US extends EU biometric deadline

The US has announced it will give EU countries one more year to introduce biometric passports.

US officials informed a summit of G8 justice and home affairs ministers of the move in the UK on Wednesday.

The press reports that Washington has postponed, for the second time, the demand because up to 19 EU countries would fail to make the grade in time.

With pressure from the European Commission, Washington has decided to postpone and will continue to accept passports with digital photographs for another year.  

A deal has also been struck for France and Italy who still issue passports with laminated pictures, although details are not known, FT Europe reports.

Initially, the US was supposed to issue documents containing microchips with genetic information about passport holders by October 26.

If the US had failed to give the EU extra time millions of European travellers would require visas after October - a process that can take weeks.

America itself is not expected to implement biometric passports until the end of 2006.

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