Welcome
PLEASE NOTE: REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
A Regional Seminar on Machine Readable Travel Documents (MRTDs) and Traveller Identification Management will take place from 25 to 27 June 2014 in Madrid, Spain. The Seminar, hosted by the Government of Spain, will address MRTD standards and best practices, assistance and capacity-building needs of States, identification management and related border security issues.
The MRTD Seminar will assist Member States in Europe in implementing ICAO MRTD specifications and related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). The Seminar will specifically address the needs of States to further enhance the integrity of the passport issuance process and ensure robust identification management in order to maximize border security and facilitation benefits.
In particular, the Regional Seminar will focus on the ICAO Traveller Identification Programme (ICAO TRIP) Strategy which was approved by the Council and endorsed by the ICAO Assembly in October 2013. The Strategy, responding to the global driving forces and needs of Member States, provides a framework for achieving the maximum benefits of travel documents in the future. It brings together the elements of identification management and builds on ICAO leadership in matters related to Machine Readable Travel Documents.
The key point of the ICAO TRIP Strategy is a recognized need for a holistic and integrated approach to traveller identification management. The approach that links the five elements of traveller identification and border controls into a coherent framework: evidence of identification, document issuance and control, MRTDs, inspection systems and tools, and interoperable applications.
ICAO recognizes the benefits of traveller identification management to aviation security and facilitation. ICAO’s mission is to contribute to the capacity of Member States to uniquely identify individuals by providing tools and knowledge to establish and confirm the identity of travellers.
Another important focus of the Regional Seminar in Spain is the December 2014 mandatory Supplemental Access Control (SAC) digital protocol. This new digital access protocol will be mandatory to all new European travel documents issued as of December 2014.
An industry exhibition will complement the Seminar with a broad range of products and services related to MRTDs, biometric identification, travel document security applications and border inspection systems. Seminar participants will have an opportunity to interact with ICAO industry partners and experts to discuss the latest available traveller identification technologies.
As usual, MRTD Seminar speakers and facilitators include top experts in the field, policy makers and senior managers, practitioners and researchers, many from the relevant working groups of ICAO, ISO and other international organizations.
Who Should Attend
The MRTD Regional Seminar will be of particular interest to government officials from national identity and travel document issuance authorities, civil registries, passport offices, immigration, customs and other border inspection and law enforcement agencies; Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, as well as embassy Consular staff. Other key stakeholders include international organizations, donor agencies, private companies offering technologies and products for effective international identity and border management, airlines and airport authorities, security and facilitation consultants, academia and think tanks.
For more information, please contact:
MRTD Programme
Phone: +1 514-954-8219, extension 6054 or 6056
