U.S. Customs And Border Protection on Sept. 8 will begin
collecting through the new Electronic System for Travel Authorization a $14 fee
once every two years from travelers entering the United States from visa-waiver
countries. The fees will fund a federal tourism bureau established this year by
the Travel Promotion Act.
That law called for a $10 fee to be collected through ESTA
to fund 50 percent of the Corporation for Travel Promotion, whose mission is to
promote the United States to "travelers, travel agents, tour operators,
meeting planners, foreign governments, travel media and other international
stakeholders" through advertising, outreach and education, with private
industry funding the other half. CBP is adding a $4 administrative fee to cover
administrative costs, bringing the total cost for authorizations to $14.
Use of ESTA to submit biographic data prior to entry,
replacing paper forms, has been free since DHS early last year mandated the
program.
Counting 23 of its member states among the 36 countries that
participate in the visa-waiver program, the European Union was none too pleased
with the new fee on its visitors to the United States, and it is investigating
whether the application of the fee will render ESTA tantamount to a visa
application process for visitors to the United States.
Although European commissioner for home affairs Cecilia
Malmström said an EC assessment in December 2008 concluded ESTA was not
tantamount to a visa application, "I regret very much the fee established
by the interim rule," she said. "I remain convinced that these new
requirements, applicable only to travelers under the Visa Waiver Program, are
inconsistent with the commitment of the U.S. to facilitate transatlantic
mobility and will be an additional onus for European citizens traveling to the
U.S."
Even so, U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow
said that when it is operational in about two years, the CTP "will help to
better explain America's travel and security policies and let the world know
that America wants their business. The result will be billions of dollars in
new visitor spending and thousands of new American jobs."
Amon Cohen contributed
to this report.
This report originally
appeared in the Sept. 6, 2010, issue of Business Travel News.