Customs Formalities

Warning: The customs and postal information included in the country database applies to mail sent from France to other countries. This information is not universally valid and essentially concerns mail (CN 22 label and CN 23 are exclusively related to mail shipments). For further information, and because customs requirements change over time, contact your local customs representatives.

Customs formalities apply to shipments sent or received from outside of the European Union which have commercial value. Documents with market value have to be declared and are subject to customs duties and VAT: contracts, study reports, printed matter to be distributed to the final addressee, blank passports sent by the printer to a consulate.

However, they do not have to be declared if they are exempt from customs duties and VAT (advertising or informational printed matter addressed to clients, passports addressed to their holder, etc.).

Postal shipments must comply with the general requirements in terms of joint customs documents and to the specific requirements of the country of origin and the country of destination. In order to facilitate clearance through customs operations, senders must:

• fill out the customs declaration (CN 22 label, CN 23 form) with care;
• attach two commercial or pro forma invoices. All commercial shipments must include two invoices.
• for goods in transit to another EU country: attach the yellow postal label that reads “marchandises ne remplissant pas les conditions prévues aux article 9 et 10 du traité instituant la CEE".

Important notice: The definition of a gift may vary according to the customs conditions of each country, which may specify duty-free limits depending on the type of merchandise. Some countries have adopted specific customs provisions. Please refer to our "Country by country info" datafield.

Customs duties and VAT may be paid by the sender, instead of the consignee. La Poste, the international mail solution can take in charge all the clearance formalities. Cost will be billed to La Poste thay will monthly charge the same amount to you.
For more information contact us.