they persist as FAA faces greater industry  As of April 2015, FAA has made progress in addressing the Certification  Process Committee’s recommendations, but as we reported in January  2015, challenges remain that could affect successful implementation of  the recommendations. FAA is implementing its plan for addressing the 6  certification process recommendations, which involves completing 14  initiatives. According to an April 2015 update that FAA provided to us, 13  initiatives were completed or were on track to be completed, and one will  not meet planned milestones. FAA Has Developed Plans to Address Recommendations to Improve the Consistency of Its Regulatory Interpretations, but Progress Has Been Slow

According to the January 2015 regulatory consistency implementation  plan, FAA closed two recommendations—one as not implemented and  one as implemented in 2013—and plans to complete the remaining 4 by  July 2016. As we found in January 2015, while FAA has made some progress, it is  too soon for us to determine whether FAA’s planned actions adequately  address the recommendations. Industry representatives continued to indicate a  lack of communication with and involvement of stakeholders as a primary  challenge for FAA in implementing the committees’ recommendations,  particularly the regulatory consistency recommendations. FAA has taken steps to  address these concerns, but FAA’s authority to address some of the  challenges is limited because each country retains control of its basic  regulatory framework for approving aviation products and ensuring the  safety of those products for use in their countries—effectively a  recognition of the sovereignty of each country. partnership agreements that provide a framework for the reciprocal  approval of aviation products imported and exported between the U.S. U.S. Companies Reported that they Experienced FCAA-Related Process, Communications, and Cost Challenges and FAA is Attempting to Address These Challenges

Representatives of the 15 selected U.S. aviation companies we  interviewed for our January 2015 statement reported that their companies  faced challenges related to process, communications, and cost in  obtaining approvals from FCAAs. Reported FCAA process challenges. For example, in September 2014, FAA—along with Brazil,  Canada, and the EU—established a Certification Management Team  to provide a forum for addressing approvals and other bilateral  relationship issues. Reported issues related to some BASAs. Although representatives  from 11 of the 15 U.S. companies and the 3 foreign companies we  interviewed reported being satisfied with the overall effectiveness of  having BASAs in place or with various aspects of the current BASAs,  representatives of 10 U.S. companies reported challenges related to  some BASAs lacking specificity and flexibility, 2 raised concerns that  there is a lack of a formal dispute resolution process, and 1 noted a  lack of a distinction between approvals of simple and complex aircraft. Reported Challenges in Communicating with FCAAs. U.S. Companies Also Reported FAA-Related Challenges, Which FAA Is Taking Actions to Address

As mentioned previously, FAA provides assistance to U.S. companies by  facilitating the application process for foreign approvals of aviation  products. As we concluded in January 2015, to its credit, FAA has made some  progress in addressing the Certification Process and Regulatory  Consistency Committees’ recommendations, as well as in taking steps to  address challenges faced by U.S. aviation companies in obtaining foreign   It will be critically important for FAA to follow  approvals of their products.through with its current and planned initiatives to increase the efficiency  and consistency of its certification processes, and its efforts to address  identified challenges faced by U.S. companies in obtaining foreign  approvals.
Why GAO Did This Study

FAA issues certificates for new U.S.-manufactured aviation products, based on federal aviation regulations. GAO has previously reviewed the efficiency of FAA's certification process and the consistency of its regulatory interpretations. As required by the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act, FAA chartered two aviation rulemaking committees in April 2012—one to improve certification processes and another to address regulatory consistency—that recommended improvements in 2012. FAA also assists U.S. aviation companies seeking approval of their FAA-certificated products in foreign markets. FAA has negotiated BASAs with many FCAAs to provide a framework for the reciprocal approval of aviation products. However, U.S. industry stakeholders have raised concerns that some countries conduct lengthy processes for approving U.S. products.
This testimony focuses on (1) FAA's reported progress in implementing the aviation rulemaking committees' 2012 recommendations regarding its certification process and the consistency of its regulatory interpretations and (2) the challenges that selected U.S. companies reported they have faced when attempting to obtain foreign approvals of their products, and how FAA is addressing some of the reported challenges. It is based on GAO products issued from 2010 to 2015, selectively updated in April 2015 based on FAA documents and information from FAA officials and selected industry stakeholders.

What GAO Found

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made progress in addressing the Certification Process and the Regulatory Consistency Committees' recommendations, but as GAO reported in January 2015, challenges remain that could affect successful implementation of FAA's planned actions.
FAA is implementing 14 initiatives for addressing 6 certification process recommendations. According to an April 2015 FAA update, 13 initiatives have been completed or are on track to be completed, and 1 will not meet planned milestones.
In January 2015, FAA published a detailed implementation plan for addressing six regulatory consistency recommendations. According to the plan, FAA closed two recommendations—one as not implemented and one as implemented in 2013—and plans to complete the remaining four by July 2016.
While FAA has made some progress, it is too soon for GAO to determine whether FAA's planned actions adequately address the recommendations. However, industry stakeholders indicated concerns regarding FAA's efforts, including concerns about a lack of communication with and involvement of stakeholders as FAA implements the two committees' recommendations. Since GAO reported in January 2015, FAA has been addressing these concerns.
In January 2015, GAO also reported that representatives of 15 selected U.S. aviation companies that GAO interviewed reported facing various challenges in obtaining foreign approvals of their products, including challenges related to foreign civil aviation authorities (FCAA) as well as challenges related to FAA.
Reported FCAA-related challenges related to (1) the length and uncertainty of some FCAA approval processes, (2) the lack of specificity and flexibility in some of FAA's bilateral aviation safety agreements (BASA) negotiated with FCAAs, (3) difficulty with or lack of FCAA communications, and (4) high fees charged by some FCAAs. Although FAA's authority to address some of these challenges is limited, FAA has been addressing many of them. For example, FAA created a certification management team with its three major bilateral partners to provide a forum for addressing approval process challenges, among other issues. FAA has also taken action to mitigate the challenges related to some BASAs by holding regular meetings with bilateral partners and adding dispute resolution procedures to some BASAs.