REPORT OF THE - Archives - Syracuse University

would enable the United States to elevate the security element to the highest level of
government. It should be emphasized that this recommendation does not reduce in any
way the urgent need for the assignment of additional FAA personnel abroad.
Multilateral Agreements
The Bonn Declaration
In 1978, the United States and its fellow members of the Economic Summit (U.K.,
Canada, Japan, France, Italy, and West Germany), also known as Summit Seven, agreed
to cut off air service to and from any country that does not extradite or prosecute a
terrorist for hijacking. This agreement, known as the Bonn Declaration, was implemented
only once, against Afghanistan in 1981 following the hijacking of a Pakistani aircraft.
The Venice Annex, agreed upon in June 1987, expanded the Bonn Declaration to include
halting air service in cases of sabotage. The Summit Seven has yet to apply the Venice
Annex to a specific incident.
Although terrorist attacks at airports have decreased in recent years, the Commission
urges the Summit Seven to agree to adopt an annex to the Bonn Declaration stating that
members will halt air service in cases of unpunished attacks at airports and airline ticket
offices.
These multilateral agreements, however, have their limitations. To be effective, a unified,
aggressive and expeditious response to terrorist incidents by all parties to the agreement
is essential. The political will is not always forthcoming. Although the United States has
unilaterally cut off air service to state sponsors of terrorism, not all of the Summit Seven
partners have taken this step. In fact, the Bonn Declaration was invoked only against
Afghanistan, where little economic impact was at stake for Summit Seven carriers. The
United States is not the only Summit Seven partner to experience frustration in this
regard. Following the discovery of Syria's involvement in an attempted bombing of an El
Al plane from Heathrow in 1986, the British government requested that the economic
partners not only cut off air service to Syria but also impose diplomatic sanctions. The
British were left to fight this battle virtually alone.
ICAO
Despite ICAO's inherent limitations in the area of civil aviation security, it does serve an
important function in countries where the terrorist threat is low and host country security
is otherwise minimal. In high threat countries, nations rely on additional measures.
TOTAL INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULED PASSENGERS
Carried on Summit Seven and Other Carriers
[FIGURE NOT INCLUDED]
* Total international scheduled passengers worldwide: 242,559,000
ICAO's inherent limitations include:
No enforcement mechanism. ICAO cannot impose sanctions on a violating member state.
In fact, ICAO is not even allowed to inspect airports to determine if countries are
complying with its standards; inspection would violate a country's sovereignty.