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| Headquarters | SBAA, Episkopi Garrison |
|---|---|
Fiscal Officer | James Coates |
Head Customs & Immigration | Adam Chatfield |
Sovereign Base Areas Customs and Immigration is a semi-autonomous branch ofHM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom. It has jurisdiction overAkrotiri and Dhekelia, aBritish Overseas Territory on the island ofCyprus, administered as aSovereign Base Area, and home toBritish Forces Cyprus. It is managed by theMinistry of Defence (MoD) and around 3,500 military personnel are posted there at any one time.
In contrast with other customs forces, the SBA Customs has a much wider role of responsibility, like most branches within the territory, administrating many areas including immigration, imports, exports, tax, births, marriages, divorces, and deaths.
The senior and local management officers are on loan from HMRC and Border Force in the UK, and assist with operational management and training and development of the locally employed officers of SBA Customs and Immigration service. SBACI officers monitor two crossing points at Pergamos and Strovilia in the Eastern Sovereign Base Area at theGreen Line Border between the Republic ofCyprus and occupied northern Cyprus. Between the North and South areas of the island there are formal customs and immigration controls at these crossing points and theUN Buffer Zone remains along most part of the Green Line. SBA Customs and Immigration are involved in preventing smuggling andillegal immigration into SBA territory. There are mobile patrols along the ESBA section of the Green line and training exercises and operations are accomplished with the cooperation of SBA Police andUK military units based in Cyprus at the time.
Businesses based within territory must be licensed by SBA Customs and Immigration to conduct trade and there are guidelines and restrictions for various types of business. The administration produces birth, marriage and death certificates for UK dependants based within the territory.
Working in unison with the Cyprus Joint Maritime Unit comprising the Royal Navy Cyprus Squadron and 417 Maritime of the RLC, the Sovereign Base Area Administration (SBAA) operate a combined maritime unit comprising joint working ofSBA Police and SBA Customs and Immigration to operate patrols within territorial waters and along the coastline within the territory to prevent illegal immigration,illegal fishing, and smuggling. Their enforcement has allowed for the fishreserve at Akrotiri to remain well stocked as due to extensiveover-fishing much of the fish life in the waters in other areas of the island is low in numbers. SBA Customs liaise with UK military resources and the Republic of Cyprus Government Departments to combat pollution in SBA waters and along the coastline whilst controllingports andfisheries. The Fiscal Officer is also designated theKing's harbourmaster of themole in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
SBA Customs and Immigrationofficers are a uniformed organisation and wear a uniform with the style ofRoyal Naval rank insignia but are distinguished by a cap badge which contains theportcullis underneath theSt Edward's Crown, enclosed within a pair of goldenfronds. The ranks of SBA Customs are worn as follows: the fiscal officer wears the insignia of aRN commander whilst the deputy fiscal officer and officer in charge at Dhekelia wear the rank braid ofRN lieutenant commander. Locally employed uniformed operational officers at RAF Akrotiri and the military station at Dhekelia and the ESBA crossing points wear badges of rank with one or two rings of braid according to their substantive grade.
SBA Customs and Immigration control tax-free imports at the airports and the crossing points within the territory by regulating the value and amount of goods such as cigarettes or alcohol that can be carried through the control and entry points without declaration. The main airport isRAF Akrotiri which has regular flights to and from the UK and theMiddle East. The SBAs in Cyprus also provide the opportunity for a stop off point for 36 hours for soldiers that have recently experienced combat to participate indecompression activity before returning home. In April 2004 over 100,000 cigarettes were seized and the largest isolated attempt to smuggle cigarettes involved a Turkish Cypriot man fromLapithos, who tried to smuggle a total of 29,200 across thePergamos checkpoint nearLarnaca.
SBA Customs and Immigration regulate the sale of goods with limited imported stocks atErmes stores on the island which supply the British residents with products all tax-free to entitled persons serving in the SBAs. SBACI also control themesses andclubs. All mail posted toBFPO[clarification needed] addresses on the island is subject to inspection by the SBA Customs and they can, for example, question the legitimacy of parcels marked as "gifts" and charge duties and tax as appropriate.
| Ranks of the SBA Customs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| Commander The Fiscal Officer | Lieutenant-Commander Deputy Fiscal Officer Officer in Charge of Dhekalia | Grade 1 Officer/ Team Leader | Grade 2 Officer |
The territory ofAkrotiri and Dhekelia was formed in 1960 as amilitary base to be administered as a British Sovereign Base Area rather than an ordinary colonial territory. In a declaration by Her Majesty's Government in 'Appendix O' to the1960 treaty with Cyprus, the Sovereign Base Areas Administration have to follow specific rules of governance to which the SBA Customs and Immigration enforces and adheres to including:
The bases have their own legal system, distinct from the UK and Cyprus. This consists of the laws of the Colony of Cyprus as at August 1960, amended as necessary. The laws ofAkrotiri and Dhekelia are kept, as far as possible, the same as the laws of Cyprus. The Court of the Sovereign Base Areas is concerned with non-military offences committed by any person within Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and law and order is maintained by theSovereign Base Areas Police, while military law is upheld by theCyprus Joint Police Unit.