The Supervisory Authority is established by Article 17 of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, and it is required to, inter alia, establish or provide for the establishment of the International Registry, and supervise the Registrar and the operation of the International Registry. Article 16 of the Convention provides for the establishment of the International Registry for registrations of, inter alia, international interests, prospective international interests, and registrable non-consensual rights and interests.

Article XVII of the Aircraft Protocol provides that the Supervisory Authority shall be the international entity designated by a Resolution adopted by the Diplomatic Conference to Adopt a Mobile Equipment Convention and an Aircraft Protocol. Resolution No. 2 of the Final Act of the Diplomatic Conference records the resolution of the conference to invite the International Civil Aviation Organization to accept the functions of Supervisory Authority upon the entry into force of the Convention and the Aircraft Protocol. The International Civil Aviation Organization subsequently accepted those functions. Resolution No. 2 of the Final Act also records the resolution of the Conference to establish a Preparatory Commission to act as Provisional Supervisory Authority for the establishment of the International Registry for aircraft objects, pending the entry into force of the Convention and the Aircraft Protocol. The Preparatory Commission was tasked with, inter alia, ensuring "that the international registration system… become ready to be operated…at the latest by the time of the entry into force of the Convention and the Protocol". On 28 May 2004, the Preparatory Commission selected Aviareto, an Irish company, as the Registrar of the International Registry. The International Registry entered into operation the same date that the Aircraft Protocol entered into force: 1 March 2006.