Can we bring UK digger to France to work on our second-home?
There is a time limit on how long machinery can be brought over to avoid import fees
Bringing a mini-digger to France should be straightforward, providing you have the necessary paperwork
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Reader Question: Our second home is in the Indre and we have a lot of work to do in the garden. We would like to use the mini-digger we own in England. As this is only to be used for personal use in the garden, will we need to complete any paperwork to produce to French customs at Caen?
Yes you will – the relevant form is Cerfa 15678, which is easily downloaded from the internet to print out.
It is a joint EU and French document, and its full name is document d’accompagnement en cas de declaration verbale pour l’admission temporaire.
In theory, it should allow smooth passage through French customs of your digger, as long as you do not intend to keep it in France longer than six months.
Basic details of your name address and the type of machine have to be filled in on two identical forms, along with the value of the machine.
There is also a block to fill out giving the address where the machine will be used, and a section where you should give details of the customs office handling the matter the bureau de douane d’apurement – it is probably a good idea to leave that blank until you deal with a customs officer.
The form has space for five different items to be imported on it.
It will be stamped on entry, and also has to be stamped on exit, when a check will be made to make sure it is the same machine, and there should be no charge for the formalities.
Clean the machine before its trips to avoid problems faced by professional farmers importing farm machinery where the machine has to go through a check to make sure no foreign soil contaminates French land with microbes, and vice versa in the UK.
French customs have a free telephone help service, with an English language option called Info Douane Service, which can help answer specific questions of this type.
It is on 0800 94 40 40 in France, or on +33 1 72 40 78 50 if calling from outside.
Depending on when you call, you might have to listen to hold music for 10 minutes, but once you speak to an agent, they are usually helpful and knowledgeable.
