Promotion of information exchange and support for the establishment of Advance Passenger Information (API) systems in the OSCE Area – Phase II

The objective of this project, implemented by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s Border Security and Management Unit (TNTD/BSMU), is to enhance the ability of OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation to collect and process passenger data to prevent, detect and respond to threats posed by terrorism and transnational organized crime, including through the establishment of Advance Passenger Information (API) systems. This project builds on the achievements of project “Promotion of information exchange and support for the establishment of Advance Passenger Information (API) systems in the OSCE Area – Phase I, carried out from March 2017 to December 2023.

Background

In recent years, the collection and use of API data by government authorities for the purposes of exit, entry and transit control of air passengers have become increasingly important for ensuring national security. API systems can be an effective instrument in preventing the travel of potential foreign terrorist fighters and other individuals who might be involved in terrorist activities and transnational organized crime. Consequently, border and aviation security are significantly strengthened especially when used in conjunction with multilateral law enforcement databases, such as the one of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

An API system is an electronic communication system that collects passenger biographical data and basic flight details provided by airline operators. The data are generally collected from the passenger’s passport or other government-issued travel documents. Airline communication networks then transmit the data to border control agencies in the destination country or country of origin before the flight’s departure or its arrival at the airport of destination. Once transmitted, the data are then, in practice, checked by the relevant control agencies against various sanctions and watch lists used for immigration, customs and security purposes. If the check reveals that a traveller’s name appears on a watch list, the authorities in the arrival or transit country will have the information necessary to determine an appropriate course of action, i.e., to detain and question the individual.

International Legal Framework

The need to introduce API systems at the national level follows the adoption of a number of United Nations Security Council resolutions aiming at addressing the growing threat posed by the movement Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs). United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2178/2014 aims at addressing the phenomenon of FTFs by promoting the adoption and implementation of API systems across the globe in full compliance with international law, in particular international human rights law, international refugee law, and international humanitarian law. 

UNSCR 2309/2016 expands the scope of Resolution 2178/2014 and identifies the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) “[…] as the United Nations organization responsible for developing international aviation security standards, monitoring their implementation by States and its role in assisting states in complying with these standards […]”, including in relation to API and Passenger Name Records. 

UNSCR 2396/2017 “[…] further calls upon Member States […] to ensure API is analysed by all relevant authorities, with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for the purpose of preventing, detecting, and investigating terrorist offenses and travel […].” 

UNSCR 2482/2019: calls upon Member States to develop the “ability to collect, process and analyse […] Passenger Name Record (PNR) data and to ensure PNR data is used by and shared with competent national authorities, with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, which will help security officials make connections between individuals associated to organized crime, whether domestic or transnational, and terrorists, to stop terrorist travel and prosecute terrorism and organized crime, whether domestic or transnational […]”. 

In line with the UNSCRs, the 2016 OSCE Ministerial Council adopted Ministerial Council Decision 06/16 on Enhancing the Use of Advance Passenger Information. The text of the decision stipulates that the OSCE participating States will establish national API systems in alignment with existing international standards and seek to automatically cross-check the data against watch lists. It also tasks the OSCE executive structures with supporting participating States in doing this.  

Expected Results and Activities

This project aims at facilitating the application of API systems in the OSCE area. The project supports OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation in establishing API systems to counter terrorist and criminal travel and facilitate the prosecution of both domestic and transnational terrorism and organized crime. The project is Phase II of a seven-year OSCE project focusing on raising awareness of the importance of establishing API systems, and providing support to participating States and Partners for Co-operation in developing national API road maps.

Building on the achievements of Phase I of the project and in response to the increasing demand for OSCE support, Phase II is considered to be the continuation of the OSCE commitment to support OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation in the establishment of API systems. Phase II focusses on two main areas of activities: (a) organization of needs assessment consultations and provision of post-evaluation support; (b) organization of seminars on passenger data as well as support and promotion of multilateral information exchange platforms for national API practitioners and agencies involved in passenger data processing. These initiatives are carried out jointly with other international organizations such as the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), INTERPOL and FRONTEX.

Since 2022, under the framework of the UNOCT’s Countering Terrorist Travel Programme and as foreseen in a Memorandum of Agreement between the OSCE and UNOCT signed in 2022, the OSCE acts as the secretariat of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Informal Working Group on Passenger Data. The Group serves as a forum for technical exchange on methodologies in travelers' data collection, technological developments, new applications and legal aspects of passenger data frameworks and exploring security analyses across different modes of travel. It currently consists of 18 member states: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The Group meets regularly online and in person in Vienna and in the country of the Group Chair, which rotates every two years.

The annual meetings of the Group are usually organized back-to-back with the annual Passenger Data Seminars:

• 2022 annual events;
• 2023 annual events;
• 2024 mid-year plenary meeting of the EE IWG;
• 2024 annual events;
• 2025 annual events.