In order to facilitate the movement of goods across borders and improve the transparency of government activities, particularly for port operators, certain control tasks that were previously carried out by the DGCCRF (General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) have gradually been entrusted to the customs administration since November 2022.

As of June 1, 2023, the transfer of import controls to customs across the entire territory has been implemented, including the regions of Occitanie, Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Mayotte.

The controls affected by this transfer include:

• Sanitary controls for non-animal foodstuffs,
• Controls for organic products,
• Controls for the marketing standards of fruits and vegetables,
• Controls on materials in contact with foodstuffs.

From now on, these controls will be carried out by customs services prior to customs clearance of goods.

It is important to note that this transfer does not involve any changes in the formalities to be completed by professionals. It is simply a change of interlocutor. Operators will now have to send the sanitary documents and organic certificates to the new Customs Points of Border Control (PCF) and Customs Points of Entry (PMLP).

The controls will then be carried out by customs officers following the same procedures as those of the DGCCRF.

However, the control locations remain unchanged and correspond to those already used by professionals. However, if a control is planned in another department, it is necessary to contact the central customs services (COMINT2 office).