# Border agency to expand surveillance program



## GAP (4 Feb 2008)

Border agency to expand surveillance program
Updated Mon. Feb. 4 2008 9:26 AM ET The Canadian Press
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OTTAWA -- Canada's border agency wants to expand its surveillance of travellers entering the country, with plans to force buses, trains and cruise ships to provide advance electronic lists of passengers and their personal details. 

Since October 2002, the Canada Border Services Agency has collected advance information from airlines on arriving passengers. The mandatory reporting, enforced with $3,000 fines, now allows the agency to run computer checks on about 96 per cent of all air travellers coming to Canada. 

But companies that operate buses, trains and cruise ships are currently required to provide such information only on request, and without the same mandatory electronic transfer of data demanded from airlines. Instead, the ad hoc passenger data usually arrives by fax or e-mail, and is often incomplete, making analysis difficult. 

A January report from the agency, however, outlines a plan to broaden surveillance to require the same advance electronic data that airlines must provide, covering 100 per cent of passengers on all modes of travel. 

"Pre-arrival targeting has not yet realized its full potential," says the document. 

"With the proper leadership, design and delivery framework, electronic systems, training and regulatory support, pre-arrival targeting could become and excellent risk-management and workload-management tool." 

The report says a single, central authority is being created this year to manage the collection, monitoring and analysis of passenger information to spot potential terrorists and criminals. Some of the information is shared with U.S. agencies under agreement. 
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