Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and German Interior Ministry State Secretary Klaus-Dieter Fritsche today signed a joint statement expressing their intent to integrate U.S. and German trusted traveler programs. “Integrating one of our biometric trusted traveler programs with Germany’s will facilitate legitimate trade and travel between our two nations while allowing law enforcement to focus on the most serious security threats at points of entry to our country,” said Deputy Secretary Lute. “This is another good step forward of our government-to-government cooperation. The joint program will make transatlantic air travel easier and make it more secure at the same time,” said State Secretary Fritsche. Under this statement, the United States and Germany will develop processes for qualified citizens of either country to apply for both the United States’ Global Entry program and Germany’s Automated and Biometrics-Supported Border Controls (ABG) program, which each use biometrics to identify trusted travelers. Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program allowing pre-approved members an alternative to regular passport processing lines – reducing average wait times by 70 percent, with more than 75 percent of travelers using Global Entry processed in less than five minutes. ABG serves a similar function for German citizens, and joining the two programs will make travel faster and more secure. – US Homeland Security press release