JAPIA revised the Promotion Standards, etc. based on the Act for the Promotion of Small and Medium-Sized Subcontractors(Subcontract Act), which is administered by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency and in march 2017 compiled a "Voluntary Action Plan for the promotion of Proper Subcontracting Relations and improvement of Productivity and Added Value" (hereinafter referred to as the "Voluntary Action Plan") based on the "Guidelines for Proper Trading in the Automobile Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and has been revising the plan every year.

In order to widely disseminate the guidelines to those involved in the automotive industry and promote further proper subcontracting relations throughout the supply chain, the Association and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) co-hosted a total of eight seminars on "Guidelines for Proper Subcontracting Relations in the Automobile Industry and the Subcontract Act Seminar" at seven locations across Japan from July to September 2019.

At the seminar, an official from METI gave a presentation on the Guidelines and an attorney explained some important points to keep in mind in the practice of the Subcontract Act, which helped the participants to better understand the law.

In addition, in August 2019, METI launched the Council for the Promotion of Appropriate Mold Management (hereafter referred to as the Mold Council), consisting of industry, academia and government, to address the long-standing issue of proper mold management.

JAPIA member companies participated to the Mold Council as members to discuss issues related to the optimization of mold transaction. In December 2019, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency released a report containing the basic ideas and principles for the optimization of mold transactions.

We will continue to support our member companies to ensure that they steadily optimize their business dealings with regard to the items required in the report.

Our members play an important role in the midstream of the supply chain in the automotive industry, and we will continue to work with related organizations to promote initiatives based on the Mold Council Report and the Voluntary Action Plan.