National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory (NTSEL) announced that Osamu Iimura, president of NTSEL, signed a memorandum on comprehensive research cooperation related to automotive safety and environment with Stefan Strick, president of Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt, HP: http://www.bast.de/), which is a national laboratory for Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Development in Germany.

Since NTSEL provides technical and scientific support to the Japanese government's process of establishing automotive safety and environment standards, NTSEL needs to adequately cope with advanced automotive technology and international harmonization of regulations as a result of globalization of automotive industry. Based on these circumstances, NTSEL decided to establish a continuing and comprehensive cooperative relationship with BASt, a leading research institute in Germany, by signing an agreement that states information exchange on research and other cooperation.

Therefore, on January 21, 2014, NTSEL's president Iimura and BASt's president Strick signed a memorandum on research cooperation and exchanged opinions for a future cooperation.

Utilizing the cooperation and collaboration with BASt, NTSEL continues to contribute to better automotive safety and environment through our research on testing and evaluation methods.

From left to right: Osamu Iimura, president of NTSEL, and Stefan Strick, president of BASt.