ST. KITTS-NEVIS has become the third Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state to bring the CARICOM passport into operation, making good on its promise to launch it before the end of the year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said issuance of the document to citizens would begin on November 14. Suriname became the first CARICOM state to introduce the document in January followed by St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The CARICOM passport is a national document, which is being issued in accordance with an agreed format for intra-regional and extra-regional travel. On the cover, it bears the logo of CARICOM and the words "Caribbean Community," in addition to the Coat of Arms and the name of the issuing member state. A CARICOM Secretariat statement said "the passport also creates awareness that CARICOM nationals are nationals of the Community, as well as a specific country". "The expectation is that all member states, will introduce the CARICOM passport when the stock of their old passports is depleted," it said. "Heads of Government agreed to the issuance of a CARICOM passport as a defining symbol of regionalism. The introduction of the CARICOM passport is also part of the measures to promote hassle-free travel for CARICOM nationals, and a major thrust of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)." Speaking at the launch of the document on Tuesday night, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Immigration, Justice and Labour, Mrs. Astona Browne said the new machine-readable passport system was purchased from Canadian Bank Note Company at a cost of just over US$1 million. Government officials said that the document not only complies with the required standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), but also enhances the security and integrity of the travel document. "Over the years we have had to rely on the keen eye of our immigration officers to identify the documents that have been tampered with. Individuals habitually removed the data page of a passport that they might have found or stolen and as we would say in local parlance, doctored it," said Mrs Browne. She said that current passports would be valid until the phase out period is announced. Reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com