Ad-hoc Release 28 November 2006

SMARTRAC receives major order for several million inlays for US ePass project

Amsterdam, 28 November 2006. SMARTRAC, the inventor of inlays for electronic passports, has obtained the first major order to supply several million ePassport inlays for the United States’ ePass project in 2006/2007. The order, placed by Infineon Technologies, is the most significant order in the high-security RFID inlay industry to date. The US programme, for which SMARTRAC will produce the inlays, is currently the world’s largest ePass project with a potential volume of 13 to 18 million passports per annum.

Since 2004, SMARTRAC has been a certified supplier for the current US ePassport programme for which it is already producing approximately one million inlays a month. In order to meet the US and increasing worldwide demand for high security inlays SMARTRAC is planning to open its fourth factory at the company’s location in Thailand as early as January 2007. In addition, SMARTRAC plans to boost its worldwide production capacity for ePassport inlays in 2007 to 4 million per month by opening a factory in the US.

SMARTRAC is currently involved in 70 of the world’s 95 ePassport programmes. Certification for the US ePassport programme means that the company will greatly benefit from the worldwide introduction of ePassports that is also accelerated by the provisions of the US authorities within the framework of the Visa Waiver Programme that came into effect on 26 October 2006. In order to comply with these regulations, the 27 countries whose citizens are allowed to enter the United States without a visa have started introducing electronic passports.




For questions please contact:
Max Hohenberg
Media Relations SMARTRAC N.V.
Tel: +49 711 6569 2616
E-mail: max.hohenberg@smartrac-group.com
http://www.smartrac-group.com