One of the more important post-9/11 reforms was the creation of passenger watch lists and the effort to ensure that the names of all passengers flying to this country were disclosed before arrival. But while important to U.S. security, it has been a significant challenge to induce our partners to compile and transmit passenger lists before each flight arrives in the United States. Some nations threatened to balk, questioning whether the U.S. would really turn back planes whose passengers were not disclosed. And when the European Union signed an agreement to provide the data, it got tossed out by a judge in May.

Now the United States and EU have come to a 7-year agreement that will ensure that Passenger Name Records are transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security as early as 72 hours before scheduled flights:

“I am pleased to have signed an important agreement with the European Union today that will allow the Department of Homeland Security to continue using passenger name record data as an essential screening tool for detecting dangerous transatlantic travelers,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a press release. “Two separate agreements over the past three years have enabled our frontline personnel to rely on PNR data to disrupt terrorist travel, deny admission to individuals presenting security concerns, and dismantle human trafficking and narcotics smuggling networks.”

DHS will collect 19 PNR items from airlines generally 72 hours prior to a flight’s takeoff, with periodic updates coming in as they occur. The PNR items include: All provided contact information; payment and billing details; other names attached to the reservation; date of reservation; travel itinerary; names of travel agents; baggage information; and seat numbers.

According to DHS, this data is collected on about 87 million passengers annually. Information is analyzed to identify high-risk travelers, so that appropriate action can be taken. The agreement with the EU should ensure that this information sharing continues, and is immune to legal challenge.