Police and Customs Cooperation Centers

The Police and Customs Cooperation Centers (PCCC) aim to promote the appropriate development of cross-border cooperation in police and customs matters, as well as to prevent and suppress the crimes listed in Article 41.4 a) of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement (CISA) and act under the coordination of the Single Point of Contact for International Police Cooperation (PUC-CPI), pursuant to paragraph 6 of Article 23-A. of Law No. 53/2008 of 29 August.

A PCCC is a multi-agency structure to support the exchange of information and the activities of operational services responsible for police, border control and customs missions in border areas, without serving the public.

Without prejudice to the respective hierarchical regime and the competencies of each of the entities represented, the ACPCs operate in a homogeneous manner, based on principles of unity and equity, constituting a single body in functional terms, and each entity cannot act independently.

The ACFA pursues the following activities:

• Collection and exchange of information relevant to the implementation of the Agreement, in compliance with applicable data protection law, in particular the standards laid down in the CAAS;
• Prevention and prosecution, in border areas, of the crimes envisaged in Article 41(4)(a) of the CISA, and of those related to illegal immigration, trafficking in persons, drugs and arms and explosives;
• Execution of the Agreement between the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain on the Readmission of Persons in an Irregular Situation, signed in Granada on February 15, 1993;
• Support for the surveillance and hot pursuit referred to in articles 40 and 41 of the CISA, carried out in accordance with the provisions of that Convention and its implementing instruments;
• Coordination of joint patrolling measures in the border area.

The competent Portuguese entities present in the ACFA for the purposes of the Agreement are:

• The National Republican Guard
• The Public Security Police;
• The Judiciary Police;
• Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (Tax and Customs Authority);
• The Maritime Police
• Any other competent authority that may be designated by the Minister of Internal Administration.

The above-mentioned entities shall allocate to ACFA the human, logistical and financial resources required to pursue the purposes and objectives of the Agreement.
For administrative purposes, those performing their duties in ACFA shall be dependent on their entity of origin.