Hi please forgive me if this one has been asked before.
We are about take a van over containing used furniture and tools etc to our house in France I have 2 x copies of van contents in English and 2 x copies in French, proof of house ownership and a CERFA hopefully filled out correctly, Am I missing anything ? and do I just go to the something to declare que at Dieppe on arrival, I’m also unsure as to whether my partner should fill out a CERFA also as we jointly own the house and the contents of the van but she is not travelling with me on the day I am probably over thinking it but am conscious that both our allowances agreed by both countries maybe questioned and me having a two CERFA’S filled out may help, has anyone any recent experience using the Newhaven/Dieppe route lately?
They are mainly looking for drugs and firearms/explosives and the rest seems to be a PIA to them. That said a second CERFA may be useful for doubling the allowance in the rare event you are stopped.
I live close to Dieppe, often bike past the ferry terminal, regularly take the ferry etc.
My experience is that you would have to make serious efforts to track down a customs officer there. As you come off the ferry you are immediately directed into one of two lines of cars for checking passports only. There is no obvious route for those wanting to visit the customs shed before this, which is located away from the secure passport control area. You would not be the first person who finds that you are passport checked then are free to access the main road/roundabout immediately beyond the passport booths.
.For those intent on finding a customs officer, you’d need to leave the secure area of passport control, go round the roundabout, and park back at the terminal building car park, knock on the door of the customs office (probably restricted opening hours etc!), and try and gain admittance. I agree with @Corona… Customs there almost certainly have far bigger fish to fry eg the lorries that are using the ferry whose drivers do actually seem to go to the customs office…
Phew that’s good to hear hopefully it will be plain sailing “pardon the pun” I can now start stressing out about the drive itself as I’ve only ever driven small hire cars when over.
When they’re interested in Dieppe, the customs officers will position themselves after the passport-checking booth before the exit gate. There’s space there on the left for them to signal you to pull over if they wish to check you before you exit. Obvs if they’re there that day, coming through with a fully loaded vehicle and almost inevitably if it’s a van, you are highly likely to be pulled over.
Just answer questions truthfully, it’s a really good idea to have a list of items you’re carrying and each item’s value ready (eg ‘miscellaneous kitchen utensils’ ) plus any evidence of your holiday home (eg copy of last tax foncier bill) all on paper. They do have the right to unpack everything out of the vehicle and leave you to put it all back again, rain or shine, and your obvious truthfulness helps them not do this 
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Last time i got pulled over, which is very rare as they’re not necessarily there as George1 says, it was my first of 3 trips in three weeks with a very fully loaded hired van. I was forthcoming about my.circumstances (as customs officers pick out the unusual and I was a lone female travelling long distance with huge loaded van) and mentioned I would be doing same trip twice more in next couple of weeks. Everything was fine and I wasn’t stopped on later trips.
You can also be stopped by Customs within France. Often just after coming through motorway toll gates.
Or woken up at 3am by them banging on the side of my van in one of the pull in stops.
Sounds pretty straight forward so far I will be very truthful with my van list and everything else even if they want to look in the case which has all the girls stuff inside “they’re flying” I’ve no ideas of having a nap midway as the journey is 5hrs Liverpool/Newhaven possibly a nap on the ferry then hopefully a quiet drive to 87 I’ll be moth eaten before getting in the van as I’m just on with the route plan and fuel stops hopefully I’ll find some fuel stations to keep the mileage anxiety to a minimum.
There is a handy intermarche fuel station just as you head out from Deippe, up the hill turn right on the roundabout and its just along the road.
Interesting to hear. It makes me wonder how often, if at all, Customs actually take any real action (eg for 2nd home owners). In other words if you’re really unlucky enough a) to find them waiting to check French inbound travellers b) and they pull you over, ie has anyone then actually been ‘gone over’ with a fine tooth comb by them, or had their papers seriously looked at, and/or been issued demands for duty etc?
OK… before and after Brexit… but over the years we have been signalled to pull into the customs area, had to open the boot, discuss, explain etc etc.
A Peugeot 406 packed to the gunnels…
Always very friendly folk, doing their duty… no nastiness…
Before we moved here, the car was often full of tools, small items of household stuff etc etc… and we simply explained that we were doing work on our holiday home etc etc etc…
After the move, just the usual personal stuff in the boot… but still they sometimes took a look… 
Thankfully, never had to unload although we always offered to do so
I reckon it was because we were earlybirds … very suspicious behaviour
The day I do not travel loaded to the gunwales will be fantastic, part of me thinks they take one look (on the rare occasion) and think OMG I am not going to bother unpacking that lot 
Get checked before boarding at Dieppe on the homeward leg of the journey quite frequently but its just a brief look.
If you miss that one there is an E.Leclerc a bit further on at Martin-Église, but avoid it at the weekend, the queues were huge when I stopped to fill up there last summer coming back to UK!
