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US moves to tighten immigration control
WASHINGTON, Sep 13: The United States is moving to tighten immigration and
customs controls, which it says are vital to keep terrorists at bay six years
after 9/11.
Under plans that have been announced, foreign travellers will
need to provide 10 digital fingerprints on arrival instead of the current two
starting from November and their personal data will be transmitted to the US
before their plane takes off.
By the end of the year, virtually every
container that comes into the country by sea will be screened amid concerns over
possible smuggling of nuclear weapons, security officials said.
To
supplement these measures, an official said, new rules, effective from February
2008, have been formulated requiring international airlines to provide US
authorities their passenger lists before boarding is completed to allow the
department to verify the passenger lists and determine whether a passenger on a
flight could be a risk.
In another move, the US has reached an agreement
with the European Union to share records of passenger names while protecting
their privacy.
On the cargo front, officials said the US would scan
nearly 100 percent of incoming cargo for radiation at all major seaports by the
end of 2007 and virtually all cargo at all ports of entry by the end of 2008. afp
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