International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
ICAO is the specialized UN agency responsible for promoting the safe and orderly development of world civil aviation, through the establishment of standards and rules related to safety, efficiency and flight regularity as well as to environmental protection. With its headquarters in Montreal, ICAO is the main governmental organization of civil aviation, composed by 191 States (see here the list of countries) and representatives from industry and aviation professionals.
It is up to ICAO to develop standards and best practices, known as SARPs (Standard and Recommended Practices), which constitute guidelines for civil aviation authorities around the world. SARPs deal with technical and operational aspects of international civil aviation, such as safety, personnel licensing, aircraft operations, aerodromes, air traffic services, accident investigation and environment.
As a founding member of ICAO, Brazil has actively participated in the discussions and drafting of normative and technical recommendations issued by the Organization. Successively elected as a member of the Council for Group I, Brazil has a permanent delegation to the ICAO Council, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and technically assisted by ANAC and the Air Force.
ANAC is the main technical body responsible for the development of SARPs. Its 19 members are appointed by States based on their experience in aeronautical science and practice.
Related information on ICAO:
Chicago Convention: http://www.icao.int/publications/pages/doc7300.aspx
ICAO Documents: http://www.icao.int/publications/Pages/doc-series.aspx
ICAO website: http://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx
Brazilian Permanente Delegation to the Council of ICAO: http://delbrasmont.itamaraty.gov.br/pt-br/
History of ICAO
At the end of World War II, the international community identified the need to develop common standards and principles in order to regulate the rapid growth of a mode of transport that would revolutionize, in the subsequent years, how humans would cope with the geographical distances and with the speed of trade: civil aviation. In this regard, standards needed to be established to ensure safety and compatibility of operations between States.
Representatives from 52 nations met, in December 1944, at the Chicago International Civil Aviation Conference, to develop the so-called "Chicago Convention". On the same date the International Civil Aviation Organization - ICAO was established.
Currently, ICAO organizational structure consists of a Secretariat and three main bodies: the Assembly, the Council and the Air Navigation Commission (ANC).
Composed by all Member States, the Assembly is the sovereign body of ICAO. Ordinarily convened every three years, it is up to the Assembly to lay down the guidelines to be followed in the next three years, to approve the budget and to review the technical work, as well as the legal, economic and administrative requirements of the Organization and approve the amendments to the annexes to the Chicago Convention.
Furthermore, the Assembly elects the 36 States that compose the Council in the next triennium. States are elected according with its importance for international air transport, their contribution to air navigation structure of international civil aviation and geographical representation criteria.
As the executive body of ICAO, the Council has the power to adopt SARPs and incorporate them to the Annexes to the Chicago Convention, to convene the Assembly, to appoint the Secretary-General and to administer the budget of the Organization. In practice, the Council works through committees, among which are the Air Transport Committee - responsible for the economically viable development of international civil aviation - the Finance Committee, the Committee on Unlawful Interference and the Technical Cooperation Committee.