Courtesy of MOFA

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Taiwan and the United States reached a deal on Tuesday to exempt check-in luggage screened in the U.S. to be checked again when passengers transit through Taiwan to travel to a third country, according to Taiwan's representative office in the U.S.

The agreement, which takes immediate effect, is expected to streamline the screening process and make airport operations more efficient, and it also could conceivably reduce passenger transit times, according to officials.

A separate statement from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications confirmed that the agreement will exempt check-in luggage from the U.S. to third countries via Taoyuan International Airport from being re-screened.

It is an expansion of similar programs previously launched between airports in San Francisco and Seattle and Taoyuan International Airport in March 2018.

The latest project is also meant to lay the foundation for the ongoing push of Taiwan's government to join the United States' border preclearance system to expedite travel by its citizens to the U.S., according to the Transportation Ministry statement.

The deal was reached after representatives from Taiwan's representative office in Washington and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) exchanged letters of intent to establish the baggage screening program at Taoyuan International Airport, according to Taiwan's representative office said in a statement.

Taiwan's Deputy Representative to the U.S. Louis M. Huang and AIT Managing Director John Norris had previously signed the letters and exchanged the signed letters in the U.S. on Tuesday to make the agreement official, the statement said.

(By Joseph Yeh)
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