Five public agencies have grouped themselves together to prevent the occurrence of acts of unlaw ful interference with civil aviation.

An act of unlawful interference with civil aviation occurring in or originating from Cameroon can be so destructive of national and international peace and concord, so dangerous to the lives and safety of air travellers and airport personnel and so damaging to the national infrastructure and economy that some public agencies have grouped themselves together to prevent such occurrence. These agencies are the Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA), the General Delegation of National Security, the National Gendarmerie, the Department of External Research and the Department of the Customs.

This partnership in a worthy cause is institutionalised. The respective roles are well defined. Channels are well established for coordination and harmonious interactions. The framework is grounded on the ICAO Standards in Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention ratified by Cameroon in 1960; Decree N° 2004/184 of July 13, 2004, establishing a National Aviation Security Programme and the various Partnership Conventions signed between the CCAA on the one hand, and the different police services on the other hand.

ICAO Standard 3.1.2 requires each contracting State to designate and specify to ICAO an appropriate authority within its administration to be responsible for the development, implementatic and maintenance of the national civil aviation security programme. The State of Cameroon designated and communicated 1 ICAO the CCAA as the "appropriate authority". ICAO Standar 3.1.4 stipulates that a contracting State shall require the 'apprcopriate authority' to define and allocate tasks and coordinate activities among the departments, agencies and other organisatior of the State, and other entities concerned with or responsible for the implementation of various aspects of the national civil aviation programme. The CCAA elaborated a national civil aviation security programme which was subsequently formalised by th Presidential Decree N° 2004/187. In that programme, the CCA defined and allocated aviation security responsibilities among the police, gendarmerie, customs and the intelligence service among others.

Furthermore, the CCAA signed conventions with the differeirent partners. In the Convention between the CCAA and the General Delegation of National Security, the latter undertakes, in conformity with the provisions of the National Aviation Security Programme, to post its personnel to the airports to, among other actions: prevent and detect criminal activities directed at the services and installations at the airport terminals; patrol and watch both the public and reserved zones of the airport terminals; watch both arrival and daeparting passengers with a viewto detect those who constitute a threat to the safety of civil aviation; inspect and sceen departing passengers and their cabin baggage before boarding; and plan and execute, with other police services, emergency measures to contain and counter any act of civil disorder, sabotage, belligerence ad hijack at the airport.The CCAA.on its part, undertakes to détermine and communicate to the Delegate Genenal of National Security 1he personnel needed at each airport, to plan and programme aviation security training for such personnel and to pay a monthly allowance to the personnel effectively working at the airport.

A similar Convention exists between the CCAA and the National Gendarmerie. In t hat convention, the gendarmerie undertakes, in oonformity with the provisions of the National Aviation Security Programme, to, among cher tasks:

Control all the access points into the airport except the entrances to the terminal building; watch and protect vital aeronautic installations such as the air navigation facilities,fuel depots ,the control tower, communications facilities, power centres, etc; patrol regularities the airport perimeter; guard parked aircraft; provide aemed escort when necessary; arrest and prosecute unauthorieed pensons found in the reserved zones outsidet thet terminal building; and oontain and counter,all acts of sabotage, armed ottak, civil disorder and hijack.

The CCAA, on it part ,undertakes to ofter the necessary aviation security training to gendarmes posted to the airports,to provide the necessary avaiation security equipements and to pay a monthly allowance to the gendarmes effectively carrying out aviation security assignments at airports.

In yet another convention,the national Customs undertake ,in conformity with the provisions of the national Aviation Security programme ,to , among other actions: inspect and screen hold baggage , mail catering and stores prior to loading into an aircraft;Control access into the cargo terminal in cooperation with the police ; assist airlines in conducting searches of their premises and aircraft in the case of a bomb threat. The CCAA on it part undertakes to provide aviation security training to the customs personnel posted at the airports ,esspacially training in screen and detection of prohibited objects.Its provides and maintains the screening and detection equipments.The customs personnel at the airport also receive from CCAA a security allowance.The CCAA is particularly satisfied that the customs personnel are using the equipment supplied and the training received not only to detect and prevent the introduction into an aicraft of dangerous objects and explosives, but also to intercept drug traffickers at our airports.

The last but by all means not the convention, is between the CCAA and the Departement of external Research.The former assists in the aviationsecurity training of the DER personnel posted at the airport and pays them a security allowance.The latter gathers evaluates intelligence and threats to civil aviation and supplies the informations to the CCAA and other competent agencies.

It shoud be noted that the coordination of the aviation security asignments of the different agencies at airports is ensured by the CCAA through its aviation security structures at the different airports .It is provided in the national aviation security programme that the head of of the aviation security structure at the airport is responsible for, among other tasks:;establishing and implementing an airport security programme;supervision of aviation security assignments at the airport; ensuring the effectives establisment and finctioning of airport security commitee;ensuring that aviation security concerns are taken into account in the design ,construction and/or modification of the airport infrastructure.

At the national level ,a forum has been created for the representatives of the different agencies outlined above to interact and concert regularly.It is the follow-up meeting of aviation security partners convened by the CCAA at its Headquarters in Yaoundé.