By Somalilandtimes network

Contrary to the commonly quoted figure of 40 countries, almost 50 States are now known to be upgrading their passports to include contactless chips and biometric information over the next two years.

A list published by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the inaugural issue of its MRTD Report, quotes 41 countries it is aware of that are making the switch (see Table). However, SDW is aware of other at least eight other countries that have either started producing ePassports or have plans to roll out the documents. These include Brazil (2006), Greece (August 2006), Macedonia (2006), Qatar (April 2006), Russia (from 2007), Somalia, Thailand (already in circulation) and Turkey.

Inevitably there are more countries working on this conversion, but for now this brings the number of known countries up to 49.

SDW welcomes any information on further countries upgrading, or clearer issuance dates. Please email info@securitydocumentworld.com

Source: Security Document world

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