THE POSTAL HISTORY OF ICAO

Annex 9 – Facilitation

Developed by ICAO, the International Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in the nineteen Technical Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (also called Chicago Convention) are applied universally and produce a high degree of technical uniformity which has enabled international civil aviation to develop in a safe, orderly and efficient manner.

Facilitation is best described as the simplification of the formalities involved in moving an aircraft and its contents across international boundaries. The importance of international trade and air transport, including aviation and the related documentary requirements at national boundaries, had already been of concern in the interwar period. Article 23(e) of the Covenant of the League of Nations (signed in 1919) required that each member make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all Members of the League. The rapid growth in communications and transit, by land, sea and air, has led to expanding technical activities of the League regarding those issues; thus, the League created in 1921 its Organization for Communication and Transit. In order not to duplicate work with the International Commission on Air Navigation (ICAN), the above-mentioned Organization of the League restricted its efforts to surface transport and barriers to the free movement of persons, whereas the Convention Relating to the Regulation of Air Navigation (i.e., the 1919 Paris Convention) addressed the problems facing the international travel by air under its Annex H (titled Customs).

Several articles in the Chicago Convention signed in 1944 are directly devoted to the facilitation of air transport. For instance, Article 10 specifies that every aircraft entering the territory of another Contracting State must land and take off from airports designated by that State in order to comply with custom examinations. Article 11 provides that an aircraft entering or leaving a particular Contracting State must comply with the laws and regulations related to admission and departure thereof.  By Article 22, Contracting States have agreed to adopt all practicable measures to facilitate and expedite the navigation of aircraft between their territories, avoiding unnecessary delays to aircraft, crews, passengers, and cargo, specifically when applying laws relating to immigration, quarantine, and customs.

It is evident that an important element of meeting the world’s needs for air transport is to make air transport as easy as possible for the world to use. To this end, the Interim Council of PICAO established a Customs Sub-committee under the aegis of the Air Navigation Committee (ANC); it was transferred on 21 November 1945 to the Air Transport Committee (ATC) and changed its name to Sub-committee on Facilitation of International Air Transport (FAL); by decision of the Interim Council on 30 November 1945, the technical sub-committees were renamed Divisions. PICAO had already recognized the pressing need for recommendations to streamline the burgeoning field of international air travel.

Annex 9 - Facilitation

The FAL Division (known as FAL/1) met for the first time in Montréal from 24 January to 2 February 1946 and established a set of provisional standards designed to standardize procedures and minimize government documentary requirements for aircraft entering foreign territories. When ICAO replaced PICAO in April 1947, the Facilitation Division’s work continued. As directed by the First Assembly of ICAO (held in May 1947), the ICAO Secretariat prepared a draft set of International Standards and Recommended Practices on Facilitation taking into account the comments of the Contracting States on the existing FAL recommendations. This draft was submitted to the May-June 1948 large-scale 2^nd meeting of the FAL Division (FAL/2); the final report of this meeting set up recommendations for international standards which were adopted, with certain changes, by the Council of ICAO, as Annex 9 – Standards and Recommended Practices for the Facilitation of International Air Transport (later shortened to Facilitation with the Fifth Edition of the Annex which became effective on 1 April 1964) to the Chicago Convention, on 25 March 1949; they became effective on 1 September 1949, signifying the dawn of a new era in international air transport.

It was a monumental achievement that streamlined and standardized procedures, simplifying the complexities associated with crossing international borders. On 1 March 1950, Annex 9 became applicable, cementing its impact on international air travel. 

The regulations proposed in Annex 9 reconcile the two greatest necessities of simplification and standardization to the greatest possible extent; they meant definitive saving in time to the airline management and money to the air transport operator. Annex 9 had eight appendices of standard forms to be used for entry and clearance of aircraft, crews, passengers and cargo.

The FAL Division established a practice of convening in different parts of the world. The third session of the FAL Division held in 1951 agreed at the outset that further experience should be gained by both governments and airline operators in the application of the present provisions of Annex 9 before any major change were made in the methods or techniques upon which they were based. The meeting ended with approving nine important recommendations for submission to the ICAO Council; the meeting also recommended the establishment of special FAL committees within certain regions which face particular conditions.

The 4^th meeting of the FAL Division held in 1955 recommended 52 changes to the International Standards and Recommended Practices on Facilitation and made 17 other recommendations also designed to reduce red tape involved in border crossing. They include the adoption of a policy aimed at the early elimination of the Passenger Manifest and the later elimination of the embarkation/disembarkation card; the amendments will assist the operation of non-scheduled aircraft, for they simplify existing requirements for these aircraft to give notice of arrival in foreign countries and to receive prior permission for their flights. The meeting arrived at a definition of the term tourist and took action to simplify the problems of visas and to re-define the terms of free airport and free zone.

