ICAO standardization is implemented by coordinating the Authority's audit activities conducted under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP CMA), the primary objective of which is to promote global aviation safety by regularly checking the performance of safety oversight systems in all ICAO member states.
The full results of the USOAP CMA audit, together with information available from other sources, expand the general knowledge of the level of civil aviation safety in a given country and make it possible to identify specific areas on which safety improvement efforts should focus.
Due to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Poland and ICAO on November 23, 2011, ongoing updating of the USOAP CMA program is mandatory. The essential and ongoing task is to maintain and update information in the Online Framework (OLF) electronic data collection and analysis system.
The USOAP CMA program includes the following main modules:
- State Aviation Activity Questionnaire (SAAQ) - an electronic questionnaire containing comprehensive information on the state's aviation activities in the areas of Authority organization, legislation, aviation personnel, flight operations, aviation accident and incident investigation, aviation technology, air navigation and airports;
- EFOD (Electronic Filling of Differences) - a module for electronic reporting of deviations, occurring in the national legal order, from the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) contained in the Annexes to the Chicago Convention;
- Self-Assessment - an electronic module for self-assessment of key areas of civil aviation in Poland, by providing answers and updating the status of those answers to protocol questions assessing the level of effective implementation of the safety oversight system;
- State Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) - an electronic module for entering a description of corrective actions with evidence against non-conformities identified after a USOAP audit;
- Mandatory Information Request - a communication platform to inform the Authority of the need to provide the necessary information required for ICAO's USOAP CMA validation activities.
Standardization inspections
- Within the framework of the USOAP CMA, ICAO undertakes three types of activities to continuously monitor the aviation activities of member states and these include:
- CMA Audit (Continous Monitoring Approach Audit), which is an activity undertaken by the ICAO team in a country to conduct a systematic and to objectively assess the State's safety oversight system, using a set of protocol questions for each selected audit area, and to make recommendations aimed at correcting identified deficiencies in the national safety oversight system. As a rule, these audits are conducted every 10 years, and so far two such audits have taken place:
- CMA Audit 03-12.06.2008. - It covered all areas of aviation operations;
- CMA Audit 24.09-02.10.2018. - AIG (aviation accident investigation) and AGA (aviation technology) areas.
- The next CMA Audit is planned for 2028.
- ICVM - Coordinated Validation Missions, is an activity in which a team of ICAO experts in a particular area visits a State to collect and evaluate evidence provided by the State, as part of the confirmation of the implementation of corrective actions (CAPs) taken to address previously identified non-conformities. The collected evidence is reviewed and validated at ICAO headquarters.
- Off-site validation activity - validation activities conducted remotely by a team of ICAO subject matter experts to assess corrective actions implemented by the State to address previously identified non-conformities. In 2020, the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for non-conformities identified during the 2018 audit in the AGA area was audited in this way.
Sources of information on ICAO standardization:
- Doc 9735 - Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program Continuous Monitoring Manual;
- ICAO’s official website - icao.int