The Immigration and Naturalization Service has issued a notice announcing how it intends to implement the 1996 Immigration Act's provisions pertaining to the practice of female genital mutilation ("FGM") by members of certain cultural and religious groups within the United States.

The INS defines FGM as "the removal or infibulation (or both) of the whole or part of the clitoris, labia minora, and labia major. The procedure is common in certain cultures among various ethnic groups and across many different religions.

According to the INS, it is "necessary to ensure that visa recipients, prior to or at the time of entry into the United States, are notified of the severe harm to the physical and psychological health of women and girls, caused by FGM, and of the potential legal consequences for performing FGM on a child or adult, or by allowing FGM to be performed on a child in the United States.

The 1996 Immigration Act requires the INS, in cooperation with the State Department, to make available for all aliens who are issued visas, prior to entering the US, the following:

1. Information on the severe harm to health caused by FGM. The information must be limited to the practice itself and respectful to the cultural values of the societies in which such practice takes place.

2. Information concerning the potential legal consequences in the US for performing FGM.

The INS is also required to identify those countries where FGM is practiced and attempt to limit the distribution of the above materials only to nationals of the covered countries.

The State Department and INS shall post notices about FGM at US embassies and consulates and distribute notices about FGM to all immigrant and nonimmigrant applicants in the affected countries.

The Department of State has identified the following 28 countries as places where FGM is prevalent:

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d' Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritiania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somailia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire (Congro).

The notices will be bilingual - English and the official language of the foreign national.

The New York Times has recently reported that more than 160,000 female immigrants have been victims of the process. More than 100 million women worldwide are sait to be affected.

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