Taking food to France
I’m aware that we are no longer allowed to take meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables or plants, (with certain exceptions), but the guidance also says something like ‘or products made from them’. I usually take tinned stuff for quick or ‘emergency’ dinners, such as meat bolognaise sauce in a tin, tinned veg etc, but I have been unable to find any definitive info about whether the ban on foodstuffs includes tinned or indeed dried foods such as pasta. Does anyone know where I can find a definite answer on this? Has anyone had their motorhome searched and had food confiscated?
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You will get a definite answer from the official Europe Direct Contact Centre. There is a contact form on their website.
Be specific when you write to them that you are only asking about taking foods which will be for personal consumption.
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The official line is as you stated however we have crossed twice now to France in the last 10 months. Once by the tunnel and once from Portsmouth. Neither times have we or anyone else we saw been stopped and checked. Every UK vehicle now has to stop and get their passport stamped so customs are much busier doing that. We did however see a commercial van get stopped and checked.
One this journey I brought over items that I usually do with the attitude that I if we get checked so be it if not then bonus we have some meals to start with.
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There was a recent thread titled "Taking food supplies to Spain" that went into this greater detail and one of the CT members kindly ascertained a "definitive" answer.
I intended to copy the page in for you but this useless website just keeps giving me a "Server Error".
Take a look on page 6 of this Overseas Sites and Touring section and see if you can access it.
Just as matter of interest we landed at Rotterdam 2 weeks ago and nobody stopped us or asked us about food. We had supplies of cheese and meat, but for personal consumption.
Sorry I couldn't access that page for you but this website has been a mess for quite some time. It's supposed to be a means for fellow members to help or advise other members but sometimes it's as much use as a Chocolate Fireguard.
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On 6th April I posed the specific question about taking meat/dairy into Europe to the relevant European office, as a clause had been identified that suggested if for personal consumption all was fine.
I received the following reply that would seem to support this assumption, but if you really pick apart the answer the assumption may be flawed.
On 6th June we will be taking with us what some may consider to be banned goods, but according to my interpretation of the reply, that I will be carrying a copy of, I should be fine.
I am taking the risk, as others have found checks are limited and the gains of convenience in your initial days abroad are greater than the chances of loosing your foodstuffs.
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<EuropeDirectContactCentre@edcc.ec.europa.eu>
Dear Mr Motteram,
Thank you for contacting the Europe Direct Contact Centre.
Following your enquiry, we wish to inform you that if you are travelling in the European Union (EU) you can carry meat or dairy products with you as long as they are for your own personal consumption. This also applies to plants or plant products, such as cut flowers, fruit or vegetables as long as they have been grown in an EU country and are free from pests or disease.
In this context, EU includes the 27 EU countries, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland.
These rules also apply when you carry meat, dairy or plant products in your luggage, or if you order these items online or have them sent by mail.
You will find further general information in this regard at the following pages:https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/meat-dairy-animal/index_en.htm
https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/animals-products-trade-imports/personal-imports_enIf you are still unsure about the possibility to bring your product(s), we invite you to directly contact the national customs authorities in the country of destination:
We hope you find this information useful. Please contact us again if you have other questions about the European Union, its activities or institutions.====================================================================
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That states "travelling in the EU" not "travelling to the EU". I still would refer people to the legislation and in particular Annex 1 Part 2 which clearly states which products are NOT allowed in even as hand luggage. Dairy products are the second item on the list.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02019R2122-20211220
Having said that it does seem clear that checks are not being made. But they could be at any time.
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+1 on Iansody response. I posted on a similar thread a few days ago the link to the EU regs, which are quite clear - no meat or dairy products from UK. Pasta would be ok, as it is derived from Durum wheat, not plants meat or dairy.
This link is much easier to read than the one posted above:
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/meat-dairy-animal/index_en.htm
As for checks, you takes your chance!!!!!
Paul
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Quote from the Your Europe site which is pretty clear. I agree with KeithL above.
If you travel to the EU from a non-EU country, you are not allowed to bring any meat or dairy products with you. You can however bring a limited quantity of fruit and vegetables as well as eggs, egg products and honey. Restricted quantities of fish or fish products are also allowed.
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Despite all the detailed legalese, the reality is that to my knowledge no caravanner has ever been stopped and searched, and to be honest if you did have the odd tin of meat or bottle of milk the worst that could happen is that you get them confiscated! Not worth worrying about in my book.
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The idea of providing your documentation to the carrier before departure is a good one, as barring spot checks which will always be needed, you should be going straight through. ANPR for the check in should enable your travel status to be verified instantly.
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can concur, we travelled down from Caen into southern Spain Mar/Apr, and apart from getting passport stamped at ferry port and scanning/checking dog passports nobody batted an eye lid, and we had a fridge full of all our normal stuff, + bags/tins of dog food, might have French speeding ticket at home when we eventually return
, right now weather far too good to think about returning.
This coming weekend is going to be a scorcher following weekend is party party for Jubilee, could be mad dash up through France to meet the 90 days requirement.1 -
Hi, For how long? We are booked there in June.
