Machine-Readable Passports by 2010
BY KOSH RAJ KOIRALA
KATHMANDU, Aug 12 - As per a commitment made to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) three years ago, Nepal is all set to introduce Machine-Readable Passports (MRP) by 2010.
Officials said the Home Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are working jointly to implement the plan. The primary objective of the MRP is to minimize delay in border crossing formalities and safeguard international civil aviation operations against unlawful interference.
The introduction of MRP is expected to help control various forms of international crime including human trafficking and also enhance the credibility of the passports.
A joint team formed by the government to conduct a detailed study on MRP is to submit final recommendations to MoFA after completing study visits to various countries including Thailand and India. MRP is already in full-fledged implementation in both those countries.
Under Secretary Lekh Nath Pokharel at the Home Ministry said they are now all set to submit final recommendations to MoFA after preparing the necessary security features to be incorporated into the passports. The study is primarily
focused on data collection, data verification, machine-readable passport production and distribution.
In July 2005, all 188 ICAO contracting states including Nepal had agreed to begin issuing ICAO-standard MRPs no later than April 10, 2010. A specialized agency of the UN, ICAO sets standards and regulations for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protection.
The ICAO-standard passports are readily recognized by officials at security, immigration and customs checkpoints and by embassies and consulates worldwide, making it more convenient for an individual to obtain visas for travel and to get clearance at airports.
All data contained in the MRP is encoded in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) format and the passports have a special Machine-Readable Passport Zone, which is usually at the end of the document. It spans two lines. Each line is 44 characters long and contains the holder's basic personal details, e.g. name, date of birth, nationality, profession and passport number as in the older passports.
While the government is to stop issuing ordinary passports completely by 2010, all those possessing ordinary passports also need to acquire the MRP by 2013 as ICAO will not recognize forms of passport other than MRP or the biometrically enabled version known as e-passport, said officials at the Home Ministry.
Currently, Nepali passports are issued from all 75 district administration offices, MoFA in Kathmandu and 21 Nepali diplomatic missions abroad.
As per the norm set by ICAO, the MRP is supposed to be issued from a single place in a country. "We are, however, mulling an arrangement for distributing such passports at least at regional level in view of the difficulties that one would have to undergo for acquiring such passports," said Pokharel, who is also a member of the study team.
He informed that it would not be very expensive to install MRP issuing machines. "We have come to learn that one such machine costs around $15,000," he added. "The total cost of production for each MRP would be around $2."
Officials said the government has to bear additional financial costs for bringing MRP into full-fledged implementation as it requires installing of at least two Optical Character Recognition Machines (OCRMs) to read MRPs at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and at least one each at eight other entry points into Nepal.
Officials said the Home Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are working jointly to implement the plan. The primary objective of the MRP is to minimize delay in border crossing formalities and safeguard international civil aviation operations against unlawful interference.
The introduction of MRP is expected to help control various forms of international crime including human trafficking and also enhance the credibility of the passports.
A joint team formed by the government to conduct a detailed study on MRP is to submit final recommendations to MoFA after completing study visits to various countries including Thailand and India. MRP is already in full-fledged implementation in both those countries.
Under Secretary Lekh Nath Pokharel at the Home Ministry said they are now all set to submit final recommendations to MoFA after preparing the necessary security features to be incorporated into the passports. The study is primarily
focused on data collection, data verification, machine-readable passport production and distribution.
In July 2005, all 188 ICAO contracting states including Nepal had agreed to begin issuing ICAO-standard MRPs no later than April 10, 2010. A specialized agency of the UN, ICAO sets standards and regulations for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity, as well as for aviation environmental protection.
The ICAO-standard passports are readily recognized by officials at security, immigration and customs checkpoints and by embassies and consulates worldwide, making it more convenient for an individual to obtain visas for travel and to get clearance at airports.
All data contained in the MRP is encoded in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) format and the passports have a special Machine-Readable Passport Zone, which is usually at the end of the document. It spans two lines. Each line is 44 characters long and contains the holder's basic personal details, e.g. name, date of birth, nationality, profession and passport number as in the older passports.
While the government is to stop issuing ordinary passports completely by 2010, all those possessing ordinary passports also need to acquire the MRP by 2013 as ICAO will not recognize forms of passport other than MRP or the biometrically enabled version known as e-passport, said officials at the Home Ministry.
Currently, Nepali passports are issued from all 75 district administration offices, MoFA in Kathmandu and 21 Nepali diplomatic missions abroad.
As per the norm set by ICAO, the MRP is supposed to be issued from a single place in a country. "We are, however, mulling an arrangement for distributing such passports at least at regional level in view of the difficulties that one would have to undergo for acquiring such passports," said Pokharel, who is also a member of the study team.
He informed that it would not be very expensive to install MRP issuing machines. "We have come to learn that one such machine costs around $15,000," he added. "The total cost of production for each MRP would be around $2."
Officials said the government has to bear additional financial costs for bringing MRP into full-fledged implementation as it requires installing of at least two Optical Character Recognition Machines (OCRMs) to read MRPs at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and at least one each at eight other entry points into Nepal.
Posted on: 2008-08-11 20:26:44 (Server Time)
Vishnu Pyakurel
Vishnu Pyakurel
