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September
10, 2002
U.S. AND
ROMANIA SIGN AVIATION AGREEMENT
Earlier today, the U.S. Embassy signed a Bilateral Aviation Treaty (BASA) with the Romanian Government to begin the process of reciprocal certification of the airworthiness of commercial aircraft. U.S. Ambassador Michael E. Guest participated in the signing ceremony, along with Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Housing, Miron Mitrea.
The signing coincided with this week's commemoration of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York, and those in Washington and Pennsylvania. In recognition and in the aftermath of those terrible events, the Romanian people stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States, and the two countries have been stalwart allies in the war against terrorism.
The BASA agreement promotes aviation safety and environmental quality. It notes the concerns of the U.S. and Romania to safely operate civil aircraft. By signing this agreement, the U.S. and Romania agree to facilitate the acceptance of each other's airworthiness approvals and environmental testing, as well as the qualification and evaluations of flight simulators. The agreement eases the acceptance of approvals and monitoring of maintenance facilities, maintenance personnel, airmen, aviation training establishments and flight operations.
The agreement also sets forth cooperation in sustaining equivalent levels of safety and environmental objectives regarding aviation safety. The U.S. commitment to sign the BASA agreement with Romania recognizes that Romania has a significant aircraft industry, as the U.S. only enters into these agreements with countries that have an existing aircraft manufacturing industry, with products that can be exported to the United States.
The BASA agreement is, in fact, "a vote of confidence" from the United States Government on the ability of the Ministry of Transportation to certify aircraft and aircraft related products and services. The United States has signed a similar agreement with 17 countries to date. These countries include Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Another benefit of this agreement is that it will allow Romanian aeronautical products to be exported more easily to the United States.
As our countries work to strengthen our bilateral partnership, the signing of this agreement also helps the world in our global fight against terrorism.
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