Rio, January 12, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - American tourists who disembark in the port or airport of Rio no longer need to pass through the identification procedure adopted by the Federal Police at the beginning of the month, to comply with a judicial mandate. The president of the Federal Court of the First Region in Brasília, Catão Alves, granted a request for a stay order from the Municipal Government of Rio de Janeiro, which asked for the procedure to be suspended.

The magistrate's decision suspends the order issued by the First Federal Court of Mato Grosso, based on the principle of reciprocity, which determined the mandatory photographic identification and fingerprinting of all American tourists arriving in Brazil. According to Catão Alves, the United States has reasons to adopt this type of identification and the principle of reciprocity would cause damage to the country's economy. (DAS)