yomexicoNEWS

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By Nicholas Johnston

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Congress is moving to delay for 17 months the imposition of new border-crossing rules that are opposed by business groups concerned the requirements would dampen tourism and trade.

Lawmakers negotiating a Homeland Security Department spending measure last night agreed to include a provision pushing back to June 1, 2009, a requirement that travelers carry passports or similar documents when crossing the U.S. border with Canada or Mexico, said John Scofield, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee. The current deadline is Jan. 1, 2008.

Lawmakers are likely to pass the spending measure this week before leaving Washington ahead of the November congressional elections, Scofield said.

The travel rules are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a set of requirements passed by Congress in 2004 as provisions in a reorganization of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that his agency plans to create new secure identification cards for travel across the borders with Mexico and Canada by the end of this year as an alternative to requiring travelers to carry passports.

Businesses such as casinos and restaurants in border communities that rely on cross-border traffic for sales have protested the new rules as being too burdensome on travelers and commuters.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net