The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was established under the Chicago Convention in 1944. Through the participation of contracting states, ICAO develops Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) that cover all aspects of aviation, including safety. SARPs provide the foundation of all safety regulatory regimes at a global scale. The SARPs are laid down in the 19 Annexes to the Convention.
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and, through the United Kingdom's ratification, is a party to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation ('the Convention') which is the international convention governing arrangements for civil aviation. By signing the Convention, a State agrees that adopted standards will be implemented in its own territories or, if this is impractical, any difference will be notified to ICAO for publication to the community at large. Gibraltar is not a contracting State to ICAO; however the United Kingdom is; it is by the United Kingdom's ratification that Gibraltar is required to comply with the SARPs.
In accordance with the requirements set out in Annex 19 to the Chicago Convention, a State Safety Programme (SSP) for Gibraltar has been developed. A SSP is defined as "An integrated set of regulations and activities aimed at improving safety". The Gibraltar SSP follows closely the UK SSP and is considered to be appropriate to the size and complexity of civil aviation activity in Gibraltar. The link to the Gibraltar SSP is here: Gibraltar State Safety Programme