Spain and the OECD push for a multilateral framework to ensure a safe and secure international travel environment

According to the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, "we need to adopt and promote a set of common principles and procedures to guide the recovery of the international travel and tourism sector. Spain has supported the need to ensure the interoperability of digital systems to recognise the COVID-19 vaccine certificates of the different issuing authorities. We support the great work done by the OECD in this area and look forward to making further progress on a global framework to provide safe travel.

The main conclusions of the meeting were as follows:

1. Participants agreed that urgent action is needed to accelerate the return to pre-pandemic levels of international tourism and committed to work on creating framework that ensures a safe, adaptable and seamless travel environment.
2. Participants acknowledged that not having common travel protocols causes confusion and a lack of trust among travellers. The meeting therefore underlined the need for closer coordination in the future.
3. The participants supported the need to work toward ensuring the interoperability of digital systems to recognise the vaccine certificates of the different issuing authorities.
4. Participants called for the adoption and promotion of a set of high-level principles to guide an even greater recovery in the travel and tourism sector. The meeting also emphasised the need: to adopt a risk-based approach, to ensure that policy is based on scientific evidence; for measures to be equitable and inclusive, for data collection to be in accordance with the International Health Regulations, and, for there to be a continuous exchange of epidemiological information between countries.
5. Participants agreed that it is necessary to ensure that the measures being developed contribute to more resilient health systems to ensure that the world is better prepared for future pandemics and to avoid a repeat of the negative impact on travel and tourism.
6. Participants urged the Indonesian G20 Presidency to provide the necessary political support to ensure that the work agreed at the meeting moves forward as a matter of urgency.

By co-hosting this High-Level Meeting with the OECD, Spain is continuing its leadership in the process of promoting a return to safe international travel around the world. As the world's leading tourism country, this is a priority for Spain, and the Government anticipated the other countries with the initiative to coordinate travel procedures ('Blueprint') that the President of the Government of Spain promoted before the OECD in December 2020.

Non official translation