The identification of pragmatic solutions to current travel document and related facilitation and security challenges was a major outcome of 12th Annual ICAO Traveller Identity Programme (TRIP) Symposium – the world’s foremost travel document security and travel identification event which was attended by over 550 participants at ICAO Headquarters.
A particular focus was placed on identity and document fraud, which presents serious and persistent challenges which the ICAO TRIP is designed to address.
“The ICAO TRIP strategy continues to support the fight against terrorism, cross-border crime and other threats against civil aviation,” stressed ICAO Air Transport Bureau Director, Mr. Boubacar Djibo, during his opening address to the Symposium participants.
ICAO works closely with many leading organizations that play a key role in this field, such as INTERPOL and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN aviation agency continues to encourage States to come together at the regional and sub-regional levels to agree on action plans to implement travel facilitation programmes, including all of the elements of the TRIP strategy.
Another key issue stressed at this year’s Symposium referred to the need for Member States to join and benefit from ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD), which provides the most secure and cost-effective means for sharing up-to-date, globally trusted and validated public encryption keys that enable the verification and authentication of ePassports. Encrypted PKD validation is an essential element in the fight against terrorist mobility and other forms of transnational crime, and maximizes the benefits of ePassport technology.
