Ghana on Tuesday said it had reached an advanced stage to launch the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) passport, which is expected to eventually replace national passports of member-states.

The ECOWAS passports are to be issued side-by-side national passports, which are expected to be phased out within a transitional period of five years after the introduction of the ECOWAS passport. These were contained in written answers to a questionnaire submitted by the GNA, signed by Mr. Ebenezer Appreku, acting Director, Legal and Consular Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the ministry, unlike the ECOWAS travelling certificates, which are only used for intra-ECOWAS travels, the ECOWAS passport has no off-limits for worldwide travels.

The statement said: "A memo on the ECOWAS passport is currently before Cabinet and at the appropriate time a decision on government's position would be announced," adding that the passport would be launched by Ghana as soon as cabinet completed its review.

The ministry said there was no deadline or cut-off point by which member- states were to introduce the ECOWAS passport, although Benin and Mali have already introduced the travelling document.

The statement said the reorganising of the operations of Ghana's passport office, the procedures for acquiring passports and plans to establish a passport authority in the country contributed to the delay in the launch of the ECOWAS passport in the country.

The introduction of the ECOWAS passport is expected to help foster a sense of community citizenship, demonstrate the ECOWAS identity before the rest of the world, promote the integration process and give additional meaning to the conventions and the protocol on free movement of persons and goods.

Existing authorities responsible for the issuance of national passports in each member-state would be in charge of giving out the ECOWAS passports, which would be valid for five years. The decision to introduce the ECOWAS passport was taken at the ECOWAS Silver Jubilee Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2000.