Australia’s Involvement in Multilateral Forum
Australia is working to promote the safety, security and efficiency of international air services in a number of multilateral organisations.
- ICAO the International Civil Aviation Organization
- WTO World Trade Organization
- APEC the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Transportation Working Group
- Asia Pacific Consultative Link
- Other useful international links
ICAO—International Civil Aviation Organization
ICAO is responsible for promoting the safety, regularity and efficiency of international civil aviation. Australia participated in the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, being one of the first States to ratify it, and has been a member since 1947 playing a major role its activities. For more details please visit International Civil Aviation Organization page.
Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program
In 1992 the 29th Session of the ICAO Assembly adopted a resolution to establish a safety oversight program. The program was established in an effort to address concerns that some of ICAOs Contracting States were not carrying out their oversight functions. For more details please visit the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program page.
WTO—World Trade Organization
Australia is working through the World Trade Organization to seek to bring international air services into the broader trading system.
Australia and several like minded countries, are seeking to clarify the inclusion of ground handling and airport operations into the Air Transport Services Annex of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The Annex outlines the air services that can be negotiated multilaterally. These services currently include:
- aircraft repair and maintenance services;
- selling and marketing of air transport services; and
- computer reservation system services.
The Australian Government believes that ground handling and airport operations are already tradeable in the GATS but are seeking to move beyond legal debate to provide certainty for WTO Members.
For further details, please visit the World Trade Organization website.
APEC Transportation Working Group (TWG)
Australia is working through the Transportation Working Group (TWG) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to further liberalise transport services in our region. We seek to enhance the safety of APEC Transport Systems in order to encourage economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Consistent with our mutual goals for liberalisation, Australia recently chaired a taskforce to draft the APEC Action Plan for the Liberalisation and Facilitation of Air Services. The Action Plan assesses the current extent of air services liberalisation globally and identifies the challenges faced by the Asia-Pacific region’s aviation sector in achieving liberalisation.
Find out more about the APEC Transportation Working Group.
Asia-Pacific Consultative Link
This site has been developed for Asia and Pacific Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to publish discussion topics for viewing and comment.
Link to Asia-Pacific Consultative Link external site.