Brussels, 03/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The agreement between the EU and Canada on the transfer of information on air passengers, as part of the fight against terrorism, came into force on 22 March. This agreement, signed in October 2005 (see EUROPE 9040), means airline companies flying from the EU to Canada will now be able to transfer some passenger information to the Canadian authorities to facilitate the identification of passengers who could represent a threat to security. In practice, such an agreement would require airline companies flying to Canada to send the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) advanced passenger information (API) and passenger name records (PNR), against a commitment from the Agency to ensure that this information is treated in line with EU legislation on data protection. Within the PNR, 25 pieces of information have to be gathered (compared with 34 in the EU-US agreement) and include: name, method of payment, billing address, telephone numbers, travel agency etc. In July 2005, the European Parliament marked its opposition to the signing of such an agreement (see EUROPE 8987), considering it should be debated under the assent procedure rather than just in consultation.