The UK and EU are yet to enter into detailed talks over vaccine passes ahead of the summer holiday season, The Guardian has reported.
According to the paper, a spokesperson for the European Commission on Monday (26 April) confirmed talks between the EU and the US were progressing.
However, they said there was yet "no contact at present with the UK" with regards to mutual recognition of any vaccine or testing certification.
Last week, it was reported the UK government would roll out a vaccine certification regime in time for the proposed 17 May resumption of international travel.
The Telegraph said the scheme would provide travellers a government-approved document verifying their vaccination status.
The EU, meanwhile, is working on its own digital green pass proposal, which will seek to restore intra-EU travel using vaccination and test certification.
It has confirmed the scheme will have provisions for third countries, such as the UK.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently told the New York Times she anticipated the EU welcoming fully vaccinated US tourists this summer.
Meanwhile, the office of Greece’s tourism minister, Haris Theoharis, has seemingly backtracked on comments he made at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit in Cancun on Monday (26 April).
The Times reports Theoharis as saying Greece would allow fully vaccinated Brits to travel to Greece using their handwritten NHS vaccination cards until the UK has a digital solution in place.
However, a spokesperson for the minister told Sky News on Tuesday (27 April) British visitors would need official documentation, adding it was the Greek government’s understanding that a UK health certificate for travel would follow.
"Our understanding is that a health pass will be forthcoming," they said.
Greece is gearing up to formally welcome tourists from mid-May, and has lifted its inbound quarantine requirement for arrivals from a number of countries – including the UK – providing they can prove negative Covid status upon arrival through a vaccine certificate or recent negative test.
The UK government’s transport committee last week criticised the Global Travel Taskforce’s "cautious" framework for the resumption of international travel.
It urged the government to work bilaterally with partner countries to agree mutual recognition of travel health certification as a priority, and establish a system "based on a single digital app" to process health certification.