WASHINGTON- The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) today announced
that Peru continues to comply with
international safety standards set by
the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), thus maintaining
the country’s Category 1 rating
following a reassessment of its civil
aviation authority.

The government of Peru has made
significant improvements in its
oversight of Peruvian civil aviation
and remains committed in supporting
their Civil Aviation Authority in
meeting ICAO standards. The FAA will
remain engaged with the civil aviation
authority of Peru in the spirit of
cooperation that has characterized
aviation relations between the U.S. and
Peru for many years.

This announcement is part of the FAA’s
International Aviation Safety
Assessment (IASA) program, under which
the agency assesses the civil aviation
authorities of all countries with air
carriers that operate to the United
States and makes that information
available to the public.

The assessments are not an indication
of whether individual foreign carriers
are safe or unsafe. Rather, they
determine whether or not foreign civil
aviation authorities (CAA) are meeting
ICAO safety standards, not FAA
regulations.

Countries with air carriers that fly to
the United States must adhere to the
safety standards of ICAO, the United
Nations’ technical agency for aviation
that establishes international
standards and recommended practices for
aircraft operations and maintenance.

The FAA, with the cooperation of the
host civil aviation authority, assesses
countries with airlines that have
operating rights to or from the United
States or have requested such rights.

Specifically, the FAA determines
whether a foreign civil aviation
authority has an adequate
infrastructure for international
aviation safety oversight as defined by
ICAO standards. The basic elements that
the FAA considers necessary include: 1)
laws enabling the appropriate
government office to adopt regulations
necessary to meet the minimum
requirements of ICAO; 2) current
regulations that meet those
requirements; 3) procedures to carry
out the regulatory requirements; 4) air
carrier certification, routine
inspection, and surveillance programs,
and 5) organizational and personnel
resources to implement and enforce the
above.

The FAA has established two ratings for
the status of these civil aviation
authorities at the time of the
assessment: (1) does comply with ICAO
standards, (2) does not comply with
ICAO standards.

á Category 1. Does Comply with ICAO
Standards:  A civil aviation authority
has been assessed by FAA inspectors and
has been found to license and oversee
air carriers in accordance with ICAO
aviation safety standards.

á Category 2. Does Not Comply with ICAO
Standards:  The FAA assessed this
country’s CAA and determined that it
does not provide safety oversight of
its air carrier operators in accordance
with the minimum safety oversight
standards established by ICAO. This
rating is applied if one or more of the
following deficiencies are identified:
(1) the country lacks laws or
regulations necessary to support the
certification and oversight of air
carriers in accordance with minimum
international standards; (2) the CAA
lacks the technical expertise,
resources, and organization to license
or oversee air carrier operations; (3)
the CAA does not have adequately
trained and qualified technical
personnel; (4) the CAA does not provide
adequate inspector guidance to ensure
enforcement of, and compliance with,
minimum international standards; and
(5) the CAA has insufficient
documentation and records of
certification and inadequate continuing
oversight and surveillance of air
carrier operations. This category
consists of two groups of countries.

á One group is countries that have air
carriers with existing operations to
the United States at the time of the
assessment. While in Category 2 status,
carriers from these countries will be
permitted to continue operations at
current levels under heightened FAA
surveillance. Expansion or changes in
services to the United States by such
carriers are not permitted while in
Category 2, although new services will
be permitted if operated using aircraft
wet-leased from a duly authorized and
properly supervised U.S. carrier or a
foreign air carrier from a Category 1
country that is authorized to serve the
United States using its own aircraft.

á The second group is countries that do
not have air carriers with existing
operations to the United States at the
time of the assessment.  Carriers from
these countries will not be permitted
to commence service to the United
States while in Category 2 status,
although they may conduct services if
operated using aircraft wet-leased from
a duly authorized and properly
supervised U.S. carrier or a foreign
air carrier from a Category 1 country
that is authorized to serve the United
States with its own aircraft. No other
difference is made between these two
groups of countries while in Category
2.

The FAA has assisted civil aviation
authorities with less than acceptable
ratings by providing technical
expertise, assistance with inspections,
and training courses. The FAA hopes to
work with other countries through ICAO
to address non-compliance with
international aviation safety oversight
standards.

The FAA will continue to release the
results of safety assessments to the
public as they are completed. First
announced in September 1994, the
ratings are part of an ongoing FAA
program to assess all countries with
air carriers that operate to the United
States.

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