27/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 July, the transatlantic agreement on the transfer of airline passengers' personal data to the US, “Passenger Name Record” (PNR), was signed, as announced by the US secretary of state for homeland security - Michael Chertoff. This forms part of the fight against terrorism. Chertoff said in a press statement that he was happy to sign such an agreement with the European Union insofar as it, “will allow the Department of Homeland Security to continue using Passenger Name Record (PNR) data as an essential screening tool for detecting potentially dangerous transatlantic travellers”. Given that the Portuguese foreign affairs minister, Luis Amado (the country currently presiding the EU) put his signature to the bottom of the document, the agreement is legally applicable (EUROPE 9474). Nonetheless, it is only provisional insofar as certain national parliaments still have to ratify the text before it fully enters into force, a formality that is expected to be accomplished soon. (bc)