BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union said yesterday the United States Congress warned the bloc not to expect another deadline extension to implement new US rules on issuing biometric passports.

If such an extension is denied, the EU would consider imposing similar restrictions on US visitors to Europe once the deadline expires, the European Commission said.

The deadline is October 26, and Washington said all EU passports issued thereafter will need to have biometric security elements, fitted with a microchip containing facial features, arguing they will be more secure.

Citizens from 27 visa-exempt countries would have to apply for a visa to visit the United States if their passport issued after the deadline does not have the required biometric elements.

But passports in these countries issued before the deadline and without the security features will be honoured until the passports expire and will not require visas, said Jeff Lungren, spokesman for James Sensenbrenner, head of the US House of Representative's Judiciary Committee. Sensenbrenner is the US Congress contact for the EU.

But the 25-nation EU wants a deadline extension until August 28, 2006, saying it faces technical problems in issuing the new passports. So far, only six EU countries - Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Sweden - will be ready to issue biometric passports by the deadline.

Biometric passports are meant to be more secure. So-called biometric features can reduce patterns of fingerprints, irises, voices and faces to mathematical algorithms that can be stored on a chip or machine-readable strip.

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