Annex 9 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation is entitled “Facilitation” and in the foreword to the fifth edition there is what might be termed a definition of facilitation … “all practical measures, through the issuance of special regulations or otherwise, to facilitate or expedite navigation by aircraft between the territories of Contracting States, and to prevent unnecessary delays to aircraft, crews, passengers and cargo, especially in the administration of the laws relating to immigration, quarantine, customs and clearance”. I am here to give a shipper's view of facilitation and therefore, am concerned only with cargo. I hope my views are not coloured by experiences I have had as crew or passenger which tend to be much more personal and immediate.