensure that such products or services marketed within that Party’s jurisdiction comply with applicable legal requirements. (d) ‘Design-related Operational Requirements’ means the operational or environmental requirements affecting either the design features of the product or data on the design relating to the operations or maintenance of the product that make it eligible for a particular kind of operation. (e) ‘Environmental Approval’ means a finding that a Civil Aeronautical Product complies with standards established by the applicable legislation in force in either Party concerning noise and/or exhaust emissions. (f) ‘Maintenance’ means the performance of inspection, overhaul, repair, preservation, and the replacement of parts, appliances, or components with the exception of pre-flight inspection of a Civil Aeronautical Product to assure the continued airworthiness of that product, and includes embodiment of Modifications; but does not include the design of repairs and Modifications. (g) ‘Monitoring’ means the periodic surveillance by a Competent Authority to determine continuing compliance with the appropriate applicable standards. (h) ‘Technical Agent’ means, for the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, National Civil Aviation Agency – ANAC and for the European Union, the European Aviation Safety Agency – EASA.

1 Each Party shall, as specified in the Annexes to this Agreement, which form an integral part thereof, accept or recognise results of specified procedures, used in assessing conformity with specified legislative, regulatory, and administrative measures of that Party, produced by the other Party’s Competent Authorities, with the understanding that the conformity assessment procedures utilised assure conformity to the satisfaction of the receiving Party, with applicable legislative, regulatory and administrative measures of that Party, equivalent to the assurance offered by the receiving Party’s own procedures.

2 Paragraph 1 of this Article shall only apply when transitional arrangements, which may be set out in the Annexes to this Agreement, have been completed.

3 This Agreement shall not be construed to entail reciprocal acceptance of standards or technical regulations of the Parties and, unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, shall not entail the mutual recognition of the equivalence of standards or technical regulations.

4 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to limit the authority of a Party to determine, through its legislative, regulatory and administrative measures, the level of protection it considers appropriate for safety, for the environment, and otherwise with regard to risks within the scope of the Annexes to this Agreement.

5 The findings made by delegated persons or approved organisations, authorized by the applicable legislation of either Party to make the same findings as a Competent Authority, shall be given the same validity as those made by a Competent Authority itself for the purposes of this Agreement. An entity of one Party responsible for the implementation of this Agreement, as defined in Article 7, may on occasion, and upon prior notification to its counterpart within the other Party, interact directly with a delegated person or approved organisation of that other Party.

6 The Parties shall ensure that their Technical Agents and/or Competent Authorities fulfil their responsibilities under this Agreement, including its Annexes.

7 This Agreement, including its Annexes, is binding on both Parties.

1 This Agreement applies to: (a) The Airworthiness Approval and Monitoring of Civil Aeronautical Products; (b) The continuing airworthiness of in-service aircraft; (c) The approval and monitoring of production and manufacturing facilities; (d) The approval and monitoring of maintenance facilities; (e) The Environmental Approval and environmental testing of Civil Aeronautical Products; (f) Related cooperative activities; and (g) Safety initiatives and exchange of relevant safety information.

2 When the Parties agree that each Party’s civil aviation standards, rules, practices and procedures in other areas of cooperation and in particular in air operations, flight crew licensing and the approval of synthetic training devices are sufficiently compatible to permit acceptance of findings of compliance with agreed upon standards made by one Party on behalf of the other, the Parties in the Joint Committee may agree on additional Annexes, including transitional arrangements to extend the scope of cooperation to these other areas in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 16.

1 When an entity is eligible under the legislation of a Party, it shall be recognized as a Competent Authority by the other Party, once it has been audited by its designating Party to determine that it: fully complies with the legislation of its Party; is familiar with the requirements of the other Party, for the type and scope of certification it applied for; and is capable of carrying out the obligations contained in the Annexes.

2 A Party shall notify the other Party of the identity of a Competent Authority once it has successfully completed the audit. The other Party may contest the technical competence or compliance of that Competent Authority in accordance with Paragraph 6 of this Article.

3 The entities identified in Appendix 1 and 2 shall be deemed to comply with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of this Article for the implementation of the Annexes at the time of entry into force of this Agreement.

4 The Parties shall ensure that their Competent Authorities are capable and remain capable of properly assessing conformity of products or organisations, as applicable and as covered in the Annexes to this Agreement. In this regard, the Parties shall ensure that their Competent Authorities are subject to regular audits or assessments.

5 The Parties shall consult as necessary to ensure the maintenance of confidence in conformity assessment procedures. This consultation may include participation from one Party in the regular audits related to conformity assessment activities or other assessments of Competent Authorities of the other Party.

6 In the event of a Party’s contestation of the technical competence or compliance of a Competent Authority, the contesting Party shall notify in writing the other Party of its contestation of the technical competence or compliance of the relevant Competent Authority and of its intent to suspend the acceptance of the findings of the relevant Competent Authority. Such contestation shall be exercised in an objective and reasoned manner.

