International Technical Cooperation
International technical cooperation consists of a set of specific initiatives, between two or more countries, aimed at promoting structural and qualitative changes in a given socioeconomic context. The main objective is to develop technical capacities in individuals or institutions that can be replicated and that are durable and self-sustaining in the long term. Through cooperation initiatives, it seeks the absorption (cooperation received) or transfer (cooperation provided) of knowledge, technologies, successful experiences, and training that contribute to the institutional, economic, and social development of the country.[1]
International technical cooperation is classified into:
1. Multilateral: the Brazilian government negotiates the fulfillment of its interests within the mandates scope of international organizations and observing the provisions of the Basic Agreements in force. In other words, multilateral international technical cooperation is signed between the State and the international organization (usually, from United Nations system).
2. Bilateral: refers to technical cooperation between States and may be between two or more States.
3. Trilateral: Trilateral cooperation is a sum of efforts that adds specific value to, initiatives undertaken through bilateral channels. Usually, a third State adds to the initial efforts, providing financial resources or specific technical capacity for project development.
According to the guidelines of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, technical cooperation, both provided and received by Brazil, should be guided by the principle of partnership for development, which means that actions and initiatives should be mutually beneficial to the players involved. Brazil does not adopt the concept that technical cooperation should be tied to conditionalities, according to an assistentialist perspective. On the contrary, cooperation must be in line with interests and needs of both parties, respecting cultural, religious, historical and socio-political peculiarities.
Based on the Government’s guidelines, and in order to become an international reference in promoting safety and civil aviation development, ANAC provides cooperation according to the guidelines mentioned above and also establishes understandings to receive cooperation from authorities and civil aviation agencies of recognized international excellence.
Moreover, ANAC’s international activities are guided by the domestic regulatory framework and by the international commitments undertaken by Brazil with International Organizations and with Latin American and Portuguese-speaking countries. In this sense, ANAC’s actions are intended to ensure the proper fulfillment of the Agency’s institutional competencies in order to increase regional and global operational safety, as well as to strengthen integration and foster air transport between States. These guidelines are found in several national normative devices such as in art. 4 of the Federal Constitution, in art. 8 of the law that created ANAC (11.182/2005), in the National Civil Aviation Policy (Decree 6.780/2009).
Regarding international regulations, these guidelines are found in art. 37 of the Chicago Convention, in ICAO Resolution A39/23 which establishes the “No Country Left Behind” initiative, in the Statute of the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC), in the regulation establishing the Regional Safety Oversight System (SRVSOP) and in the Memorandum forming the Community of Portuguese-speaking Civil Aviation Authorities (CAACL).
All this regulatory framework is enshrined in ANAC’s International Action Plan (PAI) guidelines, which, among others, establish Latin American and Portuguese-speaking countries as priorities for ANAC's international operations. Regarding the Portuguese-speaking countries, the CAACL’s performance stands out, besides specific cases, such as cooperation with Cape Verde, Sao Tomé and Príncipe and Mozambique.
In these initiatives, ANAC’s main goal is to provide technical assistance and share information and knowledge that aim to strengthen the authorities’ institutions, as well as to increase the level of safety and to improve the civil aviation sector of these countries, which is directly aligned with ICAO’s “No Country Left Behind” initiative.
Regarding Latin American countries, ANAC develops several cooperation initiatives with LACAC and SRVSOP, currently and in particular, with Argentina, Panama, Colombia, and prospectively, Ecuador.
In addition, ANAC has a close relationship with government agencies and civil aviation authorities of countries with consolidated civil aviation sector and industry, in order to promote the integration and harmonization of regulatory processes.
This is the case of the civil aviation agencies in the United States, notably the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as well as the civil aviation authority in France - Direction Generale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC). Diretrizes para o desenvolvimento da cooperação técnica. internacional multilateral e bilateral. 2ª Ed. Brasília, Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), 2004.