The growing interest in facilitation and increasing awareness of its importance were reflected in the unusual large attendance at the 5^th Session of the Facilitation Division, which was held at the FAO Headquarters in Rome in 1959. It is to be noted that 45 Contracting States had notified the Organization of the extent to which they were implementing the provisions of the third edition of Annex 9, twice as many as had given such notification in regard to the second edition of Annex 9 before the Fourth Session of the FAL Division. The meeting made 55 recommendations for the amendment of Annex 9 (A-type), the most important being for the elimination of the Passenger Manifest and of visas for tourists and other temporary visitors, for the simplification of the General Declaration, for the acceptance by States of an oral baggage declaration, for the elimination of outbound baggage inspection, for the abolition of tax clearance certificates, for the clearance of inbound cargo on a sampling or selective basis, and for the introduction of provisions designed to speed the flow of all types of traffic through airports and to provide the maximum facilitation for passengers transferring, or cargo transshipped, from one flight to another at the same or another airport in a State. The Division also made twelve other recommendations on matters outside the present scope of Annex 9 (B-type).

Recommendations which resulted in more nations abolishing visa requirements for temporary visitors and easing other border formalities were made at the 6^th Session of the Facilitation Division held in 1963. The recommendation of chief significance to air passengers is one which aims at encouraging states to waive visa requirements for travellers entering their territories for not more than a tree-month stay for legitimate non-immigration purposes. The high speed of the large passenger jet aircraft spurred the Division to renew its efforts to cut down the ground time of a journey. After consideration by the ATC and the Council, a major rearrangement of Annex 9 was recommended, including the introduction of a new chapter on facilities and services for traffic and international airports.

Attendance at the 7^th Session of the FAL Division in 1968 reached a record; the meeting discussed in detail the facilitation problems expected to arise at many international airports within the following years as a result of continually increasing traffic and the introduction of high-capacity and supersonic aircraft. The Division made 22 recommendations for amendments to Annex 9, and 21 which did not affect this Annex.

The 8^th Session of the FAL Division met in 1973 and adopted 34 A-type recommendations concerning amendments to Annex 9 and 19 B-type recommendations to further ease and develop international air transport, made necessary by the immense upsurge of air travellers, baggage and freight.

Experts in customs, immigration, airport management and airlines attended in 1979 the 9^th Session of the FAL Division to seek ways and means of speeding the flow of passengers, baggage and freight at airports. This Session took place against a backdrop of longer lines before immigration and customs officers as well as delays at congested airports for baggage delivery. There were also the haunting prospects for those involved in coping with the growing volume of traffic due to cheaper fares and more scheduled and charter flights. The Division adopted 69 A-type recommendations concerning amendments to Annex 9 and 13 B-type recommendations not affecting this Annex.

The 10^th Session of the FAL Division (FAL/10) made in 1988 a complete review of Annex 9 adopting 90 recommendations for amendments and 15 recommendations on matters not involving amendments. In addition to addressing the acute problem of traffic growth, the Division reviewed the provisions of Annex 9 concerning aviation security for harmonization with those of Annex 17 (titled Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference).

In keeping with its theme “Implementation, co-operation and automation – keys to improve facilitation into the 21^st century”, the 11^th Session of the FAL Division (FAL/11) adopted in 1995 over 100 recommendations, including proposals for a number of new and revised SARPSs in Annex 9 to reflect modern concepts in the clearance of aircraft, cargo and passengers. Among the matters dealt, the meeting considered aircraft disinfection, public health, asylum seekers and persons with disabilities. This meeting also recommended the establishment of a Facilitation Panel (to follow up on the results of the meeting), which was approved in 1995 by the Air Transport Committee and the ICAO Council and met for the first time in Montréal from 22 to 26 September 1997.

Under the theme “Managing security challenges to facilitate air transport operations”, the 12^th Session of the FAL Division (FAL/12) ended in 2004 with a number of recommendations aimed at smoother passage of travellers through airport controls, heightened aviation security and added protection against identity theft.  A key recommendation called the Member States to further implement machine-readable passports and incorporate biometrics for further strengthening their travel documents. Other recommendations included a standardized approach to advance passenger information systems, as were numerous updates to the provisions related to travel document security, aircrew identity, preventing travel document fraud and handling inadmissible persons.

