Business Mobility Group - Key Initiatives

ADVANCE PASSENGER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

What is Advance Passenger Information (API)?

API involves a government receiving data about travellers in advance of their arrival into the country. This data can include information about passengers, crew and transit travellers. The information can then be checked against warning lists and used for immigration processing, security and customs purposes. The main objective of API systems is to provide advance warning of suspect persons travelling to the country, however, API can also result in faster passenger processing on arrival.

API Pathfinder Initiative

In 2001, APEC Leaders' issued a Counter Terrorism statement, part of which called on APEC economies to establish:

"Cooperation to develop electronic movement records systems that will enhance border security while ensuring movement of legitimate travellers is not disrupted"

APEC Leaders endorsed API as a Pathfinder Initiative in 2002. The Business Mobility Group (BMG) has secured APEC funding to provide economies with a detailed feasibility study report assessing the capacity of their existing border management systems to integrate with the API environment. The reports identify a range of issues governments need to consider when developing their own API systems, including the current border management systems infrastructure and business processing. A total of ten feasibility study reports have now been produced and some eleven economies have already implemented or committed publicly to implement an API system.

In their 2006 Statement, APEC Ministers welcomed the increasing participation of member economies in the API Pathfinder Initiative.

Contribution to APEC Trade and Investment Facilitation

The API Pathfinder Initiative builds on the APEC Business Travel Card pre-clearance system and the successful business mobility technical training and cooperation programs. It represents a further, more sophisticated progression in streamlining bona-fide travel and enhances the capacity of economies to identify non-bona-fide travellers. It looks ahead to the region's long-term development needs and takes a small but tangible step towards the eventual upgrading and streamlining of immigration processing between economies.

Benefits of API

API provides significant benefits for all economies by maximising the security of travel and facilitating faster processing of legitimate travellers, while reducing opportunities for travel by unauthorised or improperly documented persons. API provides for:

- Enhanced border security as it provides for more thorough checking of travellers,

- Increased passenger facilitation because passengers have been ‘pre-processed’ before arriving at the border.

The implementation of API across APEC would also significantly enhance domestic and regional security by providing economies with advance warning of suspect persons travelling to the country. In the case of Interactive API people of concern can be stopped from boarding a plane to the destination country.

Interactive API also has significant benefits for the airline industry. The ability to check passengers’ authority to travel prior to boarding has the potential to decrease carrier infringement penalties and to reduce ‘turn-around’ costs.

How do API systems work?

API requires airlines to collect passenger information and forward it to the destination country. Although there are a number of different API models the two essential elements of each approach are:

· Accurate passenger data; and

· An efficient and effective border alert processing system to check the passenger data.

An API system can be implemented as a batch model or an online model. An economy’s choice of API model will depend on the country’s business directions, budget and available resources.

Batch Model

A batch model is implemented by sending a list of passengers, generally after the flight departs, to the destination country. In the destination country the list is used to check passengers against the alert lists before the flight arrives.

A batch API system provides early warning of persons of concern and useful intelligence, however, because the system does not return a response to the airline, it cannot be used to prevent a passenger from boarding the aircraft.

Online Model

In this context, ‘online’ means that the API data is forwarded electronically to the destination country using a message-based interface. An online API model may be ‘interactive’ or ‘non-interactive’.

Interactive:

This type of system, also known as “Advance Passenger Processing (APP)”, “Board/No Board” “Red Light/Green Light System” and “Authority to Carry”, is a system whereby required data elements are collected and transmitted by airlines to border control agencies at the time of check-in.

Passenger data is checked against warning alerts, and may also be checked against visa and passport data. Border alert processing is done for each passenger as they check in, and a message is returned to the airline advising whether or not the passenger should be allowed to board.

Non-interactive:

In a non-interactive API system, data is processed after the flight closes but before passengers arrive. The data is then verified at the border when the passenger arrives. A passenger who matches a warning alert can be referred for secondary examination on arrival.