Japan To Start System In Jan. To Detect Suspicious Air Travelers

Japan will start a system from Jan. 4 in which information on air passengers traveling to Japan will be provided to authorities in an effort to enhance security measures against terrorism and criminals, government officials said Tuesday. Under the system called the advanced passenger information system, airline companies will send information such as the names, gender and dates of birth of passengers, including Japanese citizens, to a data center in Japan when they go through boarding procedures at overseas airports for flights bound for Japan, the officials said. The system was jointly developed by the National Police Agency, the Justice Ministry and the Finance Ministry. The agency as well as immigration and customs authorities will then screen the data to check if any suspicious individuals are boarding the planes, the officials said. The system will be utilized to help identify terrorists, prevent illegal entries into Japan, and clamp down on smuggling of goods which are prohibited from being imported into Japan, the officials said. Full Story