In 2026, French exporters are working on a body of rules that has moved three times in eighteen months. The national customs code was renumbered on 1 May, the EU dual-use list was updated and a new version awaits publication, the SIRET-based EORI number will be deactivated during the second half of the year, and the articles of the French tax code on which the VAT exemption for exports rests disappear on 1 January 2027. Export departments’ internal procedures, for their part, have not moved.
This guide follows an export transaction in chronological order, from the preliminary check on the customer to the enforcement of a judgment abroad, and gives at each stage the applicable text and the practical consequence that follows from it. It is the abridged English edition of the firm’s French guide, September 2026.
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What the guide contains
Ten parts written in continuous prose: what 2026 changed for French exporters, the preliminary check on the customer and the goods, classification, origin and customs value, the international sales contract and the Vienna Convention, the Incoterms 2020 and what they do not settle, transfer of risk and retention of title, transport and cargo insurance, VAT and its proof, dual-use goods and international sanctions, and finally payment and dispute resolution.
They are completed by five key points, a case study in figures and the exporter’s roadmap in table form, each step with its reference. Every statement rests on its source, checked in the original text as at 19 September 2026.
While you wait for the guide, the related analyses are freely available: Exporting from France in 2026: the legal checklist before you sign, on the checks to run before signing; International sanctions: what a French exporter must be able to prove in 2026, on proving diligence and avoiding circumvention; VAT on exports: what proof of exit to keep, and what changes on 1 January 2027; Preferential origin: why made in France is not enough to get the reduced duty; Incoterms 2020, transfer of risk and retention of title: what your contract does not settle.
Frequently asked questions about exporting from France
Will my SIRET-based EORI number stop working?
French customs is moving from an EORI number attached to the establishment, and therefore to its SIRET, to a single number attached to the company’s SIREN. It states that all SIRET-based EORI numbers will be deactivated during the second half of 2026, on a date to be announced in advance, and that they are already no longer accepted by European customs applications. Registration remains mandatory for any company exporting outside the Union (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, article 9) and is free of charge. The migration affects your customs authorisations, your declaration settings and your customs representation agreements.
Are goods made in France of preferential EU origin?
Not automatically. Non-preferential origin, acquired in the country of the last substantial transformation and used for commercial policy measures (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, articles 59 to 61), must be distinguished from preferential origin, which gives entitlement to a reduced or zero duty under a specific trade agreement (same regulation, article 64). Each agreement sets its own rules, product by product. An assembly carried out in France from mostly non-EU components may therefore be French for marking purposes and still be refused preferential treatment. Proof of origin is built before shipment, not during the inspection.
Can I invoice without VAT as soon as my customer is established outside the Union?
The exemption exists (French General Tax Code, article 262, I) but it depends on precise proof. For each shipment you must hold the electronic exit certification issued by the customs office of export or copy No 3 of the declaration endorsed by customs and, failing that, one of the five items of evidence exhaustively listed by the text (Annex III to the same code, article 74). The customer’s address is therefore never enough: what grounds the exemption is the actual exit of the goods and the proof you keep of it. These articles are repealed on 1 January 2027 and transferred to the code on taxes on goods and services.
My product is civilian: am I affected by dual-use export controls?
Possibly, and that is precisely the trap. The controls cover items, software and technology that can be used for both civil and military purposes (Regulation (EU) 2021/821, article 2), and the export of those listed in Annex I requires an authorisation (article 3). The regime does not stop at the list: an authorisation may be required for an unlisted item, depending on its end use or destination (article 4). The applicable list results from Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2003, and the Commission adopted a new version on 14 September 2026, not yet published. A classification made in 2023 no longer holds.
Must I include a clause prohibiting re-export to Russia?
Yes, for goods and technology listed in Annexes XI, XX, XXXV and XL to Regulation (EU) No 833/2014. The contract must prohibit re-export to Russia or for use in Russia and provide adequate remedies in the event of breach; the exporter must inform its competent authority as soon as it becomes aware of a breach by its counterparty (article 12g). The obligation applies to contracts concluded since 19 December 2023, earlier contracts having had to be amended. A separate obligation requires the risk assessment of re-export to be documented for goods listed in Annex XL (article 12gb).
My customer asks for delivery to a different country from the one agreed: can I accept?
Not without checking. A change of destination during performance is one of the red flags listed by the European Commission in its guidance to operators on enhanced due diligence. It is prohibited to participate in activities whose object or effect is to circumvent the restrictive measures, even without deliberately seeking that effect, where the operator is aware that its participation may have that effect and accepts it (Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, article 12). The right reaction is not an immediate refusal, but to suspend performance while you find out, keeping a written record of the check.
Does the chosen Incoterm determine which court has jurisdiction?
Not directly, but it contributes more than is usually thought. The International Chamber of Commerce itself states that the Incoterms deal neither with transfer of ownership, nor with governing law, nor with dispute resolution. Yet the Court of Justice of the European Union holds that the court must take into account all the terms of the contract capable of clearly identifying the place of delivery, including Incoterms (judgment of 9 June 2011, Electrosteel Europe, Case C-87/10), that place determining jurisdiction in contractual matters (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, article 7). A three-letter code can therefore designate a foreign court.
Does my retention of title clause protect me abroad?
Its validity between the parties is governed by the law of the contract, but its effectiveness against the buyer’s creditors is governed by the law of the place where the goods are located, a question the Rome I Regulation does not settle. Within the Union, the protection is real: the opening of insolvency proceedings against the buyer does not affect the seller’s rights where the goods are situated in another Member State (Regulation (EU) 2015/848, article 10). Outside the Union, effectiveness must be checked country by country. Under French law, the clause must be in writing no later than delivery (Commercial Code, article L. 624-16).
How long must I keep my export file?
Three periods overlap and the longest governs. Customs documents are kept for at least three years from the end of the calendar year of the declaration (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, article 51). Documents subject to the tax authorities’ audit powers are kept for six years (French Tax Procedure Code, article L. 102 B). Accounting records and supporting documents are kept for ten years (Commercial Code, article L. 123-22). Keep the whole file for ten years: customer, product, contract, logistics and payment.