When visiting France, you may qualify for a personal exemption which allows you to bring goods of a certain value without paying customs duties, excise taxes or Value Added Tax.

Personal effects in current use (including bicycles) which are clearly of a non-commercial nature may be imported duty and tax free. Those items cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of in France and every one of them must be taken back with you when you leave the country.

If you bring prescription drugs, be sure to carry them in the original containers, along with your doctorís prescription. The police, as is the case in many countries, are allowed to stop and search individuals who are suspected of criminal activities. You may need to provide a medical justification for the product you are carrying.

If the articles you are bringing total 1,200 F (if you are 15 or over) or 600 F (if you are under 15) they may be entered free of duty or tax - provided they are no restriction or prohibition on their import. You may also bring, subject to some limitations, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages (provided you are 17 or over), perfume, coffee and tea , as well as medicinal products, without paying tax or duties.

With respect to tobacco products and alcoholic beverages, when an allowance is only partially used for one type of products, the remainder may be made up of one or more products from the same category. For example, if you are bringing into the country 100 cigarettes (i.e. half the tobacco allowance), you may use the rest of the allowance to buy 50 cigarillos - or else 25 cigarillos and 12 cigars. If you have bought 1 bottle of still wine, you may also bring duty and tax free half a liter of spirit over 22 volume or 1 liter of fortified wine.

The exemption noted above is of a personal nature and may not be grouped or combined with other members of a family or with other travelers. This means that a group or family of four people over 15 years of age may not claim exemption for a single article worth four times their personal exemptions.

Any item worth more than the maximum amount of the allowance (1,200 F or 600 F, as applicable) or imported in excess of the limitations applicable on tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, perfume, coffee and tea, will be subject to duty and tax.

For comprehensive information on your import allowance check with the French Customs authorities.