WASHINGTON DC, USA – The recent decision by the United States Government to suspend, until September, a Homeland Security mandate requiring Americans entering that country to have a valid passport, is unlikely to result in a further extension of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), according to Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

Mitchell was speaking to journalists last Wednesday shortly after he and other Caricom leaders emerged from a Conference on the Caribbean in Washington DC, where they met with United States President George W Bush.

The new policy which came into effect in January, was recently suspended in response to an overwhelming demand by Americans for passports. As a result, the US government announced that US nationals could travel abroad without producing passports, providing that they show proof that they had applied for them.

Under the new regime, the US government has delayed the implementation of the new passport requirements until June 1, 2009 for land crossings at the Mexican and Canadian borders and for cruise passengers coming to the US from the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada or Bermuda. However, it requires all US citizens travelling by air to these regions to have a passport by January 8, 2007.

But the measure has not pleased tourism interests in the Caribbean who argue that it will impact negatively on the tourism sector. Caribbean Heads of State were widely expected to lobby the US government for an extension during last week’s Conference on the Caribbean.

But, said Mitchell: “They (US government) made it clear that while they understand the problem and have in fact given some time for it (they did postpone it for sometime), it (the postponement) would not be eternal. It is a question of law which has been passed by Congress.”

The move is also likely to be further compounded by recent reports in the US media that the processing of requests will take much longer than expected.

State Department Consular Affairs Chief Maura Harty testified before angry United States senators last Tuesday that there would be a struggle to meet the demands through the end of 2007, as the number of requests was unprecedented.

According to Harty, there are approximately three million applications, and it is taking roughly 12 weeks to process each application.

Because of the backlog, officials on June 8 issued a reprieve until September 30, allowing airline passengers to show another government-issued identification, and a State Department receipt, verifying that they had applied for a passport.

This backlog is likely to adversely affect the winter season which has always been the best season for the tourism industry.

“I don’t think it will be extended beyond the September or October deadline that has been proposed,” Mitchell said.