The Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAF) is working on ratifying three international treaties that collectively shape international air travel’s legal, safety and security frameworks.
One of the treaties is the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation — or the Beijing Convention — which combats terrorism and cyberattacks on aviation systems.
At a Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in Nadi, CAAF executive manager aviation security-facilitation Rigamoto Aisake said a Cabinet paper has been drafted for Fiji to ratify the Beijing Convention, Chicago Convention and the Montreal Convention.
“The significance of these treaties is that they ensure that our aviation security addresses the gaps highlighted in these treaties,” Mr Aisake said.
“We have provided a draft Cabinet paper in that respect through the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, addressing those specific treaties.”
Mr Aisake cited as an example the Beijing Convention, which specifies the use of an aircraft as a weapon and the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons carried by an aircraft.
“This is part of the submission from CAAF to the Cabinet.”
According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Beijing Convention modernises and consolidates the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, which was established in Montreal in 1971.
The Beijing Convention criminalises the acts of using civil aircraft for the purpose of causing death, serious bodily injury or serious damage, the use of a civil aircraft to release or discharge any biological, chemical or nuclear weapon or similar substances to cause death, serious bodily injury or serious damage, and the use of these weapons and substances on board or against a civil aircraft.