The policy comes into effect on January 1, 2006 for The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean, and would also affect Mexico and Canada, which will not be impacted by the policy until the following year.
In making the announcement of the new requirement several weeks ago, U.S. officials said that it was necessary to help protect American borders against terrorism.
Prime Minister Christie expressed his concerns about the new rule to United States Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood, who paid a courtesy call on him at the Office of the Prime Minister in Cable Beach.
It was Mr. Christie’s first day back to work following a slight stroke he suffered six weeks ago. He is expected to work half days for the next six weeks and also attended a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Various groups, including The Bahamas Hotel Association, have been seeking support from Mr. Rood to help convince the U.S. government to extend the time for Americans to acquire passports for travel back into the United States after visiting The Bahamas.
They have stressed repeatedly that the requirement could deal a dangerous blow to the tourism industry.
It was a point made on Tuesday by the prime minister.
“The tourism industry in The Bahamas is deeply concerned that of January next year Americans traveling to The Bahamas will need passports. We feel that given this close relationship that we have enjoyed with the United States, every consideration would be exercised in favour of The Bahamas being given an extension similar to that of Canada and Mexico,” Mr. Christie said.
“A one-year extension is of critical importance to our industry to have some cushion to properly prepare, to anticipate the impact and of course to ensure that there is no challenge to the jobs in the success of the industry.”
Ambassador Rood assured Prime Minister Christie that he will address his concerns to U.S. government officials.
The Prime Minister also pushed again for U.S. support to establish a Defense Force Base in Inagua to help fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Mr. Christie noted that the support from the Americans would help The Bahamas protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The ambassador said that he will organize a summit so that Defence Force and Coast Guard officials will be able to discuss the benefits of having such a base in place.
The Prime Minister also said his government would support a U.S. pre-clearance facility at the Grand Bahama container port so that traffic will move more efficiently.
However, Ambassador Rood explained that for security reasons all the containers are checked thoroughly.
He said he will raise that point with customs and boarder protection officials and explore what avenues they can take to assist with the effective running of the port.
“The Bahamas and the United States are involved in a cooperative effort where we examine containers going through the country for dangerous materials,” Mr. Rood explained.
“There’re protocols being established right now. That type of cooperation between the United States and The Bahamas as it relates to potentially dangerous material should also provide the basis for cooperation on items such a pre-clearance.”
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