7 Any contestation notified in accordance with Paragraph 6 of this Article shall be discussed by the Joint Committee established pursuant to Article 9, which may decide to suspend acceptance of the findings of that Competent Authority or that verification of its technical competence is required. Such verification shall normally be carried out in a timely manner by the Party having jurisdiction over the Competent Authority in question, but may be carried out jointly by the Parties if they so decide.

8 If the Joint Committee has not been able to resolve a contestation notified in accordance with Paragraph 6 of this Article, within 30 days of its notice, the contesting Party may suspend acceptance of the findings of the Competent Authority in question, but shall accept the findings made by that Competent Authority before the date of the notice. Such suspension may remain in effect until the Joint Committee has resolved the matter.

1 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to limit the authority of a Party to take all appropriate and immediate measures whenever there is a reasonable risk that a product or a service may: (a) compromise the health or safety of persons; (b) not meet the applicable legislative, regulatory, or administrative measures of that Party within the scope of this Agreement; or (c) otherwise fail to satisfy a requirement within the scope of the applicable Annex to this Agreement.

2 Where either Party takes measures pursuant to Paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall inform the other Party in writing within 15 working days of taking such measures, providing reasons for it.

1 The Parties agree that communications between themselves for the implementation of this Agreement shall be dealt with by: (a) as regards technical matters, the Technical Agents; (b) as regards all other matters: for the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil: Ministry of External Relations and ANAC, where applicable; for the European Union: the European Commission and the Competent Authorities of the Member States, where applicable.

2 Upon signature of this Agreement the Parties will communicate to each other the relevant contact points.

1 Each Party shall ensure that the other Party is kept informed of all its relevant laws, regulations, standards, and requirements, and of its certification system.

2 The Parties shall notify each other of their proposed significant revisions to their relevant laws, regulations, standards, and requirements, and to their certification systems insofar as these revisions may have an impact on this Agreement. To the maximum extent practicable, they shall offer each other an opportunity to comment on such revisions and give due consideration to such comments.

3 The Parties shall, as appropriate, develop procedures on regulatory cooperation and transparency for all activities they conduct which fall within the scope of this Agreement.

4 To promote the continued understanding of and compatibility between each Party’s civil aviation safety regulatory systems, each Technical Agent may participate in the other’s internal quality assurance.

5 For the purpose of investigating and resolving safety issues by cooperation, the Parties shall allow each other to participate in each other’s inspections and audits on a sample basis or conduct joint inspections and audits as appropriate. For purposes of surveillance and inspections, each Party’s Technical Agent and Competent Authorities shall assist the other Party’s Technical Agent with the objective of gaining unimpeded access to regulated entities subject to its jurisdiction.

6 The Parties agree, subject to applicable laws and regulations, to provide through their Technical Agents or Competent Authorities as appropriate mutual cooperation and assistance in any investigation or enforcement proceedings of any alleged or suspected violation of any laws or regulations under the scope of this Agreement. In addition, each Party shall notify the other promptly of any investigation when mutual interests are involved.

1 The Parties agree, subject to applicable laws and regulations, to have a proactive approach, coordinate safety policies and initiatives, exchange information and data, and develop joint programs in order to increase capabilities to predict and prevent or mitigate potential risks for civil aviation with a view to implementing an oversight system for all aircraft operating in their territories.

2 The Parties agree, in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 and subject to their applicable legislation: (a) to provide each other, on request and in a timely manner, information and assistance related to accidents, incidents or occurrences related to the subject matters covered by this Agreement; and (b) to exchange other safety information relating to aircraft operations and results of surveillance activities including of ramp inspections on aircraft using the airports of each Party in accordance with procedures developed by the Technical Agents.

1 A Joint Committee is established, consisting of representatives from each Party. The Joint Committee shall be responsible for the effective functioning of this Agreement and shall meet at regular intervals to evaluate the effectiveness of its implementation.

2 The Joint Committee may consider any matter related to the functioning and implementation of this Agreement. In particular it shall be responsible for: (a) reviewing and taking appropriate action with respect to contestations as specified in Article 5; (b) resolving any question relating to the application and implementation of this Agreement, including those questions not otherwise resolved according to the procedure established in the Annexes; (c) considering ways to enhance the operation of this Agreement and make, as appropriate, recommendations to the Parties for the amendment of this Agreement pursuant to Paragraph 4 of Article 16; (d) considering specific amendments to the Annexes pursuant to Paragraph 5 of Article 16; (e) coordinating, as appropriate, the development of additional Annexes pursuant to Paragraph 5 of Article 16; and (f) adopting, as appropriate, working procedures on regulatory cooperation and transparency for all activities referred to in Article 4.

3 The Joint Committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure within 1 year of the entry into force of this Agreement.

