Japan-EU Cooperation Advances on JC-STAR and the CRA
Overview
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), in collaboration with JBCE, the StandICT.eu Secretariat, and European cybersecurity experts, are stepping up comparison and analysis of the frameworks and security requirements of JC-STAR and the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). JBCE and StandICT.eu signed a memorandum of cooperation on October 26, 2026. The parties aim to clarify commonalities and differences between the two frameworks, facilitate Japanese companies’ compliance with international regimes, and help raise the global level of cybersecurity measures for IoT products.
Key points
- JBCE and StandICT.eu signed a memorandum of cooperation to strengthen collaboration on comparing and analyzing JC-STAR and the CRA.
- METI and IPA are participating and stepping up comparison and analysis of the two frameworks.
- The parties aim to clarify commonalities and differences between the two frameworks, facilitate companies’ compliance with regulatory regimes, and help raise the global level of cybersecurity measures.
Overview
As IoT products become more widespread and cyberattacks exploiting vulnerabilities increase, countries are developing security frameworks. JC-STAR provides the framework in Japan, while the CRA does so in the EU.
On October 26, 2026, in Brussels, JBCE, which operates the CRA-JC-STAR Technical Working Group (TWG), and the StandICT.eu Secretariat, which receives EU funding, signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation within the TWG.
Impact
The cooperation under the memorandum is expected to clarify commonalities and differences and help create an environment in which Japanese companies can efficiently meet domestic and international requirements. Through continued collaboration, the parties aim to facilitate companies’ compliance with international regimes and help raise the global level of cybersecurity measures for IoT products.
Details
METI and IPA participate in the TWG, where Japanese and EU experts compare and analyze the frameworks and specific security requirements while respecting the regulatory autonomy of each jurisdiction. JBCE and StandICT.eu support the identification of similarities and differences in the requirements and encourage expert dialogue through meetings and ongoing exchanges.
Ahead of this cooperation, comparison workshops were held under the INSTAR framework on November 10, 2025, January 27, 2026, and June 9, 2026, and under the StandICT.eu framework on September 14, 2026. JC-STAR began mutual recognition with the UK PSTI Act in January 2026 and with Singapore’s CLS in June 2026. The parties will continue advancing policies to promote IoT products that account for security measures from the design stage, as well as information sharing with countries and relevant organizations.