As of today all airline passengers passing through Chinese customs will have to fill out declaration forms.

The forms replace the old system of red and green lanes, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said yesterday.

"The reform is to safeguard the security of passengers as well as prevent goods threatening China's political, economic and physical security from entering the country," a GAC source said.

"We have put newly designed channels into use in major airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen for passengers to fill in their declaration forms," said the source.

Tables with space for 1,700 passengers an hour to fill out their forms have been installed at Beijing Capital International Airport.

According to the source, the new form is simple to fill in and will be handed out on flights, at customs inspection stations and by travel agencies.

He was confident that the new declaration procedure would not prolong customs procedures.

Passengers bringing animals or plants into China will now declare them only to customs. They used to have to declare them to both customs and authorities in charge of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine.

So far, the new policy applies only to airline passengers. If the new system is successful it will be expanded to cover land and sea travelers.

Every year about 50 million people travel across China's borders by air, accounting for one-sixth of the total border crossings, according to the GAC.

China stopped asking most passengers to submit declaration forms in the 1990s.

But more recently, as international terrorist activities have become more frequent, some criminals have smuggled weapons and drugs into China through customs.

Today many developed countries, including the United States, as well as developing countries, such as Brazil, ask entry-exit passengers to submit declarations.

(China Daily July 1, 2005)