Border Control Posts (BCPs) - minimum location requirements: consultation

2. Current legislation

Currently assimilated legislation sets out the minimum requirements on the location of BCPs. Under Article 64(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 (‘The Official Controls Regulation’) a BCP must be in the immediate vicinity of the point of entry into Great Britain, and either in a place which is designated by the customs authorities or within a free zone.

Article 3 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1012 supplements this by allowing a BCP to be situated at a distance other than in the immediate vicinity of the point of entry into Great Britain but only where specific geographical constraints prevent or restrict the efficient performance of official controls and other official activities.

Official controls and official activities are carried out at the first point of entry so that SPS products are not diverted or offloaded before those controls and activities can be carried out.

The distance of the BCP from the point of entry may not exceed what is needed to overcome the constraints of geography and the BCP and the point of entry are required to be under the competence of the same customs authority. This is so that consignments can be moved from the point of entry to the BCP without being placed and handled under a customs procedure.

Under Article 64(2) of ‘The Official Controls Regulation’, Scottish Ministers may make regulations concerning the cases where, and conditions under which, a BCP may be situated at a distance other than in the immediate vicinity of the point of entry into Scotland. Ministers are considering exercising this power to address the uncertainty for investment decisions for establishing new BCP facilities at a point of entry, and in doing so facilitate new trade routes between Scotland and the EU.

Making regulations to provide for additional cases where a BCP need not be in the immediate vicinity of a point of entry could:

• Enable an existing BCP designated for a specific category of goods at one point of entry to also serve as the BCP for the same goods arriving at another point of entry;
• Allow an existing BCP to be designated for an additional point of entry in its area, requiring only minor facility adjustments to accommodate a new category of goods; and
• Support the development and designation of a new BCP to serve multiple points of entry within the area.

The Scottish Government is not proposing any changes to the minimum requirements regarding the facilities that must exist at a BCP in order to be designated. No change is proposed in relation to the minimum requirements for the location of a BCP for official controls on the importation of live animals. The proposed changes only concern BCPs for goods.

There is also currently a requirement that a BCP be either in a place which is designated by the customs authorities or within a free zone. The Scottish Ministers are not proposing any change to this requirement.