Montréal, 02 February 2017 – Representatives of 25 countries gathered in Antigua and Barbuda this week for the latest ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy Seminar.
Hosted by the Ministry of Public Utilities, Civil Aviation and Transportation of Antigua and Barbuda, the event’s primary goal was to improve identity management and travel document security systems and processes.
ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu delivered the opening address to the 180 government and industry seminar participants in attendance, acknowledging that global implementation of ICAO’s related Security and Facilitation provisions must be augmented.
“The ICAO TRIP strategy is designed to assist States in enhancing the fight against terrorism, reducing cross-border crime, and combating various threats to international civil aviation,” he highlighted. “It supports efforts relating to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2309, as well as State capacities relating to the establishment, protection, and management of citizen identity to permit more dependably secure travel document production and border control systems.”
With on-site support from ICAO technical experts, delegates to the Antigua and Barbuda TRIP Seminar learned to improve their identification management systems by establishing robust evidence of identity and citizenship processes. These in turn help to strengthen passport issuance processes in compliance with ICAO’s related standards and specifications.
Participants also gained new insights into how to improve the throughput of their border control systems by increasing the number of Automated Border Control (ABC) gates, and learned how ePassport features in conjunction with Advanced Passenger Information (API) can greatly aid in combating terrorism and trans-border crime.
President Aliu also drew attention to the benefits of ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) membership in his address, emphasizing that it is essential if States wish to capitalize on the full security and facilitation benefits that ePassports are meant to deliver. PKD membership enables States to fully benefit from ePassport chip-based security features, and are key to hindering the movements of international terrorists.
“Going forward, more intensified advocacy efforts are needed to underscore the role of the PKD as a fundamental contributor to effective border integrity,” he stressed.
The ICAO Seminar was arranged to be conducted back-to-back with an ICAO TRIP Workshop on Border Control Management in the Caribbean Region, where officials from 13 States will be on hand. Supported by the Government of Canada, the Workshop will be conducted in partnership with the United Nations’ Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), and with the collaboration of additional international organizations.
“These cooperative efforts are fully in-line with ICAO’s No Country Left Behind objectives,” President Aliu highlighted, referencing ICAO’s ongoing global effort to provide comprehensive assistance and capacity-building to States in aid of the more effective implementation of the UN agency’s global Standards and policies.
Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde, UN CTED Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director, added that the Executive Directorate “fully supports the ICAO TRIP Strategy and its aim to develop a holistic and systematic model for traveller-identification management. This ensures that all States have the capacity to verify the identity of individuals prior to the issuance of secure travel documents, compliant with international standards.”
Resources for Editors
ICAO Security and Facilitation programmes and policies
The ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD)
ICAO API Guidelines
ICAO TRIP Seminar on machine readable travel documents and traveller identification management
ICAO’s and Aviation’s Contributions to the UN SDGs
About ICAO
A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States.
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William Raillant-Clark
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