Importing into France: Customs, VAT, and Product Compliance

No duty rates are given in this book: they depend on the classification of your goods and their origin, and a copied figure is a false figure. What is provided is the method for finding it, and the person to have it confirmed by.

Part I — Classification

The tariff code alone determines the rate, measures, and required documents. Two neighboring codes can have very different rates, and the difference is paid retroactively. The four-step classification method, general rules of interpretation, and classic pitfalls: kits, dominant material, incomplete articles. Then the binding tariff information: free, enforceable throughout the Union, and what it saves you in ex-post controls.

Part II — Value and Origin

Customs value is not the invoice: what is added, what is not included, and the pitfall of tooling — a mold provided or paid for separately is a contribution, and its omission is most often found during controls. Preferential origin, the one that is worth money: the rule of origin by position, proofs according to the agreement, and the three survival rules to avoid repaying duties three years later.

Part III — Duties, VAT, and Regimes

The complete calculation in order — VAT is calculated after duties — with the warning about anti-dumping duties, attached to the code and the origin. Self-assessment of import VAT: what is needed to benefit from it, the pre-filling to check every month, and why a DDP purchase can deprive you of the deduction. Regimes that suspend: warehouse, inward processing, temporary admission, return of goods. And the regime for small consignments and IOSS — the most important chapter for those doing dropshipping.

Part IV — Actors and Paperwork

Who does what between freight forwarder, customs broker, and carrier — and why subcontracting does not transfer responsibility. EORI, direct and indirect representation, and the effect of choice on self-assessment. The complete set of eight documentary pieces, and why it is inconsistencies, more than errors, that trigger controls.

Part V — Product Compliance

The most underestimated chapter. By importing, you become the "importer" within the meaning of the regulations — a status with its own obligations, and if you affix your brand, you become the manufacturer. CE marking and declaration of conformity: what must exist behind it, and the three errors to know about, including the acronym that resembles the real one. Cross-cutting regulations: REACH, RoHS, WEEE, batteries, packaging, and the extended producer responsibility that almost all new importers discover too late — unique identifier, eco-organization, eco-contribution, without which marketplaces block sales. Categories with heavy dossiers. The general product safety regulation and the information that your online product sheet must contain. Labeling, mandatory French, and the reflex that avoids complete re-labeling.

Part VI — Control and Dispute

Control at customs clearance and ex-post control, covering several years. Blocked goods: the five steps, and why re-exportation is sometimes the least bad outcome. The logic of sanctions, and what distinguishes someone who has documented their steps from someone who has done nothing.

What you take away

• A twenty-point checklist before ordering, in four blocks
• The standard set of documents, piece by piece
• The complete formula for calculating duties then VAT
• The toolbox: TARIC, Access2Markets, RITA, EORI, EPR schemes
• A glossary of fifteen terms

For whom

Those importing for the first time, those already importing without having checked their classification, and those selling imported products without knowing what this status implies.

For whom it is not

Professional customs declarants. And those looking for the applicable rate for their product: it is not in this book, it is in TARIC, and the book explains how to find it there.

What the book does not cover

The applicable duty rate for your product. The details of declarative procedures, which are the responsibility of your declarant. The complete requirements for each regulated category. And export, which is subject to other rules.

Format

PDF, 27 pages, approximately 4,800 words divided into 6 parts, 22 chapters, and 3 appendices. Immediate access after purchase.

This book is not legal advice, customs advice, or tax advice. Rates, thresholds, and procedures evolve, and many rules depend on your exact product. For a real operation: a customs broker, an accountant for VAT, and a specialist in your category for compliance.