The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) is calling for detailed analysis of the EU's Japan trade 'scoping exercise'.
The organisation welcomed the fact that the European Union had not sanctioned a free trade agreement with Japan, but instead had called for a 'scoping exercise' at a recent EU-Japan Summit meeting in Brussels.
ACEA is concerned that any trade agreement needs to involve 'trade liberalisation', particularly in relation to the automotive industry, with a need to speed up the process of harmonising vehicle standards and certification. This will be helped by an initiative from the Japanese to discuss a system for International Whole Vehicle Type Approval.
ACEA is, however, calling on the EU to take a very careful view of the results of the scoping exercise, especially regarding the elimination of tariffs and potential tariff barriers which have so far allowed non-Japanese automanufacturers to take les than 5% of the Japanese vehicle market.