(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
At today’s Cabinet meeting, the “Bill on the Implementation of the Agreement between Japan and Countries other than Japan regarding the Facilitation of Mutual Access and Cooperation between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Armed Forces of Countries other than Japan” was approved by the Cabinet. The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) is a bilateral agreement that facilitates activities by defining immigration procedures and the legal status of units when the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the armed forces of contracting countries visit the other country for cooperative activities, including joint exercises and disaster relief operations. This bill establishes domestic security measures to ensure the proper implementation of the RAA. Japan has concluded RAAs with Australia and the UK, and laws related to their implementation have been enacted respectively. On the other hand, Japan newly signed the RAA with the Philippines last July. Considering its contents, it can be said that the domestic security measures required for implementing RAAs have been standardized. Based on this, the bill integrates the existing laws on implementing the Japan-Australia RAA and Japan-UK RAA, and establishes common provisions for domestic security measures required by RAAs. As this bill is extremely important, we will continue to sincerely explain it, and make efforts for its early enactment in the Diet.