ANNEX IVSupplementary provisions
ANNEX IV Affixing stamps 1. The travel documents of third-country nationals shall be systematically stamped on entry and exit, in accordance with Article 11. The specifications of those stamps are laid down in the Schengen Executive Committee Decision SCH/COM-EX (94) 16 rev and SCH/Gem-Handb (93) 15 (CONFIDENTIAL). 2. The security codes on the stamps shall be changed at regular intervals not exceeding one month. 3. On the entry and exit of third-country nationals subject to the visa obligation, the stamp shall, as a general rule, be affixed on the page facing the one on which the visa is affixed. If that page cannot be used, the stamp shall be entered on the following page. The machine readable zone shall not be stamped. 4. Member States shall designate national contact points responsible for exchanging information on the security codes of the entry and exit stamps used at border crossing points and shall inform the other Member States, the General Secretariat of the Council and the Commission thereof. Those contact points shall have access without delay to information regarding common entry and exit stamps used at the external border of the Member State concerned, and in particular to information on the following: (a) the border crossing point to which a given stamp is assigned; (b) the identity of the border guard to whom a given stamp is assigned at any given time; (c) the security code of a given stamp at any given time. Any inquiries regarding common entry and exit stamps shall be made through the abovementioned national contact points. The national contact points shall also forward immediately to the other contact points, the General Secretariat of the Council and the Commission information regarding a change in the contact points as well as lost and stolen stamps.