1 A Party may suspend, in whole or in part, its obligations specified under an Annex of this Agreement, where: (a) the other Party fails to fulfil its obligations specified under that Annex of this Agreement; (b) one or more of its own Competent Authorities cannot implement new or additional requirements adopted by the other Party in the field covered by the Annex of this Agreement; or (c) the other Party fails to maintain the legal and regulatory means and measures required to implement the provisions of this Agreement.

2 Before suspending its obligations, a Party shall request consultations under Article 15. Should consultations not resolve a disagreement that relates to any of the Annexes, either Party may notify the other Party of its intention to suspend the acceptance of findings of compliance and approvals under the Annex over which there is disagreement. Such notification shall be in writing and detail the reasons for suspension.

3 Such suspension shall take effect 30 days after the date of the notification, unless, prior to the end of this period, the Party, which initiated the suspension, notifies the other Party in writing that it withdraws its notification. Such suspension shall not affect the validity of findings of compliance, certificates and approvals made by the Party’s Technical Agents or Competent Authority in question prior to the date the suspension took effect. Any such suspension that has become effective may be rescinded immediately upon an exchange of written correspondence to that effect by the Parties.

1 Each Party agrees to maintain, to the extent required under its legislation, the confidentiality of information received from the other Party under this Agreement.

2 In particular, subject to their respective legislation, the Parties shall neither disclose to the public, nor permit a Competent Authority to disclose to the public, information received from each other under this Agreement that constitutes trade secrets, intellectual property, confidential commercial or financial information, proprietary data, or information that relates to an ongoing investigation. To this end such information shall be considered proprietary and be appropriately marked as such.

3 A Party or a Competent Authority may, upon providing information to the other Party or a Competent Authority of the other Party, designate the portions of the information that it considers to be exempt from disclosure.

4 Each Party shall take all reasonable precautions necessary to protect information received under this Agreement from unauthorized disclosure.

1 Neither Party shall impose fees or charges on natural or legal persons whose activities are regulated under this Agreement for conformity assessment services covered under this Agreement and provided by the other Party.

2 Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that any fees or charges imposed by its Technical Agent on a legal or natural person whose activities are regulated under this Agreement shall be just, reasonable and commensurate with the certification and surveillance services provided, and shall not create a barrier to trade.

3 Each Party’s Technical Agent shall have the right to recover through fees and charges applied to natural or legal persons whose activities are regulated under this Agreement, the costs related to the implementation of the applicable Annex and of audits and inspections made in application of Paragraph 5 of Article 5 and Article 8bis.

1 Except where otherwise specified in the Annexes, obligations contained in agreements concluded by either Party with a third country not party to this Agreement shall have no force and effect with regard to the other Party in terms of acceptance of the results of conformity assessment procedures in the third country.

2 Upon entry into force, this Agreement shall supersede any bilateral aviation safety agreements or arrangements between the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Member States of the European Union with respect to any matters covered by this Agreement. Upon entry into force, this Agreement shall also supersede any prior arrangements between the Technical Agents.

3 This Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under any other international agreement.

Except where otherwise specified in the Annexes of this Agreement, this Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union applies, and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

1 Either Party may request consultations with the other Party on any matter related to this Agreement. The other Party shall reply promptly to such a request and shall enter into consultations at a time agreed by the Parties within 45 days.

2 The Parties shall make every effort to resolve any disagreement between them regarding their cooperation under this Agreement at the lowest possible technical level by consultation in accordance with provisions contained in the Annexes to this Agreement.

3 In the event that any disagreement is not resolved as provided for in Paragraph 2 of this Article, either Technical Agent may refer the disagreement to the Joint Committee of the Parties, which shall consult on the matter.

1 This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the last note of an exchange of Diplomatic Notes in which the Parties notify each other of the completion of their internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement. The Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Party.

2 A Party may terminate this Agreement at any time upon 6 months written notification to the other Party, unless the said notice of termination has been withdrawn by mutual consent of the Parties before the expiry of this period.

3 Where a Party seeks to amend the Agreement by removing or adding one or more Annexes and preserving the other Annexes, the Parties shall seek to amend this Agreement by consensus, in accordance with the procedures in this Article. Failing consensus to preserve the other Annexes, the Agreement shall terminate at the end of 6 months from the date of notice unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

4 Parties may amend this Agreement by mutual written consent. An amendment to this Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the latest written notification by one Party to the other Party that its domestic procedures for entry into force have been completed.

5 Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph 4 of this Article, the Parties may agree to amend the existing Annexes or add new ones by means of an exchange of Diplomatic Notes between the Parties. These amendments shall enter into force subject to the terms agreed in the exchange of Diplomatic Notes.

6 Following termination of this Agreement, each Party shall maintain the validity of any Airworthiness Approvals, Environmental Approvals or certificates issued under this Agreement prior to its termination, subject to their continued compliance with that Party’s applicable laws and regulations. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned duly authorized to that effect, have signed this Agreement.