Send a parcel 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  

• Any items which have a CE mark will go through a secondary customs check and are entered onto a CE certification sheet. They may be subject to delay as a result

   globalpriority and globalvalue parcels

• Please note that restrictions apply when sending medication and pharmaceutical products to France on this service. Please check here for more information or refer to the French customs website for the latest rules and customs advice

    euroeconomy parcels

• Please note that restrictions apply when sending medication and pharmaceutical products to France on this service. Please check here for more information or refer to the French customs website for the latest rules and customs advice

• 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)
DTP: 20% (Seller to pay)
IOSS: product dependant, e.g- Books 5.5%

For additional information about these services please visit our dedicated page. 

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

*The reduced VAT rates mentioned will only apply to items valued above €150

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.

Please note: We advise that a recipient telephone number or email address is always included within the electronic customs data when exporting to France to help improve the customs clearance process. La Poste will contact any customers who provide this electronically to pay charges (where applicable) through an online portal. Their fee for facilitating this is €2 on top of the charges. For any shipments where this is not present the agent will collect any fees payable on the doorstep and their fee increases to €8.

This is for information only and should not be considered to have legal basis. Where doubt exists appropriate legal advice should be sought.