Automated border control system almost ready in Belarus

Belarus has almost completed the organization of a single border control system, Belarus's Border Control Committee spokesman Aliaksandr Tsishchanka told the official news agency Belta. He said the equipment was being adjusted and tested. Police and other security agencies are soon expected to feed their databases to the border guards' computers.

The new automated control system will allow to reduce the time of border checks, thus exclusing such human factors as fatigue and the loss of attention. The new equipment will control the situation in the real-time mode at all the crossing points, verify the validity of travel documents, process the passport information and match it with the databases.

Tsishchanka noted that the existance of the foreign travel permit stamp in passports did not help meet the challenges of border controls. Border guards would have to cross-check the documents anyway.

The single automated control system is not expected yet to become fully operational from January 1, 2008.