§ Mr. Stuart Hollandasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether SNCF anticipates customs inspectors on Channel tunnel trains travelling further than Ashford in pursuit of their duties;
(2) whether any Customs and Excise facilities will be operated at Ashford to handle (a) passenger and (b) freight traffic generated by the Channel tunnel.
§ Mr. BrookeI have been asked to reply.
No decisions have been taken about on-train controls for passengers or freight carried on through services. French and United Kingdom Customs are holding 766W discussions with SNCF and British Rail respectively about the controls for through trains. But it is likely that the United Kingdom customs controls would follow the familiar red-green arrangements for passengers terminating their journeys at Ashford or Waterloo and that facilities for shuttle train freight traffic would be provided at a purpose built clearance depot at Ashford.
Customs controls generally are to form part of a protocol to the Treaty at present under discussion covering all frontier controls.