The Federal Aviation Administration has formally entered rulemaking to expand mutual recognition of international maintenance organization certificates through bilateral aviation safety agreements, responding to a years-long industry push to reduce duplicative regulatory oversight costs for US and foreign repair stations.
FAA Flight Standards Service General Aviation Group Manager Chris Parfitt confirmed the action during the Aeronautical Repair Station Association Annual Symposium in March 2026. The proposed rule would allow the FAA to recognize foreign repair station certificates when those organizations are covered under existing bilateral agreements, ending a practice that required the FAA to issue its own approvals even for shops in countries with established aviation safety pacts.
Currently, only Canada benefits from this type of mutual recognition under Part 43 of FAA regulations. All other countries, including EU member states, must obtain a separate FAA certificate even when covered by bilateral agreements that already accept equivalent regulatory standards.
An ARSA-led coalition of 14 organizations petitioned the FAA in 2020 to initiate formal rulemaking on the issue. The group estimated that eliminating duplicative certifications and audits would reduce industry costs significantly while redirecting FAA resources toward operational safety oversight activities rather than redundant certification processes.
Source: Aviation Week Network -- https://aviationweek.com/mro/safety-ops-regulation/faa-broaden-mutual-recognition-mro-approvals