PRESS RELEASE

September 25, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Debra Kelman Loew
212-794-DKPR (3577)

POSTPONEMENT OF MACHINE READABLE PASSPORTS FINALIZED

Travel Business Roundtable and World Travel & Tourism Council Used International Reach to Ensure Postponement of Visa Policy Changes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Travel Business Roundtable (TBR) and its global partner, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), are applauding the State Department's decision to grant a postponement until October 26, 2004 for travelers from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries to have Machine Readable Passports (MRP) to enter the United States.

In the USA Patriot Act, Congress moved up the deadline for implementation of MRPs from 2007 to 2003, but granted the Secretary of State the authority to postpone the implementation if the eligible VWP countries were making progress toward issuing MRPs. Under a great deal of pressure from the U.S. Travel and Tourism and business communities, Secretary of State Powell expressed a willingness to entertain requests from VWP countries, on a country-by-country basis, asking that he exercise waiver authority to delay the MRP deadline.

To help ensure that countries responded to this specific request, TBR and WTTC sent a letters to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Internal Affairs in 26 of the 27 VWP countries, outlining the issues and specifically requesting the countries send a Diplomatic Note to Secretary Powell. Any country requesting this postponement had to certify that it is making progress toward issuing MRPs to all citizens.

As a result, 21 countries asked for and were granted the postponement. They are: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Five other eligible countries did not require the postponement as nearly all of their citizens have the MRPs. They include Andorra, Brunei, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Slovenia.

Belgian citizens have been using MRPs since May 15, 2003.

“We are very pleased that the Secretary was so responsive to the industry's concerns that the earlier deadline was premature, and that the resulting challenges would have created an enormous disincentive for some of our closest allies to travel to the United States,” said Jonathan Tisch, chairman of TBR and chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels. “While we fully support the move to MRPs and other measures designed to protect our borders, we also want to ensure that we don't put up barriers that would inhibit travel to the U.S. for citizens from Visa Waiver Program countries."

“Along with our partner, TBR, we worked hard to emphasize to the other countries in the Visa Waiver Program the critical need to request that the United States government issue a postponement of the new MRP deadline,” noted Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of London based WTTC. “We appreciate Secretary Powell’s willingness to reconsider this matter and urge the Department of State to work together with the private sector towards improving security while facilitating the sustainable growth of our industry.”

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