Aotearoa / New Zealand

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed officials were in talks with the US on the requirements and scope of an Enhanced Border Security Partnership (EBSP).

The US has given the 42 countries in its Visa Waiver Program - a reciprocal agreement that allowed citizens to visit for up to 90 days without a visa - until the end of the year to conclude EBSP negotiations or risk losing visa-free travel status.

Any information handed over to the US may end up with the country's controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement border force - or ICE as it is commonly known - and concerns have been raised about the opaque process, data sovereignity and surveillance overreach.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) refused to clarify what safeguards were being considered to protect New Zealanders' private information or if it was aware of any ICE personnel stationed in New Zealand at present.

Biometric sharing programmes already exist between Five Eyes countries (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom) as part of Migration Five arrangements but typically operated on a 'hit/no-hit' basis where initial biometric checks provided minimal information, and further data requests were considered on a case by case basis.

But EBSPs could provide full automated access to other countries' national databases, according to critics and minutes from European Union member state negotiations.