31998Y0617(01)

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 28 May 1998 on the provision of forgery detection equipment at ports of entry to the European Union (98/C 189/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article K.3(2), point (a) thereof,

Having regard to the initiative presented by the United Kingdom,

Whereas it is important to establish uniform levels of expertise and equipment for detecting forged documents at points of entry to the European Union,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS TO THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES:

to take the following steps to ensure uniform levels of equipment at ports of entry:

1. Determining factors

The equipment to be made available at points of entry should be determined by reference to the following factors:

- amounts of passenger traffic,

- current levels of abuse,

- availability of reference material,

- presence of control officers and standards of training provided.

2. Recommended levels of provision

(a) MINIMUM level: small entry points, or those not permanently manned, using staff trained only to a basic standard.

Equipment required:

Ultra-violet light source

- fixed, for office use,

- portable, for mobile use, e. g. on board trains, coaches, etc.;

Magnification

- Hand-held lenses,

- large illuminated bench magnifying glass;

Reference material

- Manual of genuine EU documents,

- European fraud bulletin;

(b) INTERMEDIATE level: small to medium-sized entry points permanently manned by staff with basic training and the additional presence or availability of a document specialist trained to an intermediate standard.

Equipment required:

Ultra-violet light source

- fixed, on each control desk and for office use,

- portable, for mobile use, e. g. on board trains, coaches, etc.;

Magnification

- low power stereozoom microscope,

- light source with flexible fibre-optic light guide,

- light box;

Reference material

- manual of genuine EU documents,

- European fraud bulletin;

(c) UPPER level: permanently manned entry points encountering high levels of document abuse, staffed by a variety of trained personnel and document specialists.

Equipment required:

Ultra-violet light source

- fixed, on each control desk and for office use,

- portable, for mobile use, e. g. on board trains, coaches, etc.;

Magnification

- low power stereozoom microscope,

- light source with flexible fibre-optic light guide,

- light box;

Infra-red scanning equipment

- infra-red document examination apparatus;

Reference material

- manual of genuine EU documents,

- European fraud bulletin.

Done at Brussels, 28 May 1998.

For the Council

The President

J. STRAW