Section 3: Form, statements and registration of retail declarations.

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959697989999 bis100100 bis

Article 95

French Customs CodeIn force
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Updated 8 Nov 2023

1. Declarations must be made in writing except where, in application of Community regulations in force, an oral declaration is substituted.

1 bis. In the cases for which the list and conditions of application are laid down by orders of the Minister responsible for customs, declarations may be made electronically. These decrees shall in particular lay down the conditions for identifying declarants and the procedures for keeping documents which must be produced in order to apply the provisions governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared.

Without prejudice to the controls provided for in application of the Community Customs Code, any person in possession of the documents mentioned in the first paragraph of this 1a shall hand them over to customs officials.

Customs officers shall also have access to documents stored in electronic form either at the person's premises or online and shall allow the data stored to be downloaded and used.

2. They must contain all the information necessary for the application of customs measures and the compilation of customs statistics.

3. Except in the cases provided for in 1a, declarations must be signed by the declarant. In the cases provided for in 1a, the transmission of an electronic declaration under the conditions laid down by the Minister responsible for the budget has the same legal effects as the submission of a declaration made in writing, signed and having the same purpose. This transmission constitutes an undertaking with regard to the accuracy of the statements in the declaration and the authenticity of the documents mentioned in the same 1a.

3a. For customs declarations governed by Community regulations, the declarant is the person who makes the customs declaration in his own name or the person in whose name a customs declaration is made.

4. The Director General of Customs and Excise shall determine by order the form of declarations other than those provided for by the Community regulations in force. He shall also determine the information that they must contain and the documents that must be attached to them.

Mariela Petrova

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Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

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Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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