MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A Mexican official said Tuesday his government plans to launch a pilot program in which U.S. authorities could provide ''pre-clearance'' inspection on flights headed to the United States from the Caribbean resort of Cancun.
The program would apparently require the presence of U.S. customs, migration or other agents at the Cancun airport, an issue which has caused controversy and bruised national pride in Mexico in the past.
Mexico plans to get around those concerns by establishing a small consular area at the airport, a very limited space in which U.S. agents would be legally allowed to carry out inspections.
''It would obviously involve the presence of U.S. customs and immigration agents in a sort of consular facility,'' at the airport, Assistant Foreign Secretary Geronimo Gutierrez told reporters, according to a Foreign Relations Department press transcript.
The plan, already in place at many airports in Canada and the Caribbean, would benefit Mexico by allowing service from Cancun to airports in the United States not equipped to accept international flights.
Gutierrez said Mexico has been in talks about the program with the United States since 2004, and hopes to implement the plan by December 2006, when President Vicente Fox leaves office.
''The benefits are, one, it would make it easier to fly to the United States; secondly, it would improve security in both countries, and third, it would increase the flow of tourists to Mexico,'' said Gutierrez.
He noted the government was studying the plan at the request of local officials and tourism industry representatives in Mexico.
Under the plan, started in 1952 in Canada, U.S. officials carry out pre-boarding inspections similar to what passengers would normally undergo when they stepped off a plane in the United States.
That removes the need to have customs or immigration inspections on arrival, allowing flights to land at smaller or regional U.S. airports not equipped with such services, expanding the number of potential visitors to Cancun.
Mexico, which lost half its territory to the United States in the 1847 Mexican-American War, has traditionally been wary of intrusions by its northern neighbor.
In late 2003, Mexican lawmakers accused top officials of betraying the nation's sovereignty by allowing FBI and U.S. immigration agents to operate at the Mexico City airport during a temporary step-up in security apparently triggered by terrorism concerns.
At present, foreign agents are sometimes allowed to operate in Mexico under strict guidelines - usually unarmed and accompanied by Mexican officials - under a 1992 agreement.
