Securing passports focus of OSCE workshop in Albania

TIRANA, 20 November 2012 - A two-day workshop on participating in the International Civil Aviation Organization Public Key Directory, a passport verification mechanism, concluded today in Tirana.

The workshop, which was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department/Action against Terrorism Unit in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, brought together 12 Albanian representatives from border, state registry and information technology agencies to learn how the ICAO PKD functions as a multilateral technical platform enabling border control to effectively validate electronic security features stored in the biometric Passport (ePassport).

“The seminar underlines the importance of a globally interoperable validation system like the PKD,” said Paul Picard of the Transnational Threats Department/Action against Terrorism Unit. “Presently, this is the best and most cost-effective way to validate the authenticity of biographic and biometric data and thereby help to counter terrorism and prevent  illegal cross-border activities.”

During the event, OSCE officials met  state representatives to discuss further co-operation and assistance in implementing a robust national identity management system to prevent criminals and terrorists from obtaining legitimate identity documents under false identities.

The Transnational Threats Department/Action against Terrorism Unit undertook to organize PKD seminars following an OSCE Ministerial Council Decision calling on  the participating States to consider becoming participants in the ICAO PKD. Similar workshops were previously held in Uzbekistan, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan and future activities on PKD are planned in the coming months in Tajikistan and Armenia.