Border bill targets threats before arrival

The Mia Mottley administration is moving to strengthen border controls by requiring airlines and vessel operators to provide passenger information before travelers reach Barbados.

The Advanced Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record Bill, which advanced to the Senate on Wednesday, establishes a single statutory framework for collecting, processing and sharing traveler data with regional and international security partners.

Minister of Home Affairs Gregory Nicholls told upper chamber lawmakers that modern security requires proactive measures long before travelers arrive at the island’s ports.

“It cannot be denied that in the contemporary environment that we live in, we can no longer depend on securing our borders when people arrive at them,” Nicholls said.

“Modern border management will require us to act long before people arrive in Barbados. This requires advanced intelligence, electronic data exchanges, risk assessments based on the information gathered, and a timely identification of threats long before they arrive.”

The new framework expands on the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), which has been in place since Barbados hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007. Under the new bill, authorities will also collect Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, including information generated during the booking process, such as reservation details and payment methods.

Nicholls explained that analyzing PNR data before travel helps security agencies identify potential risks, including organized crime and human trafficking networks, without relying solely on border observations.

He said: “A skillful immigration officer might be able to detect these things at the port, but what we will have is that where there are multiple bookings from one credit card and that history is created, all that information, we get that long before the persons come to our borders.

“It is not merely about information collection. This bill is about risk management; it is about targeted intervention and an intelligence-led border system.”

Addressing public privacy concerns, Nicholls sought to assure legitimate travelers that the legislation includes strict safeguards. The bill mandates the creation of a Passenger Information Unit to oversee data handling, alongside a designated Data Protection Officer to ensure compliance with privacy laws.

“This collection of data is not for curiosity but allows us to compare the clear travel information against travel documents, watch lists, and all the risk indicators that we are having access to,” Nicholls said. “Legitimate travelers will have nothing to fear.”

Under the proposed law, PNR data will be de-personalized after six months, and unflagged data will not be retained indefinitely. Data that yields a security match can be stored for up to seven years.

The bill also establishes strict obligations for commercial aircraft and vessel operators to transmit passenger manifests electronically, with administrative penalties for non-compliance rather than immediate criminal charges for minor errors.

The legislation aligns Barbados with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization and Interpol, supported by model frameworks developed alongside the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS). (RR)