The Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme
The Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme takes its origin in Resolution A29-13 (Improvement of Safety Oversight) adopted in 1992 by the 29th Session of the International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly. This resolution noted the concern that some of ICAO's Contracting States might experience difficulties in carrying out their safety oversight obligations, reaffirmed that individual State’s obligation for safety oversight is one of the tenets of the Chicago Convention, and called on States to provide financial and technical resources to enable other States to carry out their responsibilities for safety oversight of air carrier operations.
The first stage of the Programme was launched in 1996 on a voluntary basis.
From 10 to 12 November 1997, the Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCAs) met in Montréal, Canada for the first-ever world Conference on a Global Strategy for Safety Oversight. This conference reaffirmed the need for safety oversight, examined the improvements that could be made to the ICAO safety oversight programme, and formulated a global strategy for safety oversight based on practical and concrete steps for implementation by each State of an effective safety oversight system, in accordance with ICAO provisions.
The initial success of the Programme led the 32nd Session of the ICAO Assembly (Resolution A32-11) held in 1998 to endorse an enhanced program and provide the necessary funding, thus establishing the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) comprising regular, mandatory, systematic and harmonized safety audits to be carried out by ICAO, including a systematic reporting and monitoring mechanism on the implementation of safety-related Standards and Recommended Practices, associated procedures, guidance material and practices. The ICAO USOAP was launched in January 1999, replacing the voluntary program.
The scope of the Programme was initially limited to Annex 1 (Personnel Licensing), Annex 6 (Operation of Aircraft) and Annex 8 (Airworthiness of Aircraft). The initial mandate of the Programme was to audit all Contracting States and report to the next regular session of the Assembly in 2001. The initial cycle of audits and audit followup missions were completed by 2004. The audit follow-up missions conducted during this period allowed ICAO to validate the implementation of the corrective action plans submitted by audited States, to identify any problems encountered by States in such implementation, and to determine the need for external assistance in regard to specific safety issues.
At the 33rd Session of the Assembly held in 2001, Resolution A33-8 endorsed the continuation and expansion of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme to provide cover of Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services), Annex 13 (Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation) and Annex 14 (Aerodromes).
In November 2002, the Safety Oversight Audit Section had been assessed by the AOQC Moody International Inc. to be ISO 9001 compliant, a first for ICAO and a strong contributing element in the Organization’s overall efforts to increase aviation safety worldwide. AOQC Moody International is a non-governmental certification body that provides assessments and registration services for ISO 9001 management systems.
During its 171st Session (March 2004), the Council considered how to facilitate the evolution of USOAP from an Annex-by-Annex approach to a comprehensive systems approach, which would cover all safety-related Annexes and focus on the overall capability of States for safety oversight; consequently, Annex 9 (Facilitation) and Annex 17 (Security) were excluded from the scope. At the 35th Session of the Assembly held in 2005, Resolution A35-6 requested that the USOAP be further expanded to include the safety-related provisions contained in all Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, thus transiting from an Annex-by-Annex approach to a comprehensive system approach for audits. The Comprehensive Systems Approach (CSA) for the conduct of the audits, under a six-year cycle is scheduled to end in 2010.
The Directors General of Civil Aviation met in Montreal, Canada for the Conference on a Global Strategy for Aviation Safety (DGCA/06) from 20 to 22 May 2006. During this conference, Directors General of the 189 Member States of ICAO assessed the current status of aviation safety, identified ways to achieve significant improvements and developed a safety framework for the 21st century – a Global Strategy for Aviation Safety – in an assertive, coordinated and transparent manner. They had also agreed to post results from the Organization's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) on the ICAO public website. Five hundred and sixty-six participants from 153 Contracting States and 26 international organizations attended this DGCA conference.
The USOAP CSA ended in 2010 following a six-year cycle. The ICAO Assembly Resolution A36-4 (September 2007) established a new approach to be applied in the USOAP beyond 2010 which is based on the concept of a continuous monitoring approach. Beyond 2010, the objective of USOAP is to promote global aviation safety, by enhancing Contracting States’ safety oversight capabilities, through continuous monitoring of States’ safety performances in order to identify safety deficiencies, assess associated safety risks, implement strategies for their mitigation and re-evaluate States’ safety oversight capabilities achieved. The systematic and more proactive conduct of monitoring activities in the new USOAP Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA) would make a more effective and efficient use of ICAO resources and reduce the burden on States caused by repetitive audits.
Through the USOAP, ICAO undertakes audits to determine Member States’ safety oversight capabilities and the status of their implementation of all safety-relevant ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (ICAO Annexes), associated procedures, guidance material and safety best practices. The objective is to assist States with prioritizing investment in their aviation sectors, thereby maximizing the return and the associated broader developmental benefits of these investments.
