ICAO ANNEX 18 PDF

General applicability

The Standards and Recommended Practices of this Annex shall be applicable to all international operations of civil aircraft.

Where specifically provided for in the Technical Instructions, the States concerned may grant an approval provided that in such instances an overall level of safety in transport which is equivalent to the level of safety provided for in the Technical Instructions is achieved.

In instances:

a) of extreme urgency; or

b) when other forms of transport are inappropriate; or

c) when full compliance with the prescribed requirements is contrary to the public interest,

the States concerned may grant an exemption from the provisions of the Technical Instructions provided that in such instances every effort shall be made to achieve an overall level of safety in transport which is equivalent to the level of safety provided for in the Technical Instructions.

For the State of Overflight, if none of the criteria for granting an exemption are relevant, an exemption may be granted based solely on whether it is believed that an equivalent level of safety in air transport has been achieved.

Note 1.— For the purpose of approvals, "States concerned" are the States of Origin and the Operator, unless otherwise specified in the Technical Instructions.

Note 2.— For the purpose of exemptions, "States concerned" are the States of Origin, Operator, Transit, Overflight and Destination.

Note 3.— Guidance for the processing of exemptions, including examples of extreme urgency, may be found in the Supplement to the Technical Instructions (Part S-1, Chapter 1, 1.2 and 1.3).

Note 4.— Refer to 4.3 for dangerous goods forbidden for transport by air under any circumstances.

Note 5.— It is not intended that this Annex be interpreted as requiring an operator to transport a particular article or substance or as preventing an operator from adopting special requirements on the transport of a particular article or substance.