G-8 Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative (Safti)

Terrorist attacks against the transportation system remain a serious threat to our citizens and to world commerce. We, the G-8 Leaders, are committed to further assuring the safety of the traveling public while working cooperatively to facilitate movement of travelers across our borders.

At Kananaskis in June 2002, we agreed on a set of actions to promote greater security of land, sea, and air transport, including cargo, to ensure safe, secure, efficient and reliable transportation world-wide. At Evian in 2003, we introduced a plan for the control of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), and established the Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) to assist willing states in building their capacity to counter the terrorist threat.

Today, at Sea Island, we agree on a set of actions that will further enhance the security of the traveling public while improving the efficiency and facilitating the ease of travel. These include actions to implement and expand the scope of the Evian MANPADS plan.

In the Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative (SAFTI), G-8 members support raising standards, modernizing procedures, and exchanging information in order to deter threats, reduce costs, and help ensure safe and efficient movement of passengers and cargo, thereby benefiting international commerce while enhancing security.

We recognize the urgency of our need to work together to counter the terrorist threat within a framework that fully respects the sovereign rights of states to control their borders and that is in compliance with domestic laws and international obligations relating to privacy. We reaffirm our commitment to promote and implement relevant international standards in appropriate fora such as ICAO and IMO. In this regard, we agree to the following shared principles, which underlie our initiative:

 Work collaboratively, cooperatively, and reciprocally to protect borders and facilitate trade and travel.

 Facilitate movement of travelers across international borders quickly and easily, while focusing enforcement resources on enhanced security procedures, including risk analysis methods.

 Permit visa-free travel and simplify and expedite visa processing when acceptable to the receiving state.

 Maximize effective information exchange among partner states as a key element of strengthening international border security.

 Work cooperatively to improve screening methods for international travelers, crews, and cargo for known or emerging threats as far in advance as possible.

 Make all possible efforts to ensure that travel documents are secure, resistant to fraud and globally interoperable.

 Ensure effective, coordinated responses to imminent threats.

To demonstrate our resolve to expeditiously address security vulnerabilities and ensure the traveling public that we are taking all appropriate steps to protect their safety, we announce today that we already have completed the following actions from the SAFTI initiative:

 The promotion and implementation of enhanced international standards for the secure issuance of passports;

 The establishment of a 24-hour aviation point of contact network to address imminent threats to airlines; and

 The preparation of an information manual for assessing the vulnerability of G-8 airports to the MANPADS threat.

The agreed SAFTI Action Plan follows and includes 28 individual action items.

Download the Action Plan at PDF format

G-8 Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative 2004