The Biden administration is forming expert working groups with Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the UK to find out the best possible way to safely restart travel after more than a year of pandemic restrictions, a White House official stated on Tuesday.
One other U.S. official stated the administration will not move quickly to lift orders that restrict individuals from much of the world from entering the United States due to the time it will take for the groups to do their work. The White House informed airlines and others within the travel industry about the groups, the official stated.
“While we aren’t reopening travel today, we hope that these expert working groups will assist us to use our collective expertise to chart a path ahead, with a goal of reopening international travel with our key partners when it’s determined that it is safe to do so,” the White House official stated, adding “any decisions will be fully guided by the objective analysis and recommendations by public health and medical experts.”
The groups will be led by the White House COVID Response Team and the National Security Council and include the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other U.S. agencies.
The U.S. Travel Association welcomed the working groups, saying “a public-private task force can quickly develop a blueprint to reopen international inbound travel and jumpstart a sustained job and economic recovery.”