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Allan and Jean we will be here until mid June. Do you know which pitch you have booked? Site is nowhere near full, a few Italian families arrived for the weekend (it is a long weekend holiday here) but I think they will be off tomorrow evening. 30 deg at moment
. Sorry WTG mixed you up with allanandjean enjoy your hols.0 -
Surely the problem is that if you return to France the following year with the same vehicle its possible that you could be stopped, via ANPR, and asked to pay the fine, especially if using the toll motorways ?
With regard to taking food into the EU, perhaps the issue is that it is an EU wide rule and unless individual countries put that into law the worst that can happen is that food items could be confiscated but you are unlikely to suffer further consequences?
David
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So, my memory is clearly as bad as I tell people as we arrived at Camping Village Badaccia on Lago Trasimeno and I was taken aback when a couple were passing and the guy said “I know who you are-you are Allan and Jean”
I clearly looked confused as he then explained they were David and Jenny or, as I might know him Commeyras a fellow CT poster!
We had a brief chat, as they were off to a winery for a tasting session, like you do, having arranged a lift with a Dutch couple-so no driving!
David has supplied some recommendations, the first of which we acted on was a meal at the lovely La Cantina restaurant in Castiglione Del Lago and what an experience it was due to the somewhat volatile weather which decided to throw thunder and lightning, torrential rain and gale force winds which, as we were ushered inside, cleared the tables of anything not held down with a soundtrack of breaking glass and crockery.
On return to the van the good news was the awing/canopy was intact-the not so good, yours truly had left the over bed Heki open!
So have a good trip up to Garda David and Jenny and we may bump into you again sometime!!
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We had a fairly full fridge on the way out last month. As may be discerned by this post, I am not languishing in an oubliette somewhere. Unless searching was prompted by some fit of pique after a spat between our politicians, I think they have more important things to worry about.
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Thanks David-all mow dry due to the fan heater that I wasn’t expecting to be in use this trip!
Its now 0730, the first van, Brits, left 30 minutes ago and it’s 29C already!!
Happy holidays.
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Back to thread title.
On 6th June we had an 04.30 crossing Dover to Calais with P&0. We had a few bits of dead animal and dairy stuff n the caravan fridge and a freezer full in the car boot.
1st check with French officials was passports and Covid bits, 2nd was similar at UK, 3rd was passing through P&O booth.
No checks or questions on car or van made. No looking at our compliant UK number plate sticker.
We met a couple in France who had crossed Newcastle to Hook of Holland. They had wardrobe, bathroom and kitchen drawer checked.
You can read into this feedback and other reports what you want, but it would appear customs are not bothered. The French are pleased we are back.
Colin
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Hi all,
I posted the following thread on the Spain thread on 4 April, but due to a server error it could not be seen after a day or two, so I am adding this to this thread because I think it is still relevant. Here goes:
Like many on this blog I had thought it was illegal to take meat or dairy foods or their products. I am in Spain now and we travelled from home with an empty fridge and freezer. It wasn’t that easy to find a food shop either as we were on toll roads, but we did eventually find a little ALDI.
Anyway, we are going to Italy in May and sitting in the awning in Bonterra Park the subject came up again; do we risk it or not. I thought that this is too ridiculous and after a bit of Googling I found the reference number of the EU Commission document and took the time to read it in detail and there is an exemption in the small print that it is legal to take enough food for passengers and pets own use.
The EU document Reference No is: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2122 and reads:
Pursuant to Article 48(d) and (e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, products which form part of passenger’s personal luggage and are intended for their personal consumption or use and small consignments of goods sent to natural persons which are not intended to be placed on the market should be exempted from official controls at border control posts. Concerning small consignments of goods sent to natural persons which are not intended to be placed on the market, Member States should carry-out risk-based controls. The possible risk of introducing pathogenic agents or diseases into the Union through the introduction of products of animal origin should be considered in measures regulating the introduction of such consignments or products.
So in May our fridge and freezer will be packed with M&S dinners and snacks to enjoy on-route in France and Italy.
BillC
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Anyone travelling between the EU and UK must look at government.uk regs. We are not a "member state" and our regs are now different. At present there is an outbreak of disease in pigs in East Anglia, previous outbreaks of animal diseases have resulted in various food transport bans and food safety is paramount between countries.
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Personally I don’t see it as a major issue, if you are in a MH. It’s easy enough to pull into a convenient supermarket located on Google and stock up. Even on Sunday in France most are open to 12:30. One of the reasons we venture here is to experience the differences. The last thing we want to do is live off stuff we have bought from the UK, I can do that at home.😀
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To sum the situation up.
The initial impression and generally understood instruction is you cannot take meat and dairy.
If you unpick the regulations it would appear in a very grey manner that you may possibly be able to take meat and dairy, but how far you would get in arguing this I do not know.
The reality is reports of checks being made appear to be non exist.
Another reality is if you did have goods I believe the worst that would happen is confiscation.
On this and other forums the general consensus would appear to be carry on as in previous years to allow your first couple of days to be as smooth as possible, and if you want to take some special to you goodies do so.
I am not saying this is the correct approach, I'm just commenting on this is the reality.
Colin
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