I’m in need of a mini digger in the 1.5t range but the selection on the European market is prohibitively priced. The UK offers a significant discount and having to pay VAT to bring it into France won’t bring the price to anything like the EU level.
My question is regarding the process of importing. I plan to transport the machine through Portsmouth to Normandy and would like to know if I need a shipping forwarder to raise the documentation or, can I do all this myself online. I have a trailer that is sufficiently rated to handle up to 2.7t so transportation won’t be an issue.
Any help with the process would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, they do look the part, however, they’re out of the range I was looking for. I need something a little heavier, that will be able to handle bigger jobs.
Looks like a can of worms to me.
Are you intending it to be a permanent import into the EU, or a temporary one?
Is the machine new or used?
If new what is the country of origin/manufacture? EU/UK or outside?
Does the machine comply with EU safety and emissions regs if applicable?
I know that there was/is a commercial trade in used plant from the UK to France because of price differences, so it is do-able and financially seems worth it, since those businesses exist. The transport company in the UK did the export side in house and had a company in France to handle that side, just like the old days of T-Forms and Customs agents.
Are you going to need it for long? Because you could just rent one which prob works out more expensive but saves hassle. No doubt I’m teaching my granny to suck eggs here.