Few countries set to meet US deadline for issuing new high-tech passports
Only a handful of nations are expected to meet a US deadline for issuing high-tech passports, raising fresh concerns that millions more visitors to the US will need visas to enter the country from October.
The US will require visas for travellers from 27 currently visa-exempt countries if they do not start producing the new biometric passports by October 26.
The biometric passports, which include a digital photograph embedded on a chip, were proposed by the US in a bid to improve border controls in the wake of the September 11 2001 terror attacks.
In Asia, Japan has already made clear it will not be ready with the passports for a year. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei are also required to introduce the high-tech passports. In Europe, the UK and France are set to miss the deadline and will face an embarrassing block on visa-free access.
According to the European Commission only Belgium, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg will be in a position to start issuing the biometric passports from October.
The failure of the majority of the 27 visa-exempt countries to produce high-tech passports by the deadline could cause difficulties for the travel industry and might mean that the US loses millions of dollars in tourism spending. Several countries have warned of the difficulties they face in producing the high-tech passports on time. Last year they urged the US Congress to extend the deadline by two years. It agreed to a one year extension.
The technology,including the digital photograph, will help authorities verify a traveller's identity. They will compare an image taken of the traveller on arrival to details encrypted on the chip.
But there are fears about the reliability of the technology and how the information will be stored. In addition, the international community has not agreed a common standard on security features, with only some passports featuring fingerprints.
The US will start issuing the new high-tech passports to its citizens this year but full roll-out is unlikely until the end of 2006, according to the State Department.
The Department of Homeland Security insisted it was making “very dramatic progress” on its work with countries developing the documents, as part of its drive to tighten border security.
The US last year began fingerprinting and photographing travellers from the 27 visa-free countries arriving at international airports. It did so in exchange for allowing the countries another year to issue the high-tech passports.
美国：多数免签国不能按期换发生物辨识护照
预计只有一小部分国家能在美国规定的最后期限前向本国公民发放高科技护照，从而再度引起人们担心，自今年10月起，数百万前往美国的访问者将需要签证才能入境。
目前有27个国家享有美国的免签证待遇，但如果它们不能在10月26日前提供生物辨识护照，那么美国将对这些国家的旅游者提出签证要求。
美国提议的这种生物辨识护照包括一张植入芯片的数码照片。在2001年9月11日的恐怖袭击后，美国意图通过这一措施来加强边界控制。
在亚洲，日本已明确表态，它在一年内将无法准备好这种护照。新加坡、澳大利亚、新西兰和文莱等国也被要求提供这种高科技护照。在欧洲，英国和法国肯定要错过最后期限，在免签证入境待遇方面将面临尴尬的阻碍。
欧盟委员会的资料显示，仅有比利时、德国、奥地利、芬兰、瑞典和卢森堡能于10月起开始提供生物辨识护照。
在27个免签证国家中，大部分国家未能如期制作出高科技护照，这可能会给旅游业造成困难，并且可能意味着美国将失去数百万美元的旅游收入。此前，已有好几个国家发出警告，表示他们难以如期生产出高科技护照。这些国家去年曾敦促美国国会将最后期限延长两年，后者同意将期限延长一年。
包括使用数码照片的这种科技将能帮助当局查证旅行者的身份。做法是先拍下到境旅行者的照片，然后再与加密储存在芯片上的细节进行比对。
但外界对这项技术的可靠性以及信息存储方式存在忧虑。此外，国际社会也没有就安全特性达成共同标准，现在只有一部分护照上有指纹信息。
根据美国国务院的信息，今年美国将开始向该国公民发放新的高科技护照，但全面推广要到2006年年底才有可能展开。