			Attendance
	Dates	Place	Delegates Advisers Observers	Contracting States	Non-contracting States	International Organizations
1^st	24 January to 2 February 1946	Montréal	18 Participating States
2^nd	17 May to 1 June 1948	Geneva	N/A	21	4	7
3^rd	21 November to 7 December 1951	Buenos Aires	124	22	2	6
4^th	10 to 24 October 1955	Manila	162	23	-	4
5^th	1 to 18 December 1959	Rome	178	34	3	8
6^th	19 March to 6 April 1963	Mexico City	177	41	2	9
7^th	14 to 30 May 1968	Montréal	302	63	-	11
8^th	6 to 22 March 1973	Dubrovnik	270	55	-	8
9^th	18 April to 4 May 1979	Montréal	343	79	1	9
10^th	7 to 23 September 1988	Montréal	363	66	1	10
11^th	18 to 27 April 1995	Montréal	408	89	-	10
12^th	22 March to 1 April 2004	Cairo	474	87	19 Observer Delegations

ICAO Doc 9303

The rapid growth of international air passenger traffic prompted the 7^th Session of the Facilitation Division in 1968 to consider proposals for the introduction of a machine-readable passport or passport card that might eventually replace the conventional passport and accelerate clearance through passport controls; ICAO established the Panel on Passport Cards in November 1968, which was tasked with developing recommendations for a standardized passport book or card that would be machine readable, thus facilitating the clearance of passengers through passport controls; the Panel met for the first time in Montréal from 16 to 20 June 1969. As a result of the Panel’s work, the technical specifications and guidance material for Machine Readable Passports (MRP) were published by ICAO in 1980 in the first edition of the document titled A Passport with Machine Readable Capability (Doc 9303); it became the basis for the initial issue of machine-readable passports. A working group of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) further developed the specifications which were adopted in 1985 as an ISO Standard.

In 1984, ICAO established the Technical Advisory Group on Machine-Readable Travel Documents (TAG/MRTD), which held its first meeting in Montréal from 16 to 20 June 1986. The group was comprised mainly of government officials who specialize in border controls and specifically the issuance of passports and other travel documents. The TAG/MRTD had an initial mandate of taking over the activities of the Panel on Passport Cards. Subsequently, the group’s mandate was expanded to include machine-readable visas and cards. The complexity and volume of work increased over the years to the point where working groups had to be established by ICAO, the ongoing contribution of which remained essential to the continuing success of the MRTD Programme. Considerable progress had been made with the development of MRTD’s standards and specifications, including their implementation for improved facilitation and international security. The specifications set out in ICAO Doc 9303 have been expanded from machine-readable passports to include all MRTD’s: passports and passport cards, visas and official identity documents, and now comprises several comprehensive parts that elaborate on the state-of-the-art technical specifications, including biometric travel documents. The liaison mechanism with ISO has been successfully applied to the endorsement of specifications for travel documents.

In March 2005, the ICAO Council adopted two new Standards for Annex 9 concerning the universal issuance of Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). Standard 3.10 obliged all ICAO Member States to begin issuing only new MRPs as of 1 April 2010, while Standard 3.10.1 required that all non-MRPs expire by 24 November 2015. The 24 November 2015 deadline applies to all types of passports, including Ordinary, Diplomatic, and Service documents; however, it does not apply to temporary travel documents designed for emergency situations and which normally feature a rather brief and temporary validity period, or to travel documents issued to refugees and stateless persons.

In summary, Annex 9 contains Standards and Recommended Practices, and related definitions and appendices concerning the facilitation of international air transport. They are the outcome of Article 37 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation which requires ICAO to adopt international Standards and Recommended Practices dealing with, inter alia, customs and immigration procedures and such other matters concerned with the safety, regularity and efficiency of air navigation. The ICAO facilitation programme is designed not only to liberalize government requirements in connection with the movements of persons or cargoes by air across national boundaries, but also to help speed up clearance formalities to correspond with the technical progress of transportation. Considerable savings in time and documentation, and increased security in air travel have come as a result of ICAO’s work in the field of facilitation. The continuous growth in air traffic makes it necessary for airport administrations and airlines to adapt their related facilities at regular intervals.

For nearly three decades, on 3 December every year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed around the world. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, disability is referenced in many instances. Seven targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), explicitly refer to persons with disabilities in parts related to education, growth, employment, accessibility of human settlements, as well as data collection and monitoring of the SDGs. Goal 10 specifically strives to reduce inequality within and among countries by empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, including persons with disabilities. ICAO is fully committed to working in close cooperation with Member States and other UN Bodies to support this goal and all others.

The ICAO Manual on Access to Air Transport by Persons with Disabilities (Doc 9984) provides general guidance on services and features to help States meet the needs of persons with disabilities in air transportation. It was created by the Facilitation Panel’s Working Group on Persons with Disabilities for the purpose of elaborating on the relevant Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) in Annex 9 - Facilitation and assisting the civil aviation community in their implementation. The manual indicates the procedures that form part of an air travel journey, including reservations, check-in, immigration and customs, security clearances, transfers within airports, embarkation and disembarkation, departures, carriages and arrival that should be adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities in order to facilitate the clearance and air transportation of such persons in a dignified manner.

