Travelling from Blighty to France with food

You can swop the tools on Victorinox multitool knives for the ones you want. They can be bought separately, at least from Victorinox, and you open the tool and swop in/out.

Lots of people did this to get the scissors when they were new and not on many tools.

I visited their factory in CH once and it was quite interesting - got my boss a golf tool from there as a leaving present when he moved to TX. He was impressed that I’d driven up a mountain to get it.

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Yes Dieppe. Wow, no just a tweenager and a grumpy teen, no Albanians! The can keep the kids until on our way back if they like :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Last couple of times going outwards through Dieppe they really only wanted to know that I did not have any fuel being carried in bidons in the car (the normal 5L/10L type). About 3 years back and a bit more.

But do leave Albanians unwrapped :wink:

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Back and forth through Dover and Folkestone many times over many years with the motorhome and no real issues to report. Naturally, there have always been a few items of foodstuffs in the fridge and cupboards but, to be honest, we prefer to do a shop just south of Rouen to stock up on all the French goodies that we love.

Coming back, the van is usually rattling like a milk-float with bottles of wine and fruit juice. Add in the numerous boxes of biscuits and other stuff we enjoy but cannot get in the UK we could probably open a small market stall!!! Not once have we encountered any issues with Customs on this matter.

…and food safety standards - post-Brexit the UK is a “third country” with respect to the EU so all food entering the EU from the UK has to be standards checked.

The UK is supposed to do the same checks on food coming from the EU but of course hasn’t done so because a) the Tory Government didn’t get the checks implemented in time and kept kicking the can down the road, and b) the Tory Government didn’t want to expose the stupidity of Brexit by having huge delays to imported food (and the consequent shortages in the shops as a result of those checks).

Even now the checks are minimal and mostly of paperwork not of actual foodstuffs.

Food brought across by individuals as opposed to commercial consignments should also in theory be checked, but since it’s impractical to do so a lot of it is simply banned - or as has been mentioned above, just ignored.

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Syrians should be kept in individual plastic bags ready for inspection. Any especially tall ones with toothbrush moustaches claiming to be an ophthalmologist are likely to be confiscated.

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Not sure Brexit has much to do with it. I remember way back when I was working coming back in through Calais with large fridge full of meat pies and bacon in it and even though it was in view in the cab when searched they took no notice of it. I knew even then that it wasn’t allowed, but also that they didn’t bother themselves.

This was also during the mad cow crisis when all the lorries had to drive though detergent soaked straw, but by the time I got to the ‘bath’ it was empty, everything spashed out to the sides by those before me.

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Brexit has nothing to do with this, you do not take fresh food or plants into another country

Wrong! Brexit has EVERYTHING to do with it.

Before Brexit there were no restrictions on taking fresh food and plants into or out of the EU.
Since Brexit, and the UK becoming a ‘Third Country’ - as has been correctly pointed out by Chris above - restrictions have been imposed.

The joys of leaving the Single Market…

Fact.

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Oh my goodness, so sorry to get it wrong but a shout about it is not best. “Wrong!” “EVERYTHING” Why do so many on here think they know everything and have a go at brexit for all ills which they do not like? There were plenty of bad practices before

Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha. Plenty of bad practices but legitimised by Brexit to the benefit of hardly anyone.

Brexit has everything to do with it. Whilst in the single market, we were free to carry pretty much anything across borders. Now that we’re a third country we can’t carry anything organic across without health and sanitary checks.

I know you don’t like criticism of Brexit but you really should stop denying reality.

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I just fixed that to make it clearer.

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as always, there have been exceptions. I recall in the 1980’s/90’s needing a phyto certificate to send plants from UK to “abroad”.

Stella - this was prior to the ‘open borders’ / freedom of movement era I think. Happy to be corrected.

Didn’t the Maastricht Treaty have something to do with sorting all this out through the Single Market and Customs Union?

Never had a problem with our Veggie Survival Box through tunnel. The signs suggest they are concerned about ferrets though… :person_shrugging:t2:

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About ten years ago I had a tin of foie gras confiscated while departing from Limoges airport

Can’t remember why -
but do remember the officer’s frosty look when I wished her, << Bon appétit ! >>

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I had a bottle of extremely nice rare spirits I’d dug up in Paris confiscated at CDG.

The glittery eyes of one of the officials told me its fate.

What I should have done was to refuse to board the plane, although unfortunately this would have meant delaying the departure of the plane as my checked luggage would have had to be unloaded.

Thinking about the glittery eyes later, I realised that in all the circumstances that was what I should have done. But too late.

Before Brexit then. :thinking: :wink: :grinning: