Montréal, 8 February 2022 – ICAO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have completed new digital air cargo technical specifications guidance that will help to accelerate the transition towards safer and more resilient supply chains, while making important contributions to COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
The digital innovations will permit the air transport sector to transition away from long-standing paper-based documents used to facilitate the movement of global air freight, promoting a contactless air cargo environment and greater cross-border trade resilience in the face of future pandemic threats.
In line with the recommendations of the ICAO Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), the specifications will help reduce physical contact among international trade and transport professionals, and in so doing better protect the fluidity of cross-border trade and international transport operations from pandemic-related restrictions.
“The latest innovations reflect ICAO’s integrated, collaborative, and multilateral approach to transport policies encompassing air cargo and mail supply chains, and will play an important part in addressing both current and future pandemic risks,” highlighted ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar. “It’s our expectation that they will help address the tremendous double strain now being placed on global supply chains, whether by the COVID-19 pandemic itself, or the incredible surge in international e-commerce which has accompanied it.”
“The pandemic has clearly demonstrated the value of harmonized approaches to ensure resilient transport connectivity across all modes, and has further underscored the critical role of accelerated digitalization. I am proud of the contribution of the practical tools developed with the support of UNECE’s United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT). UNECE looks forward to building on this successful cooperation with ICAO for seamless multimodal transport and trade to drive countries’ sustainable socioeconomic recovery efforts”, said UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova.
These latest results will see digital specifications replacing the formerly paper-based Air Waybill (AWB), Dangerous Goods Declaration (DGD), and the Consignment Security Declaration (CSD). These in turn form part of a broader suite of deliverables for multimodal transport data sharing, applicable to air, road, rail, maritime, and inland water transport.
The specifications and supporting materials are available free of charge to regulators, businesses, and other interested stakeholders through the UNDA COVID-19 Trade and Transport Project website, and ICAO and the UNECE will now turn their focus to assisting countries with implementing them.
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A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created by governments in 1944 to support their diplomacy on international air transport matters. Since that time, countries have adopted over 12,000 standards and practices through ICAO which help to align their national regulations relevant to aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, enabling a truly global network to be realized. ICAO forums also provide opportunities for advice and advocacy to be shared with government decision-makers by industry groups, civil society NGOs, and other officially-recognized air transport stakeholders.
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