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March 31, 2006
Japan Issues E-Passports
Last week, Japan started issuing its first electronic passports (e-passports). Every five-year, 10-year and diplomatic passport the government issues will now include an RFID tag. The country expects to dispense more than 3.5 million e-passports within the next 12 months, with all Japanese passports will expected to carry an RFID chip within the next 10 years. Currently, Japan has 35 million passports in circulation.
To support the e-passport rollout, Japan has deployed e-passport printers in 60 of its 322 passport offices throughout the country. "Each of the 47 prefectures in Japan has at least one office with an e-passport printer," Susumu Kitamura reported at the Global Border Control Technology Summit in London, adding that 184 overseas passport offices have also been equipped with e-passport printers.
Posted by joeyelisa at March 31, 2006 08:56 AM