VZCZCXRO9950
PP RUEHAO RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHRS
DE RUEHC #2414/01 0401955
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 091948Z FEB 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0708
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0637
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 1331
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 0617
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0600
INFO WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 012414 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC EAIR ECON PREL PTER
SUBJECT: MEXICO CITY AVIATION SECURITY CONFERENCE: 
BACKGROUND AND GUIDANCE 
 
¶1. (U) This is background and guidance sent in collaboration 
with the Department of Homeland Security. 
 
Summary and Guidance 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary 
Janet Napolitano will travel to Mexico City on February 
16-18, 2010 to attend a conference on aviation security. 
Mexico is hosting the conference and inviting ministers with 
aviation or public security-related responsibilities from 
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Panama, 
and the United States. The ministerial level meeting will 
take place on February 17, preceded by an ADM level meeting 
on February 16, 2010. (Note:  the countries were chosen by 
Mexico based on a list of major aviation hubs in the 
hemisphere. In addition, recognizing that it would be 
difficult to pull together a fully inclusive meeting in a 
timely way, the GOM, in consultation with DHS and the 
Department, sought to invite at least one representative from 
Central America, the Caribbean and South America.)  Mexico 
has also invited ICAO and the Secretary General of ICAO will 
attend.  This conference represents an opportunity to 
reiterate that the international community 
shares responsibility for global aviation security and to 
identify specific areas on which countries can focus their 
efforts to strengthen the global aviation network. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Guidance for briefing and responding to questions 
from host country officials whose countries are invited to 
the conference is in paragraph 10 below. Posts can also draw 
from the background below.  Post can direct questions about 
the ministerial to James Blockwood ( 1 202 447-4046, 
James-Christian.Bloc@HQ.DHS.GOV) at the DHS office of 
International Affairs.  Questions from host country press 
should be referred to Matt Chandler ( 1 202 282-8010 
Matthew.Chandler@HQ.DHS.GOV) in the DHS Office of Public 
Affairs.  End of summary and guidance. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the attempted December 25, 2009 bombing of 
Northwest Airlines Flight 253, President Obama directed DHS 
to "strengthen international partnerships and coordination on 
aviation security issues. (In the President's January 7, 2010 
Memorandum to Department Heads).  Secretary Napolitano 
dispatched Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute January 3-14, 2010 
to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Israel, the 
United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Australia, Nigeria, and 
Brazil, as well as a January 28, 2010 trip to Canada.  At the 
Spanish government's invitation, Secretary Napolitano 
discussed aviation security with European counterparts at a 
meeting of European Union (EU) Justice and Home Affairs 
ministers in Toledo, Spain on January 21, 2010.  At that 
time, Secretary Napolitano and her European Counterparts 
released a joint U.S.-EU Declaration on aviation security 
that captured a growing international consensus (The text is 
available at 
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr 1264119013710.shtm). 
 
¶5. (SBU) The U.S.-EU Declaration captured four key areas of 
focus for this international effort to strengthen aviation 
security:  1) information collection and identity management, 
2) information sharing and collaboration in passenger 
vetting, 3) technology modernization, and 4) improved 
international standards, including the coordination of 
international training and technical assistance to help all 
countries achieve those new standards. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The conference in Mexico City, along with upcoming 
similar ministerial meetings planned for Asia (Japan), the 
Middle East, and Africa, seeks to build on the previous 
international engagements, and will set the stage for a 
global ministerial meeting on aviation security later in 
¶2010. 
 
¶7. (SBU) DHS anticipates that the Mexico City conference will 
also result in a joint declaration in which countries 
communicate their collective will to address aviation 
security matters and commit to specific steps to enhance 
international aviation security. 
 
STATE 00012414  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Potential deliverables from the February 17, 2010 
aviation security meeting in Mexico City include: commitment 
to enhance standards in ICAO's Annex 17; support for 
increased transparency in the ICAO aviation security audit 
process, the results of which are currently released to only 
the audited nation; commitment to the ICAO Donors Conference 
and to coordinate training and technical assistance efforts; 
agreement to enhance communication on aviation security and 
threats; and commitment to regular reporting of Lost and 
Stolen Passport (LASP) information to the Interpol Stolen and 
Lost Travel Document Database.  DHS will also seek bilateral 
deliverables related to each of the four focus areas outlined 
above. 
 
¶9. (SBU) DHS will work with those attending to coordinate 
outreach to those countries in the region not attending. 
After the meeting in Mexico City, DHS also intends to reach 
out directly to key partners in the region that Mexico did 
not invite to the February 17, 2010 conference, including but 
not limited to: the Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, 
Chile, Ecuador, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay, to 
discuss conclusions from the meeting and how countries in the 
region could best work together to share information and 
improve aviation security hemispherically and globally. DHS 
is also open to exploring other venues for consultation in 
the region. 
 
 
Talking Points 
-------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Talking Points. 
 
The Aviation Security conference Mexico is hosting provides 
an opportunity to strengthen aviation security in the Western 
Hemisphere and around the world.  In particular, we hope that 
the conference will identify specific areas for enhanced 
cooperation and that the participants will publicly affirm 
the importance of securing the global aviation system and the 
role and responsibility every country has in this effort. 
 
Secretary Napolitano looks forward to meeting with Minister 
(insert) in Mexico City and working together to help 
strengthen global aviation security.  She looks forward to 
hearing the views and priorities of her counterparts.  U.S. 
priorities include commitment to enhance standards in ICAO's 
Annex 17; support for increased transparency in the ICAO 
aviation security audit process, the results of which are 
currently released to only the audited nation; commitment to 
the ICAO Donors Conference and coordinate training and 
technical assistance efforts; agreement to enhance 
communication on aviation security and threats; and 
commitment to regular reporting of Lost and Stolen Passport 
(LASP) information to the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel 
Document Database. 
 
As host of the conference, the Government of Mexico selected 
the location, date, and participants.  Strengthening global 
aviation security requires broad international cooperation, 
however, and a sustained effort on the part of every country. 
 The United States will continue to work with partners across 
the Western Hemisphere both bilaterally and through 
multilateral fora, including the International Civil Aviation 
Organization and the International Air Transport Association. 
 
For Ottawa:  We recognize that Canada's highest aviation 
security priority on the dates of the conference will be the 
Olympics, which may make representation at the conference 
difficult.  We are committed to consulting closely with 
Canada both prior to and after the conference on this issue. 
CLINTON