POLICY REPORT ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN LATVIA ...

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Besides, by using the External Border Fund financing, the State Border Guard plans to
carry out the following activities in 2011–2013:
1) development of the existing "green" border control system UNIFORM of the State
Border Guard;
2) equipping of Schengen vans with technical means;
3) renewal of vehicles used in border surveillance and border examinations;
4) improvement of the border technical protection, control and information system by
purchasing infrared, magnetic and seismic sensors;
5) purchase of equipment and inventory for officials of the State Border Guard. 130
6.2. Cooperation in Border Control
6.2.1. Changes in the European Union Perspective
On 3 June 2010, Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 459 of 18 May 2010 "Regarding
the Memorandum of Understanding on the Participation in the Public Key Directory (ICAO
PKD) of Electronic Machine Readable Documents ICAO" 131 entered into force. On 18 May
2010, the Cabinet of Ministers authorized Minister of Interior, Linda Mūrniece, to sign the
memorandum of understanding regarding the participation of Latvia in the Public Key
Directory of the ICAO electronic machine readable travel documents that will allow foreign
border guard services and other institutions to examine, in quick and accurate manner, the
authenticity of passports issued in Latvia, as well as electronic identification cards and
electronic residence permits that are currently still under development.
By becoming a member state of the ICAO Public Key Directory, Latvia will be able to
upload relevant certificates and certificate cancellation lists in a centralised and secure manner
to a single database, thus ensuring that foreign institutions can examine, in quick and accurate
manner, any passport of the new template which has been issued in Latvia or any other
electronic machine readable travel document and to ascertain that the data stored in the chip are
not corrected or counterfeited. 132
By the introduction of the Central Visa Information System (henceforth – CVIS), the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to start taking the biometric data of visa applicants in
compliance with the regions specified by the European Commission – VIS Roll-out. In
130 Information provided by officials of the State Border Guard.
131 Published: The Latvian Herald, No. 87, 02.06.2010.
132 Viltot Latvijā izsniegtās pases kļūs vēl grūtāk (It Will Be More Complicated to Counterfeit Passports Issued in
Latvia).// http://www.iem.gov.lv/lat/aktualitates/informacija_medijiem/doc=18348-[25.11.2010]