NAN-H-71
ICAO
By Solomon Asowata
Lagos, Oct. 26, 2017 (NAN) The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on Thursday said aviation had a key role to play in combating terrorism and cross-border crime.
Dr Fang Liu, the ICAO’s Secretary-General, made the assertion at the ICAO’s 13th Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy Symposium in Montreal, Canada, made available on its website.
“The ICAO TRIP strategy reinforces the global line of defence against international terrorist movements, cross-border crime, and the many other threats to the safety and security of civil society and international aviation.
“The main part of our work in this area is conducted under Annex 9 to the Chicago Convention on Facilitation.
“Facilitation activities are strongly supportive of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the ICAO TRIP Strategy also significantly contributes to UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2309.”
According to her, this latest edition of the TRIP Symposium is seen as an important step in maintaining the global momentum on anti-terrorism priorities recently achieved through the UN Security Council (UNSC).
“Specifically, the Counter Terrorism Committee recognised the importance of national authorities sharing Advanced Passenger Information (API).
“And while many states have not yet introduced related API programmes, I would like to remind them all that API sharing became mandatory under ICAO Annex 9 as of Oct. 23 this year,’’ Liu noted.
She said states’ implementation of the TRIP strategy required coordinated action between many government and industry entities, adding that the implementation capacities, however, varied from government to government.
Liu said that ICAO and states were addressing this gap by fostering cooperation among both States and industry, intensifying coordination at regional, local levels, by mobilising donor contributions.
“Although more than 80 per cent of the e-Passports in global circulation are issued by States already participating in the Public Key Directory, many are still not taking advantage of it to authenticate the chip-based data,” she said.
NAN reports that the 2017 TRIP Symposium was centred around the theme: “Making Air Travel more Secure and Efficient”.
The event was attended by close 600 officials from 82 States and 14 international organisations.(NAN)
ASO/FLP/GY
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Edited by Folorunso Poroye/Grace Yussuf