During the course of an audit, ICAO can identify what is referred to as a Significant Safety Concern (SSC) with respect to the ability of the audited State to properly oversee airlines (air operators) under its jurisdiction. An SSC does not necessarily indicate a particular safety deficiency in the air navigation service providers, airlines (air operators), aircraft or aerodrome; but, rather, indicates that the State is not providing sufficient safety oversight to ensure the effective implementation of applicable ICAO Standards.
In 2010, the 37th Session of the Assembly adopted Resolution A37-5, affirming that the evolution of USOAP to the CMA should continue to be a top priority for ICAO to ensure that information on the safety performance of Member States is provided to other Member States and to the travelling public on an ongoing basis. This vital improvement to international aviation safety required the participation and support of all Member States, particularly during the two-year transition period (2011-2012) while the tools and guidance required for USOAP CMA were developed.
As of January 2013, USOAP CMA was fully launched and its processes and tools are constantly reviewed to enable a more information-driven, risk-based and result-oriented approach. The objectives of the CMA include: monitoring States' safety oversight systems using a web-based platform, the "Online Framework" (OLF); validating States' progress through various on-site and off-site validation activities; and continuing to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of States' safety oversight systems through audits. With the CMA, the USOAP has gained in cost effectiveness, dynamicity and flexibility (with the introduction of activities of limited scope).
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Medal commemorating the 20th anniversary of USOAP |
2019 marked the 20th anniversary of ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), which will be updated following the 40th Session of the Assembly (held in Montreal from 24 September to 4 October 2019) in order to increase its effectiveness and maintain its status as the foremost means of establishing both a national and global perspective on effective civil aviation oversight. The prestigious ICAO programme had completed close to 900 activities since its inception, of which more than 450 were audits. The USOAP programme continues to be one of the most visible that ICAO has launched in the last two decades. Its eight Critical Elements (CEs) have provided an aligned set of safety oversight categories for the aviation community to work with, and the Effective Implementation (EI) metric ICAO uses to measure safety oversight performance under the USOAP is just as widely understood as an important and objective global aviation safety indicator.
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Celebration of the 1,000th USOAP Milestone |
Through the evolution of the USOAP CMA, ICAO aims to maintain the programme’s status as a global aviation monitoring system of ICAO Member States’ capabilities for safety oversight, aircraft accident and incident investigation, and their maturity in implementing State Safety Programmes (SSPs). It recently initiated a new SSP Implementation Assessment cycle to this end, and has also been adapted to audit cooperative Regional Safety Oversight Organizations (RSOOs).
Since its inception in January 1999, USOAP has evolved from a programme that performs initial and follow-up audits of Annexes 1, 6, and 8, to a Comprehensive Systems Approach (CSA), which expanded the scope to cover all safety-related provisions in all the safety-related Annexes to the Chicago Convention. Since 2013, the Programme has been utilizing the Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA), which employs the analysis of safety risk factors to determine the planning of monitoring activities. A new USOAP CMA Training (online) programme was released in early 2022; its training policies define and establish the criteria for the required qualifications of auditors, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and State Safety Programme Implementation Assessors (SSPIAs), based on a combination of their education, work experience, technical background and training.
ICAO reached a rather incredible USOAP milestone, with the successfully completed audit in South Africa on 31 March 2023, representing the 1,000th official activity completed under the programme. This achievement, which belongs to countries themselves as much as to ICAO, provides ICAO with an excellent opportunity to celebrate the importance of cooperation and assistance with and through ICAO, and to underscore the importance of the USOAP programme’s constant evolution to meet the changing needs of ICAO Member States in the rapidly innovating air transport environment.
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Commemorative cover issued for the Conference on a Global Strategy for Safety Oversight held in Montreal, Canada from 10 to 12 November 1997.
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Excerpt from the Linns Stamp News, 12 January 1998, page 24.
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Commemorative cover issued for the Conference on a Global Strategy for Aviation Safety (DGCA/06) held in Montreal, Canada from 20 to 22 May 2006. The lower cover was autographed by Dr. Assad Kotaite, Chairman of the Conference and President of the ICAO Council, and Dr. Taïeb Chérif, Secretary General.
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During a special ceremony conducted on 10 March 2020 at the fourth meeting of the ICAO Council’s 219th Session, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano accepted a framed gift from ICAO Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu, commemorating the 20th anniversary of ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP). Also present were Mr. Stephen Creamer (left) Director of the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau (ANB), and Mr. Denis Guindon, ANB Deputy Director of Monitoring and Oversight.
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On 2 May 2023, a special ceremony was organized at ICAO Headquarters to celebrate the 1,000th USOAP milestone. Pictured from left to right: Haile Belai, Chief, AFI Comprehensive Implementation Programme, Denis Guindon, ANB Deputy Director of Monitoring and Oversight, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano, ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar, Stephen Creamer, Director of the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau (ANB). |
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