If you are a foreign tourist in France or a French national returning from a trip abroad, French Customs wishes to remind you of the essential rules you should know to ensure a smooth travelling experience with no unpleasant surprises. Bear in mind that some rules may vary depending on where you are arriving from.
Legal requirements before entering France
Whether you are a foreign tourist in France or a French national returning from a trip abroad, be aware that when you arrive in France, certain goods have to be declared, are subject to specific rules or are strictly prohibited.
Goods that must be declared
Sums of money (e.g. banknotes, coins, gold, cheques) in an amount greater than €10,000 (or its foreign currency equivalent) that you are carrying, whether or not you own them.
You can either declare these goods ahead of time using the online service DALIA or simply declare them to French Customs when entering or leaving France.
With the online service DeclareDouane, you can declare goods brought from a trip abroad and pay any tax or duties owed if you are over the allowance or value limits for these goods.
Goods and animals subject to specific rules
Medicinal products, food (e.g. fish, fruits, vegetables), arms, works of art, pets, etc.
If you are carrying medicinal products when you travel, you may only carry the amount required for personal use, corresponding to the length of treatment specified by the medical prescription or, where there is none, treatment for three months.
Food of animal origin
Did you know that viral diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, bird flu and the Ebola virus can be transmitted through animal products?
In order to protect you and the European Union (EU) territory from these diseases, imports of animal products contained in your luggage and personal packages are strictly controlled and must comply with the allowance limits set by EU regulations.
Food of plant origin
Plants and plant products imported in passengers’ luggage into the EU from non-EU countries (excluding Andorra, Monaco and Switzerland) must be covered by a phytosanitary certificate, even if only one plant or plant product is being transported.
Cross-border flows of war material, arms, ammunition and parts thereof are prohibited.
This prohibition can only be waived by obtaining, prior to travel, an official document in the form of an authorisation specific to the nature of the transport and the arms or material concerned.
This authorisation must be presented during customs procedures and at the request of any relevant authorities. However, regulations provide for exemptions, under certain conditions, from the obligation to obtain authorisation.
To ensure the protection of French and European cultural heritage, a specific regulation governs the circulation of goods of historical, artistic, archaeological, aesthetic, scientific or technological interest.
Various accompanying documents, issued by the French Ministry for Culture, are required when taking cultural goods out of the customs territory of France and of the EU.
In addition, checks are now carried out upon import in order to clamp down on trafficking in non-EU cultural goods unlawfully taken out of their country of origin.
Live animals may carry serious diseases such as rabies or bird flu. Rabies, for instance, is a disease that affects all mammals, is transmissible to humans and is always fatal once the symptoms have appeared.
In order to protect you and the EU territory from these diseases, customs carries out checks on pets entering the EU.
Strictly prohibited goods
Certain goods are strictly prohibited, including illegal drugs, counterfeit goods, meat, milk and their products, and endangered wild plant or animal species.
More information on how to avoid buying counterfeit goods is available here.
Alcohol and tobacco allowances when entering France (excluding France’s overseas regions and départements (DROM) and overseas communities (COM)) from another EU Member State
If you go over the allowance limits set, you must declare your goods and pay any tax or duties owed. You will have to provide an invoice or a till receipt during the customs check.
Tobacco/cigarette allowances when entering France (no customs declaration required when travelling from another EU Member State)
If you are aged 18 or over and are carrying the goods yourself, you can bring into France for your personal use the following goods up to the allowance limits indicated:
| Allowances | Type of goods |
|---|---|
| 800 units | cigarettes |
| OR 400 units | cigarillos |
| OR 200 units | cigars |
| OR 1kg | tobacco |
| OR 1 | proportional assortment |
Alcohol allowance when entering France from another EU Member State (no customs declaration required when travelling from another EU Member State)
| Alcohol | Type of goods |
|---|---|
| 110 litres | beer |
| + 90 litres | Wine (including up to 60 litres of sparkling wine) |
| + 20 litres | intermediaire products |
| + 10 litres | spirits (e.g. whisky, gin, vodka) |
A customs check may be carried out to verify the non-commercial nature of the goods.
