Shipping to some countries requires that you justify the origin of the goods you are shipping, in order to benefit from a preferential customs tax regime.

Several types of documents may then be required by customs:

• Invoice declaration.
• EUR 1, EUR 2, ATR or EUR MED documents.

You can contact your chamber of commerce, which will be able to provide you with information and assist you in your procedures.

Invoice declaration

The invoice declaration is limited to goods with a value of less than 6,000€ (except in the case of approved exporters) and only applies in the context of trade to countries with which the European Union has signed preferential agreements.

It is not a document strictly speaking, but a statement to be added to a commercial document (commercial invoice, delivery slip).

Example of statement:
The exporter of products covered by this document declares that, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, these products are of preferential EU origin.
Place - Date - Signature

EUR 1, EUR 2, ATR or EUR MED documents

These documents relate to exports to the pan-Euro-Mediterranean area which includes:

• The European Union (EU) with 27 Member States.
• Turkey.
• The European Free Trade Association (EFTA), comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
• The Faroe Islands.
• The signatory countries of the Barcelona declaration, i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Depending on the export countries and the final destination of the goods, you may need a EUR 1 or EUR MED document. Below a certain value, an invoice declaration may suffice.

EUR 2 only applies to exchanges to Syria with a value of less than 850€.

The ATR only concerns exchanges to Turkey.

The French customs website offers a list of unilateral agreements and preferences of the European Union as well as the types of declaration necessary to benefit from a preferential regime.