New Zealand was among the 52 States that signed the Chicago Convention on 7 December 1944, bringing the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) into being.

The formal existence of the Organization was confirmed 4 April 1947, once the Convention had been ratified by 26 States, including New Zealand. The Civil Aviation Act 1948 formalised New Zealand’s acceptance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

ICAO is a specialised agency of the United Nations, formed to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protection. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 member States.

www.icao.int(external link)

See the ICAO Convention on International Civil Aviation (Doc 7300)(external link)

ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices

The table below shows New Zealand’s compliance with, and differences from, the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and also comprises the list of differences from ICAO Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedures referred to in AIPNZ GEN 1.7.

New Zealand’s compliance with, and differences from, the Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation – update is in progress

Annex 1
[PDF 826 KB]
Personnel Licensing
Annex 2
[PDF 319 KB]
Rules of the Air
Annex 3
[PDF 417 KB]
Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation
Annex 4
[PDF 672 KB]
Aeronautical Charts
Annex 5
[PDF 174 KB]
Units of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations
Annex 6 Part 1
[PDF 816 KB]
International Commercial Air Transport - Aeroplanes
Annex 6 Part 2
[PDF 619 KB]
International General Aviation - Aeroplanes
Note: The term 'General Aviation' in the ICAO sense is not GA as we know it in New Zealand. Their definition of a GA operation is “An aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport operation or an aerial work operation.”
Annex 6 Part 3
[PDF 817 KB]
International Operations - Helicopters
Annex 7
[PDF 139 KB]
Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks
Annex 8
[PDF 1.1 MB]
Airworthiness of Aircraft
Annex 9
[PDF 13 KB]
Facilitation Note – differences only (Annex 9 is administered by the Ministry of Transport.)
Annex 10 Volume 1
[PDF 788 KB]
Radio Navigation Aids
Annex 10 Volume 2
[PDF 734 KB]
Communications Procedures
Annex 10 Volume 3
[PDF 1.1 MB]
Communications Systems
Annex 10 Volume 4
[PDF 1 MB]
Surveillance Radar and Collision Avoidance Systems
Annex 10 Volume 5
[PDF 226 KB]
Aeronautical Radio Frequency Spectrum Utilization
Annex 11
[PDF 497 KB]
Air Traffic Services
Annex 12
[PDF 197 KB]
Search and Rescue
Annex 13
[PDF 285 KB]
Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation
Annex 14 Volume 1
[PDF 1.1 MB]
Aerodrome Design and Construction
Annex 14 Volume 2
[PDF 499 KB]
Heliports
Annex 15
[PDF 382 KB]
Aeronautical Information Services
Annex 16 Volume 1
[PDF 367 KB]
Environmental Protection - Aircraft Noise
Annex 16 Volume 2
[PDF 192 KB]
Environmental Protection - Aircraft Engine Emissions
Annex 18
[PDF 193 KB]
The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air
Annex 19
[PDF 159 KB]
Safety Management
Document 4444 Differences
[PDF 57 KB]
Air Traffic Management (PANS-ATM)

ICAO audit of New Zealand

ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme

The objective of the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) is to promote global aviation safety by auditing contracting States on a regular basis to determine the States' capability for safety oversight. The measure of a State’s effective implementation (EI) of its safety oversight system is expressed as a percentage – New Zealand’s EI currently stands at 85.63 per cent.

The current continuous monitoring approach (CMA) to auditing began in 2013, and enables States to update their compliance status, audit self-assessment, and corrective actions progress electronically. This enables ICAO to monitor States’ activity, and allocate its audit resources appropriately.

An audit consists of three phases:

  1. Preparation phase

    The information provided by the State is reviewed to analyse the type of organisation for safety oversight; the implementation of Annex provisions; and the differences from standards and recommended practices (SARPs) identified by the States. This allows ICAO to tailor the audit activity according to the level and complexity of aviation activities in the State.

  2. On-site conduct phase

    The State is visited by an ICAO audit team to validate the information provided and conduct an on-site audit of the State’s system and overall capability for safety oversight.

  3. Validation and report production phase

    All the activities following the on-site audit, including the preparation of the audit interim report, the development by the State of its corrective action plan, and the completion of the audit final report.

ICAO, with the consent of the contracting State, releases relevant information on safety oversight audits so the travelling public can make informed decisions when using air transportation.

New Zealand was audited in 2006, and was to be audited again in December 2016. As a result of the CAA office closure following the November 2016 earthquake, the audit was confined to the AIG (accident and incident investigation) area.

Final Report on the Safety Oversight Audit of the Civil Aviation System of New Zealand (14 to 24 March 2006) [PDF 614 KB]

Final Report of the USOAP CMA Audit of the Civil Aviation System of New Zealand (5 to 15 December 2016) [PDF 402 KB]