ICAO seeks clarity on liquids ban

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has said that it wants to get a common standard across all member country airports by next March that will bring uniformity to the security rules restricting liquids and gels that passengers can take onto planes in their carry-on baggage.

The rules have changed several times since they were first introduced in August, when an alleged plot to detonate liquid explosives aboard transatlantic airliners was uncovered. Compounding the problem is the fact that bans now range from full to partial and tend to be inconsistently applied to different categories of passenger from one airport – and one country – to the next.

Among the features of the recommended standard:
• all liquids to be carried in containers of 100 ml or less, and placed in a transparent plastic bag with a maximum one-liter capacity;
• the bag to be presented at the screening point;
• only one bag per passenger;
• exemptions to be available for medications, baby milk and special dietary requirements, with means of verifying them to be made available.

ICAO sent a letter to its 189 member states last week urging the adoption of a uniform international standard and noting that much of the impetus came from Asia – in particular Singapore.