The Commissioner General of the National Police Agency meets with the head of the Korean National Police Agency

## 3 ) Cooperation with the Countries of Asia

### a. ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC+3)

AMMTC+3 Meetings have been held since 2004 featuring the participation of the security organizations of ASEAN nations, Japan, China and South Korea. The Chairman of National Public Safety Commission and leading members of the NPA participated in these meetings.

The fourth meeting was held in November 2009 in Cambodia. Each country recognized the importance of strengthening cooperation on international crime countermeasures in eight fields including terrorism, human trafficking, and cyber crime.

### b. ASEAN Chiefs of Police Conferences (ASEANAPOL)

ASEANAPOL was formed in 1980 in order to encourage interactions between police organizations in Southeast Asia. Japan began to participate in conferences as an observer during the 25 $ ^{th} $ Conference in 2005. At the 28 $ ^{th} $ Conference in 2008, Japan, along with China and South Korea, participated as “dialogue partners.”

The 29 $ ^{th} $ Conference was held in Hanoi, Vietnam in May 2009. Leading members of the NPA participated in this meeting which adopted a joint statement on regional cooperation against international crime.

### c. East Asia Organized Crime Response Conferences

In October 2009 the $ 6^{th} $ East Asia Organized Crime Response Conference was held in Tokyo, attracting the participation of 15 countries and regions. At the conference, in addition to exchanging information on the current state of organized crime and countermeasures being undertaken in East Asia, each participating organization was able to arouse a common understanding on issues and strengthen further cooperative ties with each organization.

## 4 ) Bilateral Cooperation

The NPA cooperates with the security organizations of other countries including those where a lot of international crimes take place and origin countries of foreign criminals caught in Japan. As needed, the NPA creates documents related to cooperation between police organizations in order to strengthen such relationships.

In March 2010 the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission met with the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for an exchange of opinions on the state of collaborative investigations. Additionally, the Commissioner General of the NPA visited the Republic of Korea to meet with the head of the Korean National Police Agency. The two reached an agreement on the building of cooperative relationships for dealing with new security issues caused by the “globalization of crimes” and other matters.

## (3) Helping to Plan for Treaty Signings

As the mutual legal assistance treaty (agreement) and the extradition treaty are often effective over the course of international criminal investigations, the NPA takes part in negotiations on the conclusion of these treaties (agreements). Discussion is proceeding with relevant organizations on the conclusion of treaties focusing on countries and regions that Japan has not concluded such treaties with but where requests for legal assistance and extradition will be highly necessary in the future in consideration of the laws and institutions of the concerned country.

To date, mutual legal assistance treaties have been signed with the United States, the Republic of Korea, China and Hong Kong, and approval has been issued for the signing of treaties with Russia and the European Union (EU) in April 2010.

The extradition treaty obligates concerned countries to mutually extradite criminals, excluding certain cases, in order to thoroughly track down and arrest criminals when they flee the country after they have committed a crime in Japan. This treaty has been signed with the United States and the Republic of Korea.