Guyana Civil Aviation Authority sets new export airworthiness certificate rules

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has prescribed a complete procedure for issuing Export Certificates of Airworthiness covering aircraft, engines, propellers, major components and individual parts, acting under section 142 of the Civil Aviation Act 2018. The instrument, Requirement No. 17 of 2026, cited as the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Requirements for Airworthiness 2026, was published in The Official Gazette of Guyana No. 423/2026 of Thursday, 5 November 2026, as extraordinary Legal Supplement B, beginning at page 1113 and running to page 1120. It is signed for the Authority by its Director-General.

The amending requirements operate on the Civil Aviation Requirements for Airworthiness 2024. They insert an entirely new paragraph 5.4.12, headed Export Certificates of Airworthiness, and a second new paragraph 5.7.4A on Minor Modifications and Minor Repairs. The Schedule also amends the Table of Contents to list both new headings and removes all numbering from the definitions in paragraph 5.1.2, inserting new definitions of “minor modification” — a modification other than a major modification — and “minor repair”, defined by contrast with a major repair.

The amendment is the latest in a series of requirements issued by the same body under the 2018 Act; the Authority prescribed the Civil Aviation Requirements for Meteorological Service for Air Navigation 2026 as Requirement No. 8 of 2026, gazetted on 12 October 2026.

A certificate that is not a licence to fly

Under new paragraph 5.4.12.3, any person may apply for an Export Certificate of Airworthiness, which certifies that a product conforms to the applicable type design, approved design data, acceptable technical data or applicable standard and is in an acceptable airworthiness condition for export at the time of inspection or evaluation by the Authority. The text states expressly that the document shall not be regarded as a standard Certificate of Airworthiness and, for an aircraft, shall not confer authority to operate or fly it. The section defines five terms, including “importing State” and “special requirements of the importing State”.

Three product classes are created:

• Class I: a complete aircraft, aircraft engine or propeller.
• Class II: a major component of a Class I product, including a wing, fuselage, empennage, landing gear, major engine component, major propeller component or appliance, or any component whose failure may affect the safety of a Class I product.
• Class III: any part, component, material or standard part that is neither Class I nor Class II.

Fifteen application items and tiered documentation

Applications must be made in writing, in the prescribed form and with the prescribed fee, and must carry up to fifteen items, among them the names and addresses of the applicant, owner or exporter and consignee, the importing State and its civil aviation authority, the class of product, manufacturer, model or type designation, part, serial or batch number, and any exception, deviation, limitation or non-compliance.

Supporting documents are tiered by class: Class I products require up to fourteen items, from registration details and current Certificate of Airworthiness to logbooks, maintenance records, airworthiness directive status, life-limited parts status, weight and balance report, equipment list and export configuration report. Class II products require up to ten items, including a conformity statement, maintenance release or authorised release certificate, overhaul and test records, and traceability records; Class III products require up to seven, including a certificate of conformity or release certificate and inspection and acceptance records.

Sixty days of validity and the refusal grounds

An Export Certificate of Airworthiness is valid for a period not exceeding sixty days and only while the product remains in the condition in which it was inspected; it ceases to be valid if the product is altered, repaired, modified, damaged, maintained, installed or operated in a way affecting its conformity, traceability or airworthiness status before export.

The Authority may refuse a certificate where:

• the product is not properly identified or does not conform to the applicable design data or standard;
• it is not in an acceptable airworthiness condition for export;
• required records are incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable;
• it does not meet the special requirements of the importing State, unless that State has accepted the deviation in writing;
• the applicant fails to supply information reasonably required;
• issuance would, on reasonable grounds, pose a risk to aviation safety.

A certificate may be suspended or cancelled where it was issued on incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or where the product’s condition or status changes before export. Applicants and exporters must keep the product unchanged until shipment, notify the Authority of any change in condition, configuration, ownership, location or status, and retain copies of all supporting documents.

Minor repairs and record keeping

The second new provision, paragraph 5.7.4A, requires minor modifications and minor repairs to be accomplished using technical data acceptable to the Authority and recorded in the applicable aircraft, engine, propeller, component or appliance records. The Authority must retain records of every export certificate issued, and both the Authority and importers may call for supporting documents on request.

The change matters because Guyana’s aviation sector trades heavily in used aircraft, engines and parts, and exporters previously had no dedicated domestic procedure for the document importing States demand. From now on the certificate is time-limited, condition-dependent and revocable, which places the compliance burden squarely on owners, maintenance organisations and parts suppliers.

Source: The Official Gazette of Guyana, No. 423/2026, 5 November 2026, Legal Supplement B, p. 1113 (official reference: Requirement No. 17 of 2026).