With three years of experience in establishing and administering the safety oversight programme behind it, ICAO is now examining ways to improve the implementation of safety-related SARPs and the programme as a whole. Future developments What ICAO intends to do in the months ahead is to make the programme more effective by introducing the concept of universal, mandatory safety audits as well as improve on the monitoring and reporting of differences and compliance with the SARPs. The objective would be to ascertain those departures from SARPs which have not previously been brought to ICAO's attention. Assistance in correcting any deficiencies or differences would be offered. The mandatory audit would be carried out on ICAO's initiative but, of course, only with the State's consent, as the sovereignty of States must be fully respected.
Sovereignty is always a sensitive issue.
In this instance, however, the aviation community supports the concept of mandatory audits as it recognizes that the need for improvement in safety oversight is global. The problem is not limited to a region or a nation. A system of audits related to the implementation of safety-related SARPs would not represent an infringement on State sovereignty, bearing in mind the fundamental importance attached to safety by the Chicago Convention, and provided that the system itself is agreed upon in advance by the member States. ICAO is examining three possibilities for obtaining consent from States for introducing a system of audits. A universal audit programme conducted under the auspices of ICAO would offer many benefits.