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Mr. Okuyama of JATA Willing to Make Public Comment on U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization
Mid-June 2008
Takaya Okuyama, director and secretary general of Japan
Association of Travel Agents (JATA), showed willingness on June 5 to
make a public comment on the U.S. Electronic System for Travel
Authorization (ESTA) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
is working to implement.
He has this to say: "Proxy application by a travel agency is not
the best way in terms of personal information handling and
whereabouts of the responsibility. As for the validity, two years are
good for frequent travelers but are not always so for ordinary
visitors. The U.S. government is requested to consider setting up
something like fast tracks to expedite the entry formalities. If we
are kept waiting long at a port of entry as before in spite of the
bothersome application processes prior to departure, we don't see any
good in this system."
In relation to handling of personal information, he argues that
JATA should not encourage travel agencies to perform the duty of
filling in the entry card on travelers' behalf which is rendered as a
courtesy.
As a matter of fact, once something goes wrong and an adverse
consequence should follow, it is not clear who is going to be blamed.
Therefore, he says, the agencies will have no other choice but to ask
for liability waiver from the travelers if they are expected to
continue the job.
Prior to making a public comment, Mr. Okuyama considers holding
hearings with travel agencies on the inconveniences that the new
system might cause on consumers as well as on their business.
Travel agencies will presumably suffer from extra work of
processing the proxy application for business travelers and providing
package tour participants with necessary assistance for obtaining
authorization. It is feared that a number of travelers will encounter
difficulties in dealing with this web-based application for two
reasons. For one, there is a language problem because the format and
guidance may possibly be given in Japanese but entry is supposed to
be done in English. Besides, those who are not familiar with online
communication will be hard put in submitting the application, so some
remedies should be sought in favor of those people.
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