In response to the unprecedented terrorist attack on civil aviation on 11 September 2001, the Emergency Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government charged Directors of Civil Aviation of the Caribbean Community to assess the integrity of the security systems at the various airports in the Region, as well as the status of implementation of the international standards and recommended practices relating to aviation security and to make recommendations where necessary.
All the Directorates had undertaken extensive reviews of the systems and initiated changes including increases in the number of security personnel and restrictions in access to secure areas.
A Meeting of Technical Directors and Directors of Civil Aviation was held at the Headquarters of the Community in Georgetown, Guyana on 23-24 November 2001.
The Meeting received Evaluation Reports on the integrity of national airport security systems and national plans to address deficiencies. The Directors agreed on a number of areas in which they would coordinate initiatives to strengthen security systems, including the sharing of information and intelligence, the delivery of training and the provision of assistance to enable Member States to be fully compliant with international aviation safety standards. It was also agreed to seek the assistance of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in upgrading the systems.
The Meeting welcomed the signing by Trinidad and Tobago during the course of the Meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding between Civil Aviation Authorities of the Caribbean Community concerning the Establishment and Operation of an Association of Civil Aviation Authorities of the Caribbean. The Memorandum institutionalizes the commitment of CARICOM States to cooperate the orderly and safe development of civil aviation in the Region consistent with standards and recommended practices established by ICAO, and the need for a harmonised approach in promoting regional aviation safety oversight. All the Directorates of Civil Aviation of CARICOM States, except The Bahamas and the Directorate of Haiti, are now Members of the Association.
The Directorate of Jamaica will provide an interim Coordinator and office facilities to facilitate the immediate launching of the regional safety oversight mechanism. The Jamaica Director General of Civil Aviation was appointed Chairman of the First Meeting of Technical Directors and Directors of Civil Aviation.
The Meeting recognized that the continuous upgrading of the security system will require significant investment in surveillance and other security equipment, in training and in recruiting new highly skilled personnel, in the development of legislation regulation and systems, and in strengthening management. In this regard, they gave special consideration to the establishment of a Special Regional Aviation Security Fund, promoted by the Special Meeting of the Conference, to finance, for example, the implementation of regional security control systems, training, the upgrading of aviation legislation and immediate aviation security measures which States might be required to implement as a result of new and more stringent international aviation security standards which will most definitely be established by ICAO to combat terrorist acts against civil aviation. The Meeting proposed that financing for the Fund be sought from such sources as commercial aviation companies which have a particular interest in regional aviation security, and possibly surplus funds of States held by ICAO, but recommended that Member States inaugurate the Fund with whatever resources they have.
In seeking to identify possible sources of finance for priority national and regional security initiatives it was decided that immediate steps should be taken to enable Member States to access grant resources of approximately US$15 to US$20 million facility from the Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB which would be made available next year to Latin American and Caribbean States to strengthen their institutional and regulatory aviation security framework.
The Meeting reviewed the participation of Member States in International Conventions. It noted that most Member States were parties to the key international law instruments dealing with acts of unlawful interference with international civil aviation. Member States which have not done so were urged to become parties as soon as possible to these instruments, as well as the 1999 Montreal Convention which limits air carrier liability in the case of death or injury to passengers and damage to baggage and cargo on international flights.
The Meeting agreed on a strategy for the development of a regional position on issues of regional interest which will be addressed by a proposed High Level Ministerial Conference which ICAO has been mandated to convene, possibly, during the first quarter of 2002. It was noted that this global Conference will seek to develop an Action Plan to address the new threat to civil aviation, including a review of the current international aviation security standards and recommended practices and the possible application of these standards and recommended practices to domestic aviation.
The Meeting noted the resolve of the Directorates to activate the regional mechanism to provide support for national safety oversight programmes and to have all countries achieve Category I status in the shortest time.