Alcohol and tobacco allowances when entering France (excluding DROM-COM) from a non-EU country
If you go over the allowance limits set, you must declare your goods and pay any tax or duties owed. You will have to provide an invoice or a till receipt during the customs check.
Tobacco/cigarette allowances when entering France from a non-EU country (no customs declaration required when travelling from a non-EU country)
| Alcohol | Type of goods |
|---|---|
| 200 units | cigarettes |
| OR 150 units | cigarillos |
| OR 50 units | cigars |
| OR 250 grammes | smoking tobacco |
| OR 1 | 1 proportional assortment |
Alcohol allowance when entering France from a non-EU country (no customs declaration required when travelling from a non-EU country)
| Allowances | Type of goods |
|---|---|
| 16 litres | beer |
| 4 litres | Still wine (non-sparkling) |
| 2 litres | Intermediate products (e.g. vermouth, port wine, madeira wine) |
| OR 1 litre | Spirits (e.g. whisky, gin, vodka) |
| OR 1 | Proportional assortment of the two previous categories |
Goods purchased or received as gifts in another country which must be declared
You can carry goods that you purchased or received as gifts and whose total value does not exceed allowances without making a declaration or paying duties or tax.
The total market value of the goods must not exceed the following amounts:
| Travellers under the age of 15 | Travellers aged 15 and over |
|---|---|
| For all means of transport: €150 | For travel by plane or boat: €430 For travel by car, train, and other means of transport: €300 |
However, if you are carrying an item whose unit value exceeds these allowances, you will need to make a declaration and pay tax and duties due on the full value of the item.
If you are carrying multiple items, you will need to make a declaration and pay tax and duties due on the items which bring the total value of your goods above these thresholds.
Examples and specific cases
As you are travelling by plane, you are entitled to an allowance of €430. Your handbag must be declared, and you must pay customs duties and VAT on the full amount of this €600 item.
When carrying an item whose unit value exceeds the allowance, you must pay tax and duties due on the full amount of the item.
The answer depends on the total value of these goods. If you are travelling by plane and carrying four items purchased or received as gifts in another country and whose total value is €400, you do not need to make a declaration, as their value does not exceed €430.
If you are carrying multiple items, your allowance remains the same.
Because this fifth item is worth €50, the total value of the goods you are carrying is now €450, which exceeds the allowance of €430. The €50 item will therefore need to be declared and you will need to pay customs duties and VAT on the full amount of this fifth item.
If you are carrying multiple items, your allowance remains the same.
Even while travelling with your wife, you cannot split the value of an item in two and claim that you are each carrying an item worth €250. You must therefore declare this €500 item and pay customs duties and VAT on the full amount of the camera.
Allowances apply to each person individually, even when you travel in a group.
The total amount of these two items is €250, which does not exceed the allowance of €300. They therefore do not need to be declared.
Allowances apply to each person individually, even when you travel in a group.
Personal goods to declare before travelling
If you are carrying valuable items (not including goods purchased while travelling abroad), ask for a Free Movement Card (carte de libre circulation), which acts as a passport for the personal or commercial goods with which you are travelling (laptop, tablet, camera, jewellery, etc.).
Free Circulation Cards can be issued, free of charge, by the nearest customs office upon presentation of your valuable items and supporting documents.
Procedures to complete before travelling
As part of EU security measures, citizens of France, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland coming from or travelling to a country outside the Schengen area are subject to increased controls when entering or leaving France, as are citizens of other countries.
Required travel documents
You must show a valid passport or ID card, depending on your destination.
Travelling in Europe: for more information on the documents required to travel in Europe for up to three months use the online simulator on service-public.fr.
Travelling outside of Europe: each country has specific entry requirements. For advice on travelling abroad, visit service-public.fr.
If you have questions about:
- Expired identity documents (ID card, passport); authorisations to leave the territory (AST) for minors who live in France and are travelling abroad, whether alone or with a parent; visas
- France’s overseas regions and départements (DROM) and overseas communities (COM) dossier/mayotte-pour-les-particuliers Martinique (for individuals) Guadeloupe (for individuals) Réunion