Global Air Navigation Priorities
Planning
Implementation
Emergency Response
Other Activities
Technical Cooperation and Assistance Projects (TCB)
Planning
Air Navigation Work Programme
In November, the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) reviewed and approved proposed amendments to the Air Navigation (AN) work programme. The AN work programme contains a detailed look ahead (to the year 2020 and beyond) at the work programme deliverables and elements associated with the various panels and other expert groups in the areas of aviation safety and air navigation capacity and efficiency, consistent with the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP, Doc 10004) and the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP, Doc 9750).
Standards for Standards
In November, the ANC reviewed and approved the first edition of a guide on the drafting of Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and procedures (so-called “Standards for Standards”). Mindful that the development of SARPs, Procedures for Air Navigation Services (PANS) and other ICAO provisions is one of the core missions of the Organization, and critical to Member States and other stakeholders in the interest of promoting the standardization of functional and performance requirements, safety, efficiency and orderly development of air transport, ICAO is required to ensure that its provisions are clear and consistent.
To this end, and drawing on inspiration from a number of existing reference materials and available expertise, the guide (developed by an ad hoc working group of the ANC) assists those involved in the development of SARPs and PANS by providing guidelines on, inter alia, the structure and components of ICAO provisions, the different types of Standards used, and the appropriate formulation of provisions.
The guide, available to panels and expert groups, the ANC and the Secretariat via the ICAO Secure Portal, will be maintained into 2016 and beyond as a living document, and reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure its continued utility based on lessons learned and experiences gained.
Standards-making Organizations
In relation to resolutions of the 37th and 38th Sessions of the Assembly as well as recommendations of the Twelfth Air Navigation Conference (AN-Conf/12, 2012), during the course of 2015 the Air Navigation Bureau led coordination and collaboration with other recognized standards-making organizations (SMOs), including but not limited to the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE), the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), with a view to making the best use of the capabilities of the SMOs and to make reference to their material, where appropriate, in the ICAO provisions, particularly in the context of SMO technical specifications fulfilling ICAO performance-based requirements in the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and in the PANS. The coordination and collaboration, which involves the Secretariat of the participant SMOs as well as members of the ANC, will continue into 2016 as discussions progress on topics including an ICAO standardization roadmap, ICAO performance-based Standards, recognition of SMOs, and verification and validation of SMO technical specifications.
