Send a parcel to: France
C'est facile to send parcels to France, with Parcelforce Worldwide. Whether you have a parcel bound for Bordeaux or nearer to Nice, Parcelforce offers the perfect balance of speed, value, convenience and security. And with over 490,000 consignments delivered to France last year, your parcels couldn't be in safer hands.
The parcel service you choose will depend on the speed you need, your budget, tracking and compensation requirements. If you have an urgent document or item to send to France, opt for globalexpress, with delivery from next working day and full tracking, including named confirmation of delivery. For less urgent items you can choose to use our globalpriority or globalvalue services. Don't forget you'll save money when you book online and opt to drop off at a Parcelforce depot or Post Office, though we also offer a collection option for your convenience. Find out the cost of shipping from the UK to France using our international parcel delivery services, and book online here.
Parcel delivery information
| Service | Area | Delivery (Working Days) | PO Box | Max weight | Max length | Length & Girth | Buy online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| globalexpress | Documents | From 1 day | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m | Buy online |
| globalexpress | Packages | From 1 day | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m | Buy online |
| globalpriority | ALL AREAS | 4 days | Yes | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m | Buy online |
| globalvalue | ALL AREAS | 5-7 days | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m | Buy online |
Important information when exporting to France
- In order to ensure a delivery on time, please ensure that your parcel has the full, correct address, an email address in the correct format and a mobile or landline number for the intended recipient. This will help the delivery partner to ensure the parcel is delivered correct first time. This should be clearly marked on the parcel.
- Residential apartment blocks in main cities (e.g. Paris, Lyon) often have access codes to enter buildings. In this case, we will contact the recipient to obtain codes, so please ensure the recipients mobile or landline number is clearly marked on the parcel to held ensure a successful delivery.
- If you wish to send parcels to Corsica, French Polynesia, French Guiana, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Mayotte (see Comoros) or Reunion please use the links to direct you to their page within the Worldwide Directory for more information and the specific country codes in our system, to avoid delays.
- Timescales shown above do not include delays caused by destination country customs processes. Please be aware that customs could add additional time to your parcel delivery.
- The definition of 'working days' and other important information can be found here
- To avoid delivery / customs issues, our carrier partners request that a full name is mandatory for globalexpress parcels (e.g. Mr John Smith)
- globalexpress transit times are based upon collection times, sender and recipient locations.
- For details, please use the globalexpress calculator in the section at the end of this page.
[Note for awareness: the globalexpress calculator illustrates delivery speeds for parcels sent by account customers; parcels sent by retail channels may take longer and depend on posting method]
- Exporting to France requires customs paperwork for most items from 01 January 2021
- In order to confirm that your items are not prohibited or restricted, please check our dedicated page here
- Should you require specific customs advice and the latest rules please visit the French customs website
- Since the introduction of IOSS, low value consignments (under 150 EUR) will not have duties or Import Tax charged at the time of import. Tax will be accounted for directly to the Tax authority. This also means that there will be no customs receipts or documentation provided for low value goods shipments.
Please note that VAT rates in France may vary depending on service chosen:
DDU: 20% (recipient to pay)
DDP: 20% (Seller to pay)
IOSS: product dependant, e.g- Books 5.5%
For additional information about these services please visit our dedicated page.
There are several reduced VAT rates in France, for example;
2.1% - Certain pharmaceuticals, newspapers and periodicals
5.5%- Books, some foodstuff, non-alcoholic beverages
10% - Certain foodstuffs, non-alcoholic beverages, works of art, some pharmaceutical, cut flowers, plants.
For additional information please check: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/file_import/eb015_en_2.pdf
If you are sending an item to France via the IOSS VAT scheme, with an HS code shown in this document, please be aware that the contents of these items require additional manual customs checks and therefore may incur delays of 1-2 days. We advise that a customer telephone number is included within the electronic customs data to help improve the customs clearance process.
This is for information only and should not be considered to have legal basis. Where doubt exists appropriate legal advice should be sought.
