- 1
- Each Contracting Party may request consultations at any time concerning the safety standards maintained by the other Contracting Party in any area relating to aeronautical facilities, flight crew, aircraft or the operation of aircraft. Such consultations shall take place within thirty (30) days of that request.
- 2
- If, following such consultations, one Contracting Party finds that the other Contracting Party does not effectively maintain and administer safety standards in any of the areas referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article that meet the standards established at that time pursuant to the Convention, the first Contracting Party shall notify the other Contracting Party of those findings and the steps considered necessary to conform with those standards, and the other Contracting Party shall take appropriate corrective action within fifteen (15) days or such longer period as may be agreed. Failure by the other Contracting Party to take appropriate action within the agreed period shall be grounds for the application of Article 3bis of this Agreement.
- 3
- Pursuant to Article 16 of the Convention, it is further agreed that any aircraft operated by, or, where approved, on behalf of an airline of one Contracting Party, on service to or from the territory of the other Contracting Party, may, while within the territory of the other Contracting Party, be the subject of a search on board and around the aircraft by the authorized representatives of the other Contracting Party to check both the validity of the aircraft documents and those of its crew and the apparent condition of the aircraft and its equipment (in this Article called “ramp inspection”), provided this does not cause unreasonable delay in the operation of the aircraft.
- 4
- If such ramp inspection or series of ramp inspections gives rise to:
-
- a)serious concerns that an aircraft or the operation of an aircraft does not comply with the minimum standards established at that time pursuant to the Convention, or
- b)serious concerns that there is a lack of effective maintenance and administration of the safety standards established at that time pursuant to the Convention,
- the Contracting Party carrying out the inspection shall, for the purpose of Article 33 of the Convention, be free to conclude that the requirements under which the certificates or licenses in respect of that aircraft or in respect of the crew of that aircraft had been issued or rendered valid, or that the requirements under which that aircraft is operated, are not equal to or above the minimum standards established pursuant to the Convention.
- 5
- In the event that access for the purpose of undertaking a ramp inspection of an aircraft operated by a designated airline of one Contracting Party in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article is denied by a representative of that airline, the other Contracting Party shall be free to infer that serious concerns of the type referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article arise and draw the conclusions referred to in that paragraph.
- 6
- Each Contracting Party reserves the right to suspend or vary the operating authorization of an airline or airlines of the other Contracting Party immediately in the event the first Contracting Party concludes, whether as a result of a ramp inspection, a series of ramp inspections, a denial of access for ramp inspections, consultations or otherwise, that immediate action is essential to ensure the safety of an airline operation.
- 7
- Any action by one Contracting Party in accordance with paragraph 2 or 6 of this Article shall be discontinued once the basis for taking that action ceases to exist.
- 8
- Where the Kingdom of the Netherlands has designated an airline whose regulatory control is exercised and maintained by another European Union Member State, the rights of the Republic of Korea under this Article shall apply equally in respect of the adoption, exercise and maintenance of safety standards by that other European Union Member State and in respect of the operating authorization of that airline.
