Press Release

For Immediate Release
11 December 2006

ACTE Endorses WHTI Final Rule For Transborder Identification

Alexandria, VA -- Recognizing tighter border controls as a legacy of 9/11, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) endorsed a recent announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding new identification requirements for U.S. citizens and international travelers entering the country. This final rule and first phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative establishes three forms of identification -- a valid passport, NEXUS Air card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document (MMD) -- required to enter the US by air.

Requirements for all persons arriving through land and sea ports-of-entry (including ferries) are not finalized. DHS has announced a projected effective date of 1 January 2008 for land and sea entry at which time all travelers may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined to be suitable by DHS. The final rule relating to land and sea travel will be addressed in a separate, future rule making.

“Most significant to business travelers will be the provisions regarding arrival and departure by air,” said ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley. “Effective January 23, 2007, all U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico departing from or entering the United States from within the Western Hemisphere at air ports-of-entry will be required to present one of three documents now required by the DHS.”

For years residents of the US, Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico had the luxury of crossing the border with nothing other than a driver’s license or a birth certificate. DHS states that there are more than 8,000 different state and local entities in the U.S., which issue birth certificates and driver’s licenses. Currently, a Customs and Border Protection Officer needs to assess the authenticity of each birth certificate and license, regardless of when or where it was issued. The new ruling is designed to reduce the potential for criminal entry into the U.S. using forged documents.

“While the strongest impact of this ruling will be felt in the leisure travel industry, ACTE leadership acknowledges that business travel in any of the border states and provinces may be temporarily inconvenienced or faced with a new expense, the overall gain in security will ultimately benefit the industry,” said Gurley. “Most international travelers already have a valid passport and will not regard the new ruling as problematic.”

A recent ACTE Canada poll of corporate travel managers supports this claim. Nearly half (49 percent) of the corporate travel managers surveyed reports their company’s travelers already have passports. For the majority of companies with transborder travel, transborder travel represents less than 40% of total travel. Seventy percent of the survey respondents indicated they do not budget Visa/Passport/NEXUS card issuance expenses and 84% do not intend to increase the line item for these in light of proposed documentation requirements.

“The emphasis on globalization will ultimately result in requiring nearly all business travelers to carry a passport in the future,” said Gurley.


For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com