Dubai, UAE: Being a member State - of the Dangerous Goods Panel to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UAE delegation participated in the 13th Working Group to the Panel meetings which was held in Montreal, Canada and attended by high profile representatives and experts of dangerous goods at ICAO member-states. The meeting was held to discuss various regulatory, technical and operational issues related to the safe transport of dangerous goods by air within the aviation industry. This participation comes in line with the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority's Strategic Objectives in achieving the highest possible level of global cooperation and participation in such prestigious Committees and Panels.
The UAE delegation was headed by Mr. Hamad Salem Al Muhairi who is the nominated member to represent the UAE in the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel, and the Executive Director of Aviation Security Affairs Sector in GCCA. The UAE Delegation also included Mrs. Wafa Al Obaidli, Chief Aviation Security Inspector, GCAA. Mr. Ahmad Wagih Wahbi, Chief Aviation Security and Dangerous Goods Investigator, GCAA, and Mr. Paul Ronald King, Chief Aviation Security Inspector, GCAA.
The ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel Member States include the UAE, USA, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, China, as well as the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations - IFALPA, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the UN Committee of Expert.
Main tasks of the Panel comprise development of dangerous goods rules and regulations, in a way that ensures safe transport of dangerous goods by air, when carried either on passenger aircraft and or cargo aircraft only.
His Excellency Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA, reiterated the important role played by the Panel in reinforcing solid technical and scientific foundations that ensure compliance by ICAO's internationally applied regulations regarding air transport of dangerous goods.
Mr. Hamad Al Muhairi said the meetings witnessed vital discussions on important issues, including the amendment of the Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air to align with the UN recommendations, in addition to training air operations staff and certification requirements for dangerous goods trainers and other technical issues.
During the meeting, the Chairman and the Secretary of the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel expressed ICAO's appreciation to the UAE, and to H.E Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA, for UAE's efforts in supporting the organization in its proposal to establish a newly dangerous goods incident/ accident database system, for global data collection and analytical purposes, in order to improve the overall global compliance with dangerous goods regulations, and safer transport of dangerous goods by air. .
Al Muhairi also praised the contributions of all other member States, asserting that the panel provides regulatory, operational and technical expertise to ensure strict compliance with the dangerous goods regulations, globally, in order to ensure overall safe transport of dangerous goods by air.
© Press Release 2013
