Posted on: Tuesday, June 21, 2005

EDITORIAL
Biometric IDs will help, but no rush

The Bush administration made the only sensible decision by, for a second time, extending the Oct. 26 deadline for visitors from Japan and other friendly nations to begin using the new, high-tech "biometric" passports.

The timetable for conversion to the promising new system for securing our borders was unrealistic from the start.

Biometric passports will be mandatory for citizens of the 27 nations where visa requirements have been waived. They will include an embedded chip containing identifying information such as fingerprints and iris scans, technology that ultimately could enable Homeland Security officials to consider extending freer travel privileges to more countries — a boon for tourism.

However, some countries have balked, partly because of the added expense of the upgrade. In fact, the United States has not yet required the biometric chips in its own passports, so it's arrogant to expect others to convert first.

Partly because of the bipartisan prompting from Capitol Hill, the administration now will settle for passports with the tamper-resistant digitized photos. Critics have argued correctly that this is enough to meet the requirements of the 2002 border-security act, and Homeland Security officials acknowledge they won't have all the chip-reading machines installed by the end of October, anyway.

The White House must consult with the visa-waiver countries and ensure that the next deadline is indeed realistic.

Biometric chips surely are superior identifiers, but the technology needs to be phased in to avoid needlessly overtaxing our allies. In the meantime, the digital photos offer a reasonable intermediate step toward the ultimate goal: greater security in travel worldwide.

And if that greater security translates into more open, hassle-free travel, it will be a boon for destinations such as Hawai'i, which has a huge, and eager, market awaiting in Asia.