PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Debra Kelman Loew
212.794-3577

June 15 , 2005

TRAVEL BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE APPLAUDS BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS FOR CLARIFYING BIOMETRICS PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS FOR VISA WAIVER PROGRAM COUNTRIES

24 of the 27 Affected Countries Will Be In Compliance By October Deadline

Washington, D.C. — The Bush Administration announced earlier today that Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must begin producing passports with digital photographs, and not integrated circuit chips, for entry to the United States by October 26, 2005. Key leaders in the U.S. Congress are in agreement with the Administration’s current interpretation of the requirement. The Travel Business Roundtable (TBR), along with other industry groups, including the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), has been pursing a clarification of the requirements and applauds both Congress and the Administration for today’s announcement. The Administration’s action will allow for the least amount of disruption to in-bound arrivals after the October deadline.

VWP countries will, however, be required to submit an acceptable plan to the U.S. government illustrating their progress towards creating passports containing integrated circuit chips, or “e-passports,” by October 26, 2006.

France, Italy and Austria currently do not have digital photographs on their passports and therefore will not be in compliance by the October deadline. A small delegation of industry CEOs, led by TBR Chairman Jonathan M. Tisch, will be meeting with Congressional leadership and senior members of the Bush Administration later this month to discuss a remedy for these three countries.

“This is a major victory for the travel and tourism industry and our nation’s economy,” said Tisch, “one that we at the Travel Business Roundtable have been aggressively pursuing in coordination with other industry groups. We salute House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, along with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, and Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, with whom we have been working closely. We also applaud the Bush Administration for working with Congress to reach this clarification of the requirement.”

“Clearly more needs to be done,” Tisch added. “We must come up with a reasonable solution that will allow for the 1.3 million travelers from France, Italy and Austria who come to the United States each year to continue to do so.”

Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries include: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

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