Additional delivery information for France
- Bank Holidays for this year in France can be found here
- Typical Non-Working Days in France are: Saturday and Sunday
- For most products delivery speed by postcode areas are the same across mainland France, however for europriority there are two speeds, details of which can be found in the attached PDF.
|
High Level Standard Offered By French Post (La Poste)
|
|
|---|---|
| Delivery Aspect | Details |
| Delivery to Home / Business | Yes / Yes |
| Delivery to PO Box | No |
| Delivery to Post Office | Yes |
| How many delivery attempts as standard? | 1 |
| If unsuccessful delivery, is notification left with recipient? | Yes |
| How many days is the parcel held before returned? | 14 |
| What days does GLS typically deliver on? | Mon-Fri |
globalexpress Calculator (Account customers only)
| Service | Area | Delivery (Working Days) | PO Box | Max weight | Max length | Length & Girth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| globalexpress | Documents | From 1 day | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m |
| globalexpress | Packages | From 1 day | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m |
| europriority | AREA 1 | 2 days | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m |
| europriority | AREA 2 | 3 days | No | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m |
| euroeconomy | ALL AREAS | 3 days | Yes | 30kg | 1.5m | 3m |
Important information when exporting to France
- In order to ensure a delivery on time, please ensure that your parcel has the full, correct address, an email address in the correct format and a mobile or landline number for the intended recipient. This will help the delivery partner to ensure the parcel is delivered correct first time. This should be clearly marked on the parcel.
- Residential apartment blocks in main cities (e.g. Paris, Lyon) often have access codes to enter buildings. In this case, we will contact the recipient to obtain codes, so please ensure the recipients mobile or landline number is clearly marked on the parcel to held ensure a successful delivery.
- If you wish to send parcels to Corsica, French Polynesia, French Guiana, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Mayotte (see Comoros) or Reunion please use the links to direct you to their page within the Worldwide Directory for more information and the specific country codes in our system, to avoid delays.
- Timescales shown above do not include delays caused by destination country customs processes. Please be aware that customs could add additional time to your parcel delivery.
- The definition of 'working days' and other important information can be found here
- To avoid delivery / customs issues, our carrier partners request that a full name is mandatory for globalexpress parcels (e.g. Mr John Smith)
- globalexpress transit times are based upon collection times, sender and recipient locations.
- For details, please use the globalexpress calculator in the section at the end of this page.
[Note for awareness: the globalexpress calculator illustrates delivery speeds for parcels sent by account customers; parcels sent by retail channels may take longer and depend on posting method]
- Exporting to France requires customs paperwork for most items from 01 January 2021
- In order to confirm that your items are not prohibited or restricted, please check our dedicated page here
- Should you require specific customs advice and the latest rules please visit the French customs website
- Since the introduction of IOSS, low value consignments (under 150 EUR) will not have duties or Import Tax charged at the time of import. Tax will be accounted for directly to the Tax authority. This also means that there will be no customs receipts or documentation provided for low value goods shipments.
Please note that VAT rates in France may vary depending on service chosen:
DDU: 20% (recipient to pay)
DDP: 20% (Seller to pay)
IOSS: product dependant, e.g- Books 5.5%
For additional information about these services please visit our dedicated page.
There are several reduced VAT rates in France, for example;
2.1% - Certain pharmaceuticals, newspapers and periodicals
5.5%- Books, some foodstuff, non-alcoholic beverages
10% - Certain foodstuffs, non-alcoholic beverages, works of art, some pharmaceutical, cut flowers, plants.
For additional information please check: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/file_import/eb015_en_2.pdf
If you are sending an item to France via the IOSS VAT scheme, with an HS code shown in this document, please be aware that the contents of these items require additional manual customs checks and therefore may incur delays of 1-2 days. We advise that a customer telephone number is included within the electronic customs data to help improve the customs clearance process.
This is for information only and should not be considered to have legal basis. Where doubt exists appropriate legal advice should be sought.
Additional delivery information for France
- Bank Holidays for this year in France can be found here
- Typical Non-Working Days in France are: Saturday and Sunday
- For most products delivery speed by postcode areas are the same across mainland France, however for europriority there are two speeds, details of which can be found in the attached PDF.
|
High Level Standard Offered By French Post (La Poste)
|
|
|---|---|
| Delivery Aspect | Details |
| Delivery to Home / Business | Yes / Yes |
| Delivery to PO Box | No |
| Delivery to Post Office | Yes |
| How many delivery attempts as standard? | 1 |
| If unsuccessful delivery, is notification left with recipient? | Yes |
| How many days is the parcel held before returned? | 14 |
| What days does GLS typically deliver on? | Mon-Fri |
