(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The newly launched Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) on Friday afternoon wrapped up its first Board of Directors Meeting with plans to tackle administrative issues to ensure that by March the entity would be well set to begin its work.
Mr. Anthony Archer, Chairman of CASSOS and Director of Civil Aviation, Barbados, said “bread and butter” matters now had to be dealt with, including organizing and approving the structure of the newest Caribbean Community (CARICOM) institution, and developing and approving the terms of reference for various personnel in that structure.
Prior to the meeting in March, Members of the Board of Directors will network to advance the processes.
“There’s a lot of hard work for all of us,” he pointed out, since in addition to establishing CASSOS administratively and pursuing its objectives, they will be performing their routine duties as Directors of Civil Aviation, including preparation for the mandatory safety assessment audits done by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on the basis of its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP); and the audits done by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the basis of its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Programme.
Mr. Archer, who was the outgoing Chairman of the Regional Aviation Safety Oversight System (RASOS), was elected to head CASSOS at the two-day meeting of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ramesh Lutchmedial, Director General, Civil Aviation Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, was elected Vice Chairman.
Among the matters the new Board of Directors dealt with were the safety related deficiencies identified as a result of audits done by Member States. Among these were inadequate aviation legislation and qualified personnel. Member States need to upgrade their legislation and pool of qualified personnel to enable them to satisfactorily meet the standards established by the ICAO, and the demands of aviation safety and security in the Region.
Mr. Archer said that in this regard, CASSOS would supplement the efforts of Member States at the national level and enable those States to satisfactorily implement Action Plans to correct deficiencies identified during audits since “resources are pooled and we all share in this pool.”
Over the past ten years, four of the seven RASOS civil aviation authorities achieved or retained Category 1 Status. One state is nearing the attainment of Category 1 and the remaining two are working towards that status. The seven active members of the now defunct RASOS are Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
The FAA assigns a Category I status to States which it assesses as being in full compliance with the aviation safety standards established by ICAO. States that are assessed not to be in full compliance with those standards are assigned a Category II status.
Airlines of States with a Category II rating are restricted in their operations to and from United States destinations and therefore are at a competitive disadvantage to those airlines of States with a Category I rating.
The Hon. Samuel Hinds, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guyana, launched CASSOS on Wednesday last. CASSOS, which replaces the more informal arrangement of the seven Regional Aviation Safety Oversight System (RASOS) national civil aviation authorities, provides the platform for establishing a Regional Civil Aviation Authority. Its primary objectives are to:
• assist States Parties in meeting their obligations as contracting States to the Chicago Convention by achieving and maintaining full compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and recommended practices
• facilitate and promote the development and harmonization of civil aviation regulations, standards, practices and procedures amongst its States Parties consistent with the Annexes to the Chicago Convention
Apart from its primary objectives, CASSOS will be the main forum through which its States Parties will harmonise and update their civil aviation safety and security regulations. It will also promote the interest of the States Parties in regional and international aviation fora;
CASSOS is open to all CARICOM Member States and Associate Members and other States and Territories in the Caribbean subject to certain conditions. In the latter case, the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) – to which the Board of CASSOS will report annually – will decide the terms and conditions of membership of the latter category.
The launch on Wednesday attracted Directors of Civil Aviation from across the Caribbean Community as well as representatives from several aviation and Government agencies including regional airlines, CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), ICAO, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Security Administration (TSA) as well as the East African Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA).
Following the launch, there were presentations from the outgoing Coordinator of RASOS, ICAO, and US FAA/TSA.
