Furthermore Axalto announced it has been selected by the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (INCM), the Portuguese national printing agency, to provide the electronic covers, software and solution for the national e-passport roll out. Under the agreement, the INCM will use Axseal technology to manufacture and personalize the passport booklets to be provided to Portuguese citizens. Initial quantities of e-passports will be produced and delivered to Portuguese citizens in the next few months, while the INCM expects to ramp up production to 150 000 e-passports in 2006. By fall 2006, all new Portuguese passports should have the electronic capability incorporated. The INCM currently produces 400 000 passports each year. Axseal, the technology provided by Axalto, features in particular the company’s highly secure operating system with advanced cryptographic capabilities running on a large capacity contactless chip. This operating system is EAL4+ security certified along the international security common criteria, and compliant with the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and with the European Union regulatory framework. esaby@axalto.com www.axalto.com