Background
At the strategic level, the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) and Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) provide a global framework for the safety and air navigation systems. The regional planning and implementation process is the principal engine of ICAO’s work programme on safety and air navigation systems and takes place with the assistance of ICAO’s Regional Offices located in Bangkok, Cairo, Dakar, Lima, Mexico, Nairobi and Paris. It is here that the top-down approach comprising global guidance and regional harmonization measures converge with the bottom-up approach constituted by national planning by States.
PIRGs: The development of regional plans for air navigation systems, on the basis of GANP, is undertaken by ICAO’s six planning and implementation regional groups which are: APANPIRG (ASIA/PAC Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group), APIRG (Africa-Indian Ocean Planning and Implementation Regional Group), EANPG (European Air Navigation Planning Group), GREPECAS (CAR/SAM Planning and Implementation Regional Group), MIDANPIRG (Middle East Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group) and NATSPG (North Atlantic Systems Planning Group). These PIRGs were established by the ICAO Council in the 1980s and 1990s.
RASGs: Recognizing that there was no regional group to serve as harmonizer for all safety issues, the ICAO Council in 2010 established Regional Aviation Safety Groups (RASGs).The RASG will develop and implement a work programme that supports a regional performance framework for the management of safety on the basis of the GASP. The RASG will build on the work already done by States, existing sub regional organizations such as the Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programmes (COSCAPs) and Regional Safety Oversight Organizations (RSOOs) and support the establishment and operation of a performance-based safety system for the region. The following RASGs have been established: Regional Aviation Safety Group – Europe (RASG-EUR); Regional Aviation Safety Group – Asia Pacific (RASG-APAC); Regional Aviation Safety Group – Africa (RASG-AFI); Regional Aviation Safety Group – Middle East (RASG-MID) and the Regional Aviation Safety Group – Pan America (RASG-PA).
Purpose of PIRG-RASG Global Coordination Meeting
The President of ICAO Council has invited the Chairs and Secretaries of PIRGs and RASGs for a Global Coordination Meeting, which will be held at the ICAO Headquarters in Montréal on 19 March 2013. The main objective of the meeting is to exchange views on the readiness and ability of the PIRGs and RASGs to set priorities and targets in line with the new versions of the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) and Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) which will both be presented at the upcoming Assembly for endorsement. A secondary objective is to share the best practices of each of the PIRGs and RASGs among the various regions and groups to ensure the best possible synergy. The need for this synergy was recently stressed again during the recent Twelfth Air Navigation Conference (AN-Conf/12) held last year.
