Role of International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a United Nations specialized agency, created in 1944 in Chicago upon the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). ICAO works with the Convention’s 191 Member States and global aviation organizations to develop international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) which States reference when developing their legally enforceable national civil aviation regulations.
There are currently over 10 000 SARPs reflected in the 19 Annexes to the Chicago Convention which ICAO oversees, and it is through these provisions – as well as ICAO’s complementary policy, auditing and capacity-building efforts – that today’s global air transport network is able to operate close to 100,000 daily flights, safely, efficiently and securely in every region of the world.
Continuing Monitoring Approach
To determine the safety oversight capabilities of its member States, ICAO carries out continuous
monitoring activities to:
1. Assess the effective implementation by the States of the eight CEs in eight audit areas, namely
LEG, ORG, PEL, OPS, AIR, AIG, ANS and AGA (Fig. 1-2), using a set of Protocol Questions
(PQs) for each audit area;
2. Verify the status of the States’ implementation of:
(a) Safety-related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs);
(b) Associated procedures;
(c) Guidance material; and
(d) Best safety practices.
The USOAP CMA has four components (Fig. 1-3) integral to the continuous monitoring by ICAO of
the safety oversight capabilities of its Member States:
1) Safety information is collected through Member States and various internal and external
stakeholders.
2) This information is analyzed to determine the safety risk profile of each State.
3) Based on the risk profile, ICAO selects and prioritizes the States which will receive
corresponding USOAP CMA activities.
4) The results of the USOAP activities lead to updates of the Effective Implementation (EI) value
of the States on the USOAP CMA online framework.
