US eyes tighter security for visa-free travelers

Washington, Dec 2: The Bush administration wants travel agents to help conduct new background checks on European and Asian travelers who do not need visas to enter the United States, officials said.

As part of a planned tightening of security standards for countries in the US visa waiver programme, the Department of Homeland Security would also demand that armed federal air marshals be allowed on foreign carriers' US-bound flights.

Some countries in the programme have gun laws that bar armed US security agents. But officials said US marshals, who already patrol US airlines' international flights, would be required on foreign flights unless the home country provided equivalent protections.

Paul Rosenzweig, acting assistant Homeland Security secretary for international affairs, said tighter security measures are part of a legislative package the administration will send Congress early next year intended to expand the visa waiver program to new countries from Eastern Europe and Asia.

The administration wants Congress to give Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the authority to waive visa requirements for countries that agree to adopt the more stringent security standards.

US officials also want tighter controls on lost or stolen foreign passports, more flexible repatriation procedures for foreign nationals deported by US courts, common standards for travel documents and foreign airport security upgrades.

''We are going to ask all of our partners in the visa waiver program, both those who want to join from Eastern Europe and South Korea, for example, and the current members to raise their security standards,'' he told reporters yesterday.

Under the programme, which began in the 1980s, people from 27 mostly European countries can travel to the United States and stay up to 90 days without a visa. Japan, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei are also included.

US law now lets the government waive visas only when a country meets requirements such as a low rate of visitors who over-stay their US visas.

President George W Bush said on Tuesday he would seek Congress' approval to ease travel requirements for countries that have helped in Iraq and the US war on terrorism.

Last month, the United States and European Union agreed on rules to supply personal data on US-bound air passengers as part of the fight against terrorism. But Rosenzweig said Washington's plan for an electronic travel authorisation program for visa waiver countries would effectively bypass the EU through agreements with individual European countries.

The administration would model the program on an Australian system requiring travel agents to supply authorities with personal details about travelers, which could be checked against terrorism and criminal databases.

Rosenzweig said EU officials, who have complained about potential privacy violations, agreed to release much of the same biographical information in the October accord.

REUTERS