Contribution to Global Security, Counter Terrorism and UN Security Council Resolutions
ICAO cooperated with various United Nations Offices, Directorates and Specialized Agencies (and other international organizations) to fulfil the commitments defined in the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Cooperative activities are directly related to aviation security and facilitation, identity, and border control management as described in UN Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), 2309 (2016), 2341 (2017), 2395 (2017), 2396 (2017) and 2482 (2019). ICAO is a member of Counter-Terrorism Global Compact and actively participated in the work of Border management and Law enforcement relating to
Counter-Terrorism and Emerging threats and critical infrastructure protection working groups.
ICAO assisted UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) through participation in country on-site visits to evaluate UN States’ implementation of civil aviation counter-terrorism related resolutions and determine the efficacy of States’ aviation statutes, regulations, and policies
On 2 December 2020, the ICAO Secretary General addressed the UN CTC during a Virtual Open Briefing on “Terrorist threats to civil aviation, the status of implementation of Security Council resolution 2309 (2016), and follow-up to the civil aviation-related provisions of Council resolution 2396 (2017)”. The meeting, which was webcast, showcased the importance of aviation security and border security-related aspects, and informed ICAO’s role in contributing to counter-terrorism efforts within the framework of UN and other bodies (e.g. UN CTED and UNOCT).
UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2396 (2017) urged ICAO to work with its Member States to establish a standard for the collection, use, processing and protection of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, an important tool in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. The Air Transport Committee established a PNR Task Force in March 2019 to review the existing Standards and Recommended Practices on PNR contained in Annex 9 –
Facilitation, and to develop proposals for revised or new Standards and Recommended Practices for the use of PNR in accordance with UNSCR 2396. The Task Force’s proposals were considered by the Facilitation Panel at its Eleventh Meeting (FALP/11) from 13-16 January 2020. The Air Transport Committee endorsed these proposals at the Second Meeting of its 219th Session on 7 February 2020, and which were sent to Member States for comments. Following comments by Member States, relevant international organizations and Secretariat recommendations, the Air Transport Committee at the Second Meeting of its 2020 Session, recommended adoption by the Council. Amendment 28 to Annex 9 – Facilitation was adopted by the Council at the Tenth Meeting of its 220th Session on 23 June 2020, and notified States through State letter EC 6/3 20/71 (17 July 2020). Amendment 28 became effective on 30 October 2020, and applicable on 28 February 2021. The new and revised PNR SARPs establish a global regulatory framework for the collection, use, processing and protection of PNR data while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, in line with UNSCR 2396.
Additionally, ICAO signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), aimed at building Member State capacity to prevent, detect and investigate terrorist offenses and other serious crimes, through the collection and analysing of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, as required by ICAO Annex 9 –
Facilitation and under UN Security Council resolutions 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017) and 2482 (2019). This new agreement is critical to ICAO’s efforts to collaborate under the UNOCT-led Countering Terrorist Travel Programme, in partnership with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Office of Information and Communication Technology (OICT), and The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
