Customs and police
It is a customs officer's duty to ask any regulation question useful to the control: your collaboration is an essential element in the quality and speed of this process. If you are travelling outside the European Union you may use a special free movement of goods card which the customs services will offer you to cover objects already in your possession: it is free and valid for ten years and acts as a passport for your personal belongings, and will make your passage through customs easier.
The documents required depend on your destination and may include identity card, passport, visas, and vaccination certificates. Without them you may be refused on board the flight and not allowed into the country you are travelling to.
• VALID IDENTITY CARD valid for travel in the European Union and certain tourist visits, notably Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey
• VALID PASSPORT for all other destinations. Important: certain countries demand that the passport is valid for up to six months after the entry or leaving date into the country concerned.
• VISA for certain countries: information from the country of destination's consulate, your tourist agency or your airline.
Vaccination Certificates :
Vaccination certificates are necessary for certain destinations: information from your tourist agency, your airline or on the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Agriculture.
Goods to declare, customs duty and taxes :
Make sure you have made out the correct declarations: their absence or a false declaration will result in the payment of duty and taxes as well as eventual penalties. In this case a receipt and/or an official report will be delivered.
Arrivals from a member state of the European Union :
Purchases made for personal use in a member state of the European Union entail no declaration or payment of duty or taxes, the VAT having been already taken in the country of purchase, subject to the respect of regulations limiting certain products :
TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL : they are subject to importation restrictions in France. Information on the official customs service's website, or by telephone 0811.204.444
FOOD PRODUCTS : animal products other than meat and milk are tolerated up to one kilogram per passenger, without any particular formalities.
ARRIVALS from outside the European Union:
Goods purchased duty-free or from a state outside the European Union carry duty and taxes to be paid on entry into the European Union.
FOOD PRODUCTS : In the interests of prevention of risks to health, meat and milk, or products derived from them are banned from importation. Information on the official customs service's website to check in which cases you must pass a veterinary control in a border control post.
Other animal products, notably fish, may be imported without particular formalities for up to one kilogram per person.
Visit to France for non- European residents :
If you are in France for less than six months, you may benefit from a VAT exemption for your purchases of certain goods. Information on the official customs service's website, or by telephone 0811.204.444
Special declarations :
MEDICATIONS : Their importation is permitted for personal use. A prescription is obligatory for any quantity corresponding to a period over three months.
MONEY : Sums of money (cash or cheques), titles (shares, bonds) of a value equal or superior to 10,000€, or its equivalent in currency must be declared.
CULTURAL GOODS : They must carry a certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture if they are to be transported within the European Union and an export permit granted by the Ministry of Culture if they are to go to any other country.
ARMS TRANSPORT : The transport of arms and ammunition is subject, depending on its category, to a prerequisite transfer agreement, an importation authorsation, a transfer licence or exportation authorisation, from the customs services and the airline companies.
COUNTERFEITS : the transport and possession of counterfeit items is strictly forbidden, and likely to carry a high level of fines and prison sentences.
The prevention of health risks imposes a special set of rules for the transport of living animals. Information from the official customs web site, or telephone: 0811 204 444
DOMESTIC ANIMALS : their transport is allowed on national and international flights with a price corresponding to supplementary baggage charges :
- In the hold (ventilated, pressurized and heated) if it weighs more than 5kg.
- In the cabin if its weight is equal or less to 5kg, if it is entirely, including its head, carried in a suitable case.
You must inform the airline as soon as you book your ticket, and bring the animal's vaccination certificates with you. You can obtain a special transport case for the hold, and in some cases a travelling bag for the cabin from your airline.
GUIDE DOGS : Guide dogs accompanying a handicapped passenger must be muzzled and travel in the cabin next to their master or mistress. They travel free.
WILD ANIMAL SPECIES : There are special restrictions for wild animal species in danger of extinction which are covered by the Washington convention. Please find details on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website.
It is a frontier police officers duty to pose any regulation questions useful to the control: your collaboration is an essential element in the quality and rapidity of the process. Depending on your destination you must carry one or several documents which must be shown when you cross border control.
Without these documents you could be refused boarding on the plane or entry into your destination. When you book your tickets make sure that you ask for the relevant information from your tourist agency or airline
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS :
The documents required depend on your destination and may include identity card, passport, visas, vaccination certificates. Without them you may be refused on board the flight and not allowed into the country you are travelling to.
Identity documents for French citizens :
VALID IDENTITY CARD valid for travel in the European Union and certain tourist visits, notably Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey
VALID PASSPORT for all other destinations. Important: certain countries demand that the passport is valid for up to six months after the entry or leaving date into the country concerned.
VISA for certain countries: information from the country of destination's consulate, your tourist agency or your airline.
Vaccination Certificates :
Vaccination certificates are necessary for certain destinations: information from your tourist agency, your airline or on the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Agriculture.