I think they’re most keen on finding illegal immigrants, then drugs. Unless you’re very, very unlucky, look untruthful, or your reason for the journey in that vehicle with whatever you’re carrying doesn’t make sense or is against some rule, or, I imagine, you annoyed them in some way… unless you’re one of these, then once they’ve talked to you and had a look, they will want to find a more promising vehicle from the queue instead.
The only situation i can imagine which could be difficult, even if you do everything right, as with all officials, is if you get a trainee or a very, very new one that doesn’t have a more experienced officer on hand to tell them what not to bother with.
It can be well worth leaving the autoroute to refuel as prices can easily be 15% lower. There is an official website - prixcarburants that lists fuel prices. It’s updated daily, and will let you see costs on the motorways and nearby towns.
For example, just south of Rouen, diesel is 1.85€ on the autoroute but 1.62€ at an Esso station that involves a 2km/2 minute detour.
I have done this several times over the last year, via both Calais and Dieppe, bringing ‘small’ amounts each time in a Landrover with a big closed remorque.
I came through Dieppe a couple of months ago. I queued with the other private vehicles. (There is a separate process for commercial trucks and traffic).
When you get to the kiosk to have your passport / visa checked, those checking passports are the same douaniers who will also (later) check your forms. As you move on from having your passport checked, you need to turn sharp Left into a bay in front of a single storey small building (portacabin type), and stop. There are usually a number of parked cars in this area. The small team are busy when the Ferry discharges, so you may well have to wait when you go into the office with your paperwork.
Documents that you will need include 3 copies (to be safe, including one to keep and refer to, when you hand over the other two):
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A fully itemised inventory in french with each page signed and dated with place of signature too, plus the estimated value of each item in euros, (I put the price I estimated I would get in a fire sale).
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form Cerfa 10070 “DÉCLARATION D’ENTRÉE EN FRANCHISE DE BIENS PERSONNELS EN PROVENANCE DE PAYS TIERS À L’U.E. EXPEMPLAIRE DESTINÉ À L’IMPORTATEUR”
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An attestation that you are not going to sell the goods, but use them in your maison primaire (or secondaire) I adapted [Microsoft Word - ATTESTATION NON-CESSION.doc (atlasintl.com)](https://webportal.atlasintl.com/Customs%20Forms/France/HHG/France%20Customs%20Form.pdf)
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Copies of your ID, eg Passport / Visa (so they do not have to waste time making their own copies)
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and 6) For us it is a déménagement each time, so we also had to provide proof of sale of the home in the UK, and of ownership of the home in France. (I have been told on one trip I should have given them copies of the Notaire document of purchase in France, but each time they have in fact accepted the up to date (all dates needed within the last 3 months) EDF “ATTESTATION TITULAIRE DE CONTRAT” downloadable from the EDF website for your contract under “Mes Documents”.
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one copy only - The number plate of your vehicle (trailer too, if french registered so different with its own carte grise)
They may well discuss the process a bit, since it appears to them to be unusual. They appear then to open a paper file, and record the documents provided on the Cerfa forms, and then hopefully stamp and sign one copy of the Cerfa form and give it back to you and you are free to proceed. (At no time either Calais or Dieppe have they checked the contents in the vehicle/trailer, but been preoccupied with the paperwork being all in order).
I attach a marked up image of the layout and route to the office for the Douanes when I disembarked at Dieppe, (it may change, it changes almost every time via Calais!).
That may explain why during the last time I went through Dieppe (bound for the UK), one customs official started to search through the saddle bag attached to a waiting cyclist (!) -until he was immediately called off, and seemingly told off by his (presumably more experienced) handler.
Good to know. Seems consistent with everything I’ve seen or heard, so far…
In the course of conversation/questioning… we have been asked to confirm that we are NOT carrying any parcels/boxes/whatever which we have not personally packed ourselves and therefore know the contents.
ie not carrying something on behalf of a third party…
for some reason, questioning always make me feel guilty (although totally innocent ) and my reaction is to ramble on and on… aaargh
OH reckons they wave us through just to shut me up
Presumably you are proactively presenting yourself/your car etc to Customs for processing, when you (rightly and honestly!) believe you need to do so , ie they’re not pulling you over? I’m afraid when we were bringing over lots of stuff packed into our car for our second home, we just drove straight through, in blissful ignorance…
Yes … it’s a major proactive effort to comply with french law post Brexit. It’s even more annoyingly difficult at Calais. I missed the turning to the customs sheds in the dark and heavy rain one night and easily headed straight out of the port with no obvious way back. The next day I tried the customs hq in the city, but was told I had to get the paperwork processed in the port. So after explaining to the ferry ticketing staff, I went back into the port as if departing, queued for passport control again, then found the obscure route to the customs sheds. An hour’s wait or so with all the anxious lorry drivers, often queuing outside in the drizzle, and I got the paperwork processed. Overall a delay of about 6 hours due to poor signage and lighting. It is at least much simpler and more obvious at Dieppe.
Thanks all you are a mine of information, I’ll fire the printer up later and get some more copying done, thanks George1 I was going to ask the same question re voluntary offering myself up. @joco Glad I’m not doing Calais sounds like a nightmare.