Standards Development

Scope

A new edition of ICAO Doc 9303 is planned to progress from using the first edition ISO/IEC 19794 series for encoding biometric reference data to using the ISO/IEC 39794 series for this purpose. This document specifies how to use ISO/IEC 39794-4 for finger image data stored in machine-readable travel documents issued in Europe.

Purpose

To meet new and emerging requirements and to avoid future compatibility issues, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 37 developed the ISO/IEC 39794 series defining extensible biometric data interchange formats capable of including future extensions in a structured manner. A new edition of ICAO Doc 9303 "Machine Readable Travel Documents" is planned to move from using the first edition of ISO/IEC 19794 series for encoding biometric reference data to using the ISO/IEC 39794 series for this purpose because the first edition of ISO/IEC 19794 series will no longer be available after 2040.

To support the transition to the extensible biometric data interchange format, SC 17/WG 3 is developing an ICAO TR "ISO/IEC 39794-5 Application Profile for eMRTDs" specifying how to use ISO/IEC 39794-5 for face image data stored in machine-readable travel documents. Arguing that, according to ICAO Doc 9303, finger and iris image data are optional, SC 17/WG 3 does not develop application profiles for ISO/IEC 39794-4 (finger image data) and for ISO/IEC 39794-6 (iris image data). In electronic passports and travel documents issued by EU member states, however, according to Council Regulation (EC) No. 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004, finger image data are mandatory in addition to face image data. To avoid that each member state develops a different solution using different options of ISO/IEC 39794-4, the proposal is to develop a common Technical Specification specifying how to use ISO/IEC 39794-4 for finger image data stored in electronic passports and travel documents issued by EU member states.