Practical Guide to Customs Clearance at French Ports and Borders

I. Customs Declaration Regulations

1. Time of Declaration Submission

French customs declaration cannot be made in advance. The rule of determining the duty rate based on the declaration date is absolute, but the Director General of Customs has the authority to approve early declaration based on the nature of the trade and the company's business characteristics. After goods subject to a simplified declaration at the import stage arrive at customs, a formal declaration must be submitted immediately. If the declaration is overdue, the goods will be detained. If no declaration is made within 4 months, the goods will be sold at public auction by customs.

2. Place of Declaration

Formal customs declarations must be submitted to the customs office authorized to handle such business. Except for the following situations, the competent customs office can in principle handle import goods of various trade and transport natures. (1) Goods absolutely prohibited from import cannot be declared. (2) Certain goods subject to special controls (such as health or phytosanitary controls) can only be formally declared to specifically designated customs offices. For customs procedures under the bond system, the formal declaration must in principle be made at the customs office closest to the place of use of the goods.

3. Required Contents of a Formal Customs Declaration

(1) Name and address of the declarant (if a customs broker, also indicate their registration number in the business register for subsequent verification purposes.

(2) Mode of transport. For sea imports, the vessel name, master's name, and manifest number must be stated.

(3) The origin and source must under no circumstances be omitted. The document proving origin should be a certificate of origin. The source of goods is generally evidenced by transport documents. Counterfeiting the origin is punished by French customs as an act of evading customs supervision, constituting a criminal case punishable by fines and imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years.

(4) Name, occupation, and address of the actual consignee. If there are multiple consignees, each must be indicated. This information is essential for future tracing in practice.

(5) Number of packages, quality, and marks/numbers. For bulk goods, the name of the goods and the transport vehicle number must be stated. These contents are necessary for inspection and tally of the goods.

(6) Description of goods. The goods description must be declared using tariff terminology. For agricultural products, terms related to variable levies must also be reported.

(7) Weight, length, area, volume, or number of packages. Gross weight must be declared in both figures and words.

(8) Value. Declared in both figures and full alphabetic wording. The value must be accompanied by an invoice of equivalent legal validity to the original.

(9) Content related to financial settlement regulations. Declaration of the various components of the value and content related to the bank's address is required.

(10) Statistical content. There is extensive statistical content, most of which is also necessary for customs clearance and is already coded. From these codes, information such as province, origin, transport mode, means of transport, and bonded warehouses can be identified.

4. Documents to be Attached to a Formal Import Declaration

(1) Invoice. For the same batch of goods imported through the same customs office, one general invoice may be submitted in place of individual invoices. The number of copies of the general invoice must equal the number of copies of the customs declaration. At each declaration, the general invoice and the individual invoices related to the declared goods must be submitted.

(2) Licenses required by foreign trade regulations or other documents.

5. Amendments to Customs Declarations

According to Article 100(1) of the French Customs Code, registered customs declarations cannot in principle be amended, except under special circumstances. Accordingly, even on the day the declaration is submitted to customs, the declarant may still amend the weight, package count, measurement, or value of the goods in the declaration, but the description of the goods and package numbers cannot be amended.

II. Import Customs Clearance Procedures

1. Declaration of Imported Goods

Goods must be declared to customs within 3 days of arrival. If overdue, customs will take over the goods and transfer them to other warehouses. After another 2 months, the goods will be confiscated. For goods not cleared by customs, the importer can apply for their return to the consignor or re-export, both free of customs duties. If goods are not re-exported upon storage expiry, duties and taxes are payable, or the goods are auctioned. According to French customs regulations, paid duties are non-refundable. Erroneously collected duties can only be refunded upon declaration by the original taxpayer and presentation of the original tax payment certificate.

2. Declaration of Temporary Import Goods

France does not operate a duty drawback system. Goods used for processing or manufacturing export products can be admitted duty-free into France under temporary importation arrangements. Importers usually pay a deposit equivalent to the customs duties as a guarantee. The validity period is generally 6 months but can be extended up to 2 years. The temporary import declaration must be completed and submitted by the importer in person.

3. Declaration of Transit Goods

France is a signatory to the Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets. The convention permits the transport of bulk goods across the international borders of member states without requiring the unloading of goods from road vehicles or containers for customs inspection at the border. International transit operations are conducted by government-conceded enterprises, such as railways and inland waterway transport operators. In certain cases, when bulk transport is entirely through a combination of air and rail, it may be handled by airlines.

4. Declaration of Bonded Warehouse Goods

Customs bonded warehouse regulations apply to goods that are unappraised or undetermined. No customs duties are levied on goods stored in a bonded warehouse and subsequently re-exported. Goods removed from a warehouse and sold into the domestic market are subject to the same duties and procedures as directly imported goods.