The suspension of two US visa programmes that allow some classes of international air passengers to transit through the United States without first obtaining a visa does not seem to be bothering Chinese companies as they predict that the impact will be limited.

Most Beijing-based import & export companies told China Daily that their business in Latin America is not likely to be seriously affected by the suspension because they usually transit via European airports.

Business in Latin American countries usually makes up only a modest portion of the business of these companies, another reason that limits the influence of the US government's move on Chinese business people. In fact, China's trade volume with Latin American countries during the first half of this year registered only US$11.19 billion, higher only than that with Oceania and Africa.

However, for companies like the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), which each year sends several hundred staff to Latin America through the United States, the suspension may cause some trouble.

"Preparation takes more time now since we have to apply for one more visa," said a man surnamed Lu responsible for applying for visas for the company's staff, who complained that "there is already not enough time" for completing procedures prior to sending staff overseas.

Lu said the company will shift to transiting through Europe when it can't get US visas, but that this will take more travel time.

The US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of State on Saturday suspended the two programmes -- the Transit Without Visa programme (TWOV) and the International-to-International transit programme (ITI), as a step to increase security at airports and on airplanes because of the fear of new terrorist attacks. The action does not affect US citizens or citizens from countries that do not have to have visas to enter the United States.

The programmes will be reinstated as soon as additional security measures can be implemented to safeguard the country from terrorists who wish to gain access to the United States or US airspace without going through the consular screening process.

In 2002, the top five countries from which TWOV passengers arrived in the United States were Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines and Peru. The greatest number of TWOV and ITI passengers transited the United States through airports in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Dallas and Houston.

(China Daily August 5, 2003)