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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Japanese fingerprint cards to speed traveler reentry

Knight Ridder

TOKYO – To expedite reentry procedures for Japanese who travel abroad, the Justice Ministry has decided to introduce cards with fingerprint data and an express immigration control system that will identify travelers by their fingerprints, ministry officials said.

Cards with integrated circuit chips will be issued only to those who wish to carry them. Cardholders will be allowed to move straight through turnstiles at international airports in Japan, bypassing passport checks at immigration. The system will operate in a similar way to the electronic toll collection system on highways.

The ministry plans to begin trials of the system from April and aims to introduce it in fiscal 2006.

The system will speed up reentry procedures for Japanese travelers who pose no security threat, allowing immigration officers to concentrate on checking incoming foreigners. This may help weed out blacklisted foreigners, who may be possible terrorists.

Further discussions will determine whether the data will be registered on the card only, or if authorities will keep copies of the data. If copies are kept, it must be decided if the data will be made available for other purposes, such as criminal investigations.

Under the plan, the card will be issued to travelers who apply at regional immigration offices. Information on the fingerprints of the index fingers of both hands of the applicant, as well as passport details will be stored in an IC chip contained in the card.

On departing from or arriving in Japan, the cardholder will pass through a turnstile installed with a reader that will check the data.

The new system is expected to be more efficient than having an immigration officer check each traveler’s photo in his or her passport.

The ministry initially plans to install turnstiles at Narita, Kansai and other major airports before installing them in all airports. The ministry plans to make this system available to foreign residents in Japan later.

Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia have already adopted similar systems.