U.S. Customs Cracks Down on Foreign Airlines

Voice of America, November 27, 2001

The United States has warned foreign airlines that as of this week they must provide advance passenger information needed to identify potential terrorists or risk having their passengers undergo lengthy inspections and delays on arrival.

Commissioner of U.S. customs Robert Bonner issued the warning in a letter to 58 airlines that are presently not providing electronic passenger manifests, including Saudi Arabian Airlines, Russia's Aeroflot, Air China, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines.

Mr. Bonner says U.S. customs inspectors will search all hand-carried and checked baggage on every international flight arriving in the United States that does not comply. That process, he says, could add hours to the clearance process for overseas travelers.

A new aviation security law signed by President Bush November 19 gave foreign carriers two months to cooperate.

But Mr. Bonner wants the airlines to comply immediately. He says that while the U.S. Customs service recognizes the vast majority of travelers are not a threat to the United States, international flights pose a "serious national security risk" in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

American officials have said 15 of the 19 hijackers whose planes crashed into the World Trade Center were from Saudia Arabia. The United States has long tried to get the Saudi airline to provide passenger manifests in advance of the flights to no avail.

The U.S. Customs service has received information voluntarily from participating airlines since 1988 on international air passengers. The information is collected at the time of departure and transmitted to Customs while flights are en route the the United States. Information also is transmitted to Customs about crew members.

More TruthNews