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Best Practice guidelines on automated border control (ABC) systems

Topic

11 March 2016

Two sets of "best practice guidelines" covering technical and operational aspects of automated border control systems; and guidelines on the "processing of third country nationals" through those systems.

Guidelines for Processing of Third Country Nationals through Automated Border Control

Study from March 2016:

"The present document provides guidelines on the implementation of automated border control (ABC) systems to process thirdcountry nationals (TCNs). ABC is defined as the use of automated systems that can verify the identity of travellers at border crossing points and automatically determine eligibility for border crossing according to predefined rules. A border guard stationed in a monitoring and control station supervises the process.

The aim of these guidelines is to clarify the legal, operational and technical aspects of ABC implementations aimed to facilitate TCN border crossings as they exist today and could exist in the future in line with the European Commission’s proposals to establish an entry/exit system (EES proposal), a registered traveller programme (RTP proposal) and amendments to the Schengen Borders Code (SBC amendments)."

Best Practice Guidelines on the Design, Deployment and Operation of Automated Border Crossing Systems

2012 and 2015 update.

From the 2012 document:

"This document presents a compendium of best practice guidelines on the design, deployment and operation of automated border crossing (ABC) systems. These have been elaborated in an effort to achieve at the different border crossing points:

• harmonization of practice,
• similar passenger experience
• consistent security levels

The intended audience are the different stakeholders in automated border checks, namely practitioners, technical bodies, and decision makers:

• current and prospective practitioners, i.e. border guards, will benefit from a wealth of practical information on what to do, and what to avoid too, in order to run an ABC system in an effective, efficient and user-friendly way;
• system architects and project managers from border authorities will find detailed technical information in order to specify and implement a fully compliant system that performs up to standards while staying away from previously known risks and dead-end streets;
• finally, decision makers at national and EU level will benefit from a better understanding on ABC systems, what they are, how they work, and more importantly how these help to manage the unavoidable security, facilitation and cost trade offs in border checks, thus allowing better informed decisions when it comes to allocating scarce human and financial resources."

Best Practice Operational Guidelines for Automated Border Control (ABC) Systems

2012 and 2016 update.

From the 2012 document:

"The present document constitutes a compendium of best practice guidelines on the design, deployment and operation of automated border control systems with a focus on their operational dimension. Automated Border Control (ABC) is defined as the use of automated or semi-automated systems which can verify the identity of travellers at border crossing points (BCPs), without the need for human intervention. In general, an ABC system consists of one or two physical barriers (e-Gates), document readers, a monitor displaying instructions, a biometric capture device, and system management hardware and software. The term Best Practice Guidelines (BPG), on the other hand, refers to knowledge, typically based on experience, which can be shared in order to achieve improved results towards specific objectives. These BPG have been drafted by the Frontex Working Group (WG) on ABC in an effort to promote harmonisation of practice, similar traveller experience, and consistent security levels at the different BCPs where ABC systems have been deployed. The intended audience are decision makers, project managers and practitioners involved in the design, implementation and operation of ABC systems in the EU Member States (MSs). While these ABC Best Practical Operational Guidelines (BPOG) have been conceived as a standalone resource, ideally they should be read in combination with the Frontex “Best Practice Technical Guidelines for ABC Systems”."