Wednesday, 02 January 2008   The United States (US) State Department has approved a passport card equipped with new features to allow greater ease for travellers to the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico.

On Monday, the department approved the card which permits information on it to be read from a distance.

However, critics say the new passport is dangerous because it does not do enough to protect personal privacy.

According to Deputy Assistant Secretary for Passport Services at the State Department, Ann Barrett, the cards can be read from up to 20 feet away and processing only takes one or two seconds.

In 2004, the United States Congress passed legislation that called for a "smaller and more convenient" passport card for frequent border-crossers.

Currently, immigration officers at ports of entry swipe traditional passports, for Americans re-entering the country, through an electronic reader.

Effective January 31, Americans returning to the US from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada or Mexico will be permitted to present a birth certificate and driver's license instead of a passport.

Over the Christmas holidays, the Bush administration delayed a requirement that Americans present passports when crossing US borders by land or sea.

Officials said the measure requiring passports will likely go into effect at the end of next summer.