Juxtaposed controls

Juxtaposed controls (in French: bureaux à contrôles nationaux juxtaposés, or "BCNJ"; in Dutch: kantoren waar de nationale controles van beide landen naast elkaar geschieden) refer to an arrangement between Belgium, France and the United Kingdom whereby immigration checks on certain cross-Channel routes take place before boarding the train or ferry, rather than upon arrival after disembarkation. With the exception of the Eurotunnel route, customs checks remain unaffected by juxtaposed immigration controls and continue to take place upon arrival after disembarkation.

In 1991, the Sangatte Protocol was signed between France and the UK, an agreement that provided for border checkpoints to be set up by France at Cheriton in Kent and for border checkpoints to be set up by the UK at Coquelles in France. The Protocol was brought into effect for the UK by the Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) Order 1993, and for France by Presidential Decree. The Protocol is more formally known as the Protocol between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the government of the French Republic concerning frontier controls and policing, co-operation in criminal justice, public safety and mutual assistance relating to the Channel fixed link. A copy of the protocol can be viewed here: Sangatte Protocol.

As a result of the agreement, starting from 1994, when travelling from the UK to France by Eurotunnel (road vehicle trains), French immigration and customs checks both take place before departure from Cheriton, rather than on arrival in France. When travelling from France to the UK by Eurotunnel, travellers have to clear both French exit checks and UK immigration and customs checks in Coquelles before boarding the train.

Unlike the juxtaposed controls for the Eurostar and ferry which only consist of immigration pre-embarkation checks, juxtaposed controls for the Eurotunnel consist of both immigration and customs pre-embarkation checks.

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