existing conditions and other measures.

It is vital to cooperate with the examinations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for issuance of visas in preventing foreign nationals from coming to Japan for the purpose of staying illegally.

### B. Introducing Immigration Examinations Using Biometrics

In order to detect and oust, at the border, terrorists or foreign nationals who have been deported from Japan or committed crimes, one effective method is to further enhance measures against forged and falsified documents and to utilize biometrics in immigration examinations.

In order to take facial portraits and fingerprint data during landing examinations of foreign nationals under the “Action Plan for Prevention of Terrorism” (as adopted at the Headquarters for Promotion of Measures Against Transnational Organized Crime and Other Relative Issues and International Terrorism on December 10, 2004), necessary preparations will be made by putting in order points for us to keep in mind, observing relevant measures taken by foreign countries and developing relevant law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning step-by-step to implement the fingerprinting of foreign nationals for their visa applications depending on the overall system and the installation of materials and equipment at diplomatic establishments and on developments in foreign countries, while consideration is also being given to linkage with the landing examinations.

As for examinations of Japanese nationals upon their departure from and return to Japan, introduction of automatic examination gates utilizing biometric data for those willing to use the system is being planned. Using such gates for foreign nationals will also be considered.

### C. Introducing Other New Measures

The Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) was introduced in January 2005 for airlines to transmit information on crew members and passengers on flights bound for Japan before reaching Japan to allow automatic verification of the data against data maintained by immigration control, customs and police authorities. Strict landing examinations are being promoted by utilizing this system. Obliging airlines to introduce this system will be considered while observing operation of the present system in which airlines participate voluntarily.

As described in 1(3)A, through the introduction of the secondary examination system and the implementation of a pre-clearance system, strict and effective landing examinations will be secured. A measure will also be introduced to dispatch Japanese experts in verification of forged or altered documents as liaison officers to foreign airports to detect forged or altered passports and to instruct airline officials to prevent their holders from boarding aircraft bound for Japan. Another possible measure that may be introduced is requiring airlines to verify the passports of foreign nationals boarding aircraft bound for Japan. In addition, the effectiveness of border measures will be increased by proceeding with preparations for immigration examinations using a database that the International Criminal Police Organization is developing for real-time sharing of information on missing and stolen