More recently, at the High-Level Conference on Aviation Security that was held in Montréal in November 2018, conclusions related to border control management and accessibility urged Member States to give special attention to increasing their efforts to implement Annex 9 SARPS and give due regard to the Manual on Access to Air Transport by Persons with Disabilities, in their implementation of the relevant provisions of Annex 9. Recommendations also urged the ICAO Council to develop a work programme on accessibility for passengers with disabilities in order to reach for a disability-inclusive air transport system.

The success of the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel Programme (UNCTTP), officially launched at UN Headquarters on 7 May 2019, is predicated on States’ implementation of ICAO’s Passenger Name Record (PNR) and Advanced Passenger Information (API) guidance. The UNCTTP launch event was focused mainly on UNSC resolution 2396 (2016), and specifically, its call for UN Member States to develop capabilities to collect, process and analyze Passenger Name Record or ‘PNR’ data, in addition to sharing it with all of their competent national authorities. ICAO’s efforts in this area have been guided by consecutive amendments to the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in Annex 9 to the Chicago Convention, which focuses directly on facilitating passenger travel; these serve as important tools in support of improved travel security, and cover critical areas of government responsibility relating to air transport facilitation and security priorities.

In 2024, Annex 9 is comprised of 10 chapters and thirteen appendices, and each plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth movement of aircraft, passengers, crew, and cargo across international borders. The ongoing work of ICAO in facilitation ensures that international air transport remains efficient, secure and safe. As international aviation continues to evolve, Annex 9 will remain an invaluable tool for simplifying and standardizing international air transport procedures while upholding the highest standards of safety, security, and efficiency.

At the Third Meeting of the 230th Session held on 3 November 2023, the ICAO Council, taking note that the Annex 9 - Facilitation had been adopted 75 years prior, reaffirmed the importance of Facilitation and, in doing so, approved 2024 as the Year of Facilitation (FAL2024) in recognition of the milestone anniversary for this Annex. ICAO's FAL2024 initiative is geared towards highlighting the significance of air transport facilitation and its transformative potential.

On 1 September 1949, the First Edition of Annex 9 - Facilitation became effective; it contained 89 Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). Over the years, many new and revised SARPs have been introduced through a series of amendments to the Annex that now contains more than 440 SARPs under 10 chapters and thirteen appendices; each plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth movement of aircraft, passengers, crew, and cargo across international borders. These new and revised SARPs seek to address the evolving landscape of air transport, the contemporary needs of States, advances in technology, development of passenger and cargo traffic, and the value of contributing to the continuing development of international civil aviation.

Third Session of the Facilitation (FAL) Division. Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 21 November to 7 December 1951. Held in the Facultad de Derecho y Ciencas Sociales of the University.
Service Cover (postmarked on 17 March 1954) of the Council of Europe sent to Mr. R.J. Moulton (Chief, Facilitation Branch at ICAO), used for the announcement of the Conference on Co-ordination of Air Transport in Europe, held in Strasbourg, France from 21 April to 8 May 1954
Fourth Session of the Facilitation (FAL) Division and First Pacific Regional Air Navigation (RAN) Meeting. Held in the Congress Building, Manila, Philippines, from 10 to 24 October 1955. Originally, the Facilitation meeting was scheduled from Tuesday 4 October 1955 and the First Pacific Regional Air Navigation (RAN) Meeting from Tuesday 1 November 1955. These dates were later changed respectively to: Monday 10 October and Thursday 27 October, so that both meetings would be consecutive. That may have created some confusion and has resulted in several and different cancel dates found on the above covers, i.e., 5 October (i.e., before the actual opening of the Facilitation meeting), 20 October and 27 October.
Eighth Session of the Facilitation (FAL) Division. Blue and red cachets. Held in the Congress Hall of the Hotel Libertas (as indicated at the lower-left of the covers) at Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, from 6 to 22 March 1973. According to ICAO’s records, the meeting was originally scheduled from 6 to 23 March.
Eleventh Session of the Facilitation Division (FAL/11). Montréal, Canada, from 18 to 28 April 1995. According to ICAO’s records, the meeting ended on 27 April. The cancel shows some of the elements surrounding ICAO’s efforts in the facilitation field to simplify and standardize handling and clearance procedures at airports.
	The Facilitation Manual contains explanations of the provisions of Annex 9, from a historical and current perspective. It has been designed with the aim of increasing the level of knowledge of air transport facilitation issues, improving the results of Facilitation Programmes in States and increasing compliance with Annex 9. It is also meant to serve both as an instructional and a reference tool for States and other interested users on the various immigration, customs, health and quarantine civil aviation-related aspects covered by Annex 9.

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