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US plans travel card for border crossing |
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Washington will launch a credit-card sized document for use by
cross-border travellers this year, a move that could affect ease of travel
between Canada and the United States.
The card, called People Access Security Service, or PASS for
short, will be launched by the end of 2006. Its use however won't be
mandatory until January 1, 2008.
While the PASS card is for use
by American travellers, Canada can be expected to follow suit with its
own version of the card. US and Canadian officials are already working
out details on a document that Canadians can use when they cross the
international border.
The new document is being seen in some quarters as a compromise after Canada strenuously objected to American plans to require all cross-border travellers to carry passports. Canadian officials however criticized both the passport plan and the PASS cards as costly and cumbersome requirements that could hit cross-border traffic and hurt the economy in border towns.
Currently, Canadians and Americans can freely drive across the border with an acceptable photo ID such as a driver's license. However by the end of this year, all Canadians arriving in the US by air or sea will require passports.
The PASS card will cost Americans $50, about half the price of a $97 passport, and will include a digital photo of its owner. The Homeland Security Department anticipates they will hold other biometric information, such as fingerprints or even DNA data, in the future.
The new document is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, an attempt to increase security following the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Newsfile 