Importing a Car into France

Car import is an effort, no matter how and where the car is sold. In buying a new car made in another country and taking delivery of it with number plates attached, you are at the end of a scenario of car import in which others took care of the financial, technical and administrative details. The car importer, often a subsidiary of the automaker, took care of customs formalities, paid duties and VAT, and arranged for type approval that certifies compliance with safety standards. The dealer who sold you the car took care of registration formalities. The people who performed these tasks were familiar with the procedures and handled them easily. As in most endeavours, car import is simple and straightforward, provided you are practised at it.

But for most people, that is hardly the case: car import is a one-off, do-it-yourself (DIY) effort. You are bound to err, so you may have to repeat some tasks. That said, the following is a DIY guide to car import, which, like all DIY guides, doesn't explain everything and probably can be misread.

Just as in the scenario for an imported new car delivered with number plates affixed, there are three principal steps: financial, technical and administrative. Financial outlays are involved throughout, the most decisive upfront, at customs. So your first step is to go to the nearest customs centre [Centre des impots or Hotel des impots], listed in the Yellow pages under Administrations de I'economie et des finances. At the customs centre you will need four documents:

• personal identification, such as your passport or carte de sejour
• proof of residence, such as a recent utility bill
• your car's registration documents
• a copy of the bill of sale for the car, with specification of VAT paid if the car was bought new.

If the car is being imported from an EU/EEA country, there is no import duty and no VAT to be paid, and the customs centre will issue a certificate of fiscal conformity [certificat de regularite fiscale]. If the car is being imported from a country outside the EU/EEA, duty and VAT, together usually about 30% of the car's assessed value upon import, will be charged. Once payment has been made, the customs centre will issue a customs clearance certificate [certificat de dedouanement] no. 846A.

Your next step initiates the administrative procedure and attends to the technical details. Two agencies are involved:

• the Prefecture for the administrative details
• the Directions Regionales de I'Industrie, de la Recherche et de I'Environnement (DRIRE), for the technical details. Locate the nearest DRIRE facility in the Yellow pages or by using the interactive map on the website at www.drire.gouv.fr.

In addition to the certificate issued by the customs centre and the four documents listed above, you may need:

the type approval certificate [attestation de conformite] for the make and model of car that ensures its compliance with safety regulations. Type approval requirements have been harmonised across the EU/EEA for passenger cars, but national differences remain. For makes and models of cars that are or recently have been sold in France, the certificate may not be required. But it's best to have one should it be needed. As a rule, type approval certificates are kept on file in the head offices of automakers or their principal distributors in most countries.

You will need to fill in two forms:

• the application form for a registration document [Demande de certificate d'immatriculation d'un vehicule] Cerfa no. 10672, available at the Prefecture or downloadable from government's public service website at www2.equipement.gouv.fr/formulaires/formdomaines.htm, click on the Cartes grises et immatriculation link under the Securite Routiere heading. Deliver the filled-in form at the Prefecture to initiate the file on your registration. Some minor fees are involved.
• the application for certification of specifications [Demande d'identification], with explanatory texts in French and in English, available from a DRIRE facility or downloadable from www.drire.gouv.fr, click on Missions, then on Vehicules, then on La reception des vehicules routiers, then in the Vehicules importes scroll list on Voiture importee, then on the dossier de demande d'identification link, and, finally, on the imprime de demande d'attestation d'identification link to print out the form. Fill in the form and take with the car to a DRIRE facility, where an inspector will verify it against the car, and against a minor fee, issue an approval. If the car is more than four years old, DRIRE will require that it be submitted to Periodic vehicle inspection before it is approved.

Procedures vary slightly across the country, so it's best to inquire at the Prefectures as to whether you should go to DRIRE first.

Finally, with your registration file initiated and the DRIRE approval in hand, return to the Prefecture to complete registration. You then will be given your Carte grise and can have Number plates made.