The International Labour Organization (ILO) took a major step toward strengthening security measures on the high seas and in world ports by adopting a new "biometric" identity verification system for some 1.2 million maritime workers who handle 90 per cent of the world's trade. The new measure is essential for the implementation of the revised Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 2003 (No. 185) (Note 1), adopted by the International Labour Conference last June, and was approved today by the ILO Governing Body's 289th session. The new biometric standard is aimed at providing a more rigorous response to the need for increased security among seafarers in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.