Cooperation with other International bodies
ICAO continues to work with other international bodies as part of its Standards development process and, increasingly, as part of the implementation process. Of particular note during this reporting period was a Standards Round-table meeting held on the margins of AN-Conf/13. As part of the discussion, the meeting looked to further the concept of “ICAO-ready SARPs” and has progressed some work items to that effect.
In the area of air cargo and mail security, ICAO continued its commitment to work with international bodies, notably the WCO and the UPU, as well as industry partners. In March 2018, the first meeting of the ICAO-UPU Contact Committee took place at the UPU headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, thereby further strengthening the cooperation between ICAO and UPU in the field of air cargo and mail security and safety. Cooperation with WCO further continued on the topics of mutual recognition possibilities of the Customs Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) system and Regulated Agents/Known Consignors and of Pre-Loading Advance Cargo Information (PLACI).
The ICAO Secretariat assisted the African Union (AU) in building guidelines for the design, production and issuance of the African Passport in the framework of the protocol to treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to free movement of persons, right of residence and right of establishment.
ICAO also coordinated with the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airport Council International (ACI) regarding their respective initiatives on seamless travel and digitalization processes, in order to ensure that the governance stays under the work developed by ICAO on Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) matters. An ICAO document policy was endorsed and the ISO was tasked to develop the relevant specifications.
