Japan and Germany have effectively agreed to conclude an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, or ACSA, to strengthen security cooperation between the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the German military.

The agreement will allow Japan's SDF and the German military to reciprocally provide each other with supplies, such as food, fuel, and ammunition during drills and in the event of a major disaster as well as transportation and other services.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had planned to meet on the sidelines of the COP28 meeting in the United Arab Emirates to reach an agreement to conclude the ACSA.
But they instead released a written agreement after their meeting was cancelled due to an inconvenience on the German side.

Both governments plan to proceed with preparations to formally sign the ACSA.

Japan has concluded similar pacts with the United States, Australia, India and three other countries.