The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme Agreement (ICSPA), which states the responsibilities of the Parties to the ICSPA, establishes two organs: the Council and the Secretariat.
Subsidiary Organs
The Council may establish subsidiary organs as required for the implementation of the Agreement (ICSPA). The Council established the Cospas-Sarsat Joint Committee who meets at least once a year. The Joint Committee comprises two Working Groups:
- the Operations Working Group (OWG)
- the Technical Working Group (TWG)
The Joint Committee addresses all technical and operational matters of interest to the Programme, as directed by the Council. The Joint Committee prepares the System documents (standards and specifications) and recommendations for approval by the Council. The Council, upon recommendation by the Joint Committee, may also decide to establish Task Groups (TG) or Experts’ Working Groups (EWG) to address specific issues and prepare documents for review by to the Joint Committee and submission to the Council for approval.
The reports of Task Groups and Experts’ Working Group meetings are submitted to the Joint Committee for consideration and comment. These reports are also submitted for consideration at the subsequent Open Meeting of the Council.
Languages of the Programme
The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme Agreement (ICSPA) stipulates that the languages of the Council are English, French and Russian. Simultaneous translation to and from the three languages of the Programme is provided at Council meetings.
Meetings of subsidiary organs will normally be held in the English language only, with no interpretation.
The Cospas-Sarsat Programme Management Policy (document C/S P.011) is available under the “System Documents” section of our Professional website.