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France has a solid material foundation and good related conditions for foreign trade. France is the fourth largest country in the world in economy, science and technology and industry, and many products have advantages in the world, such as transportation, energy, telecommunications, aviation, aerospace, automobiles, high-speed trains, subways, military industry, petroleum, chemicals, clothing, cosmetics and so on. In agriculture, France is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products and the world's largest exporter of agricultural food processed products after the United States. France is the largest agricultural power in the European Union and the largest producer of grain, oil crops, beets, wine, beef and poultry meat in Europe. In recent years, the annual output value of agricultural products has reached 65.5 billion euros. France is located in the western part of the European continent, facing the sea on three sides, with a coastline of 2,700 kilometers, including the famous Marseille and Le? Important ports such as Avor and Bordeaux can be connected with all parts of the world. The expressway is very developed and can lead to all parts of Europe. The Channel Tunnel connects France with Britain across the sea. French aviation also extends in all directions. Many material bases and good infrastructure provide favorable conditions for France's foreign trade.

I. Basic situation of foreign trade

French enterprises have a series of advantages in the international market: strengthening the competitiveness of French enterprises; Quick adaptability to the international market; The diversification of export products can meet the needs of the international market in many fields (energy, telecommunications, environmental protection, space technology, agricultural food processing, etc.).

Although France is not based on trade like the Netherlands, foreign trade still plays an important role in the national economy, and industrial and agricultural production depends on foreign trade to a great extent.

The export of agricultural products, especially grain, has always been France's strength. In 2003, the export value of agricultural products and processed agricultural products in France was 39.4 billion euros, while the import value was 30.89 billion euros, with a surplus of 8.5./kloc-0.0 billion euros.

In 2003, the import volume of French civil industrial products was 257.59 billion euros, and the export volume was 267.54 billion euros, with a surplus of 9.95 billion euros.

In 2003, France's top 10 major import and export countries and regions: Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, China, Japan and Switzerland. The export destinations are: Germany, Spain, Britain, Italy, Belgium, USA, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and China.

In 2003, according to French customs statistics, the trade volume between China and France was17.878 billion euros, of which France imported13.295 billion euros from China and exported 4.583 billion euros to China, with a deficit of 8.7./kloc-0.20 billion euros. China ranks first in the list of French foreign trade deficit partners. French statistics show that in 2003, China has become France's eighth largest import trading partner after Germany, the United States, Italy, Britain, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Japan.

Second, foreign trade policy

The European Union is the largest economic and trade group in the world today, and France is one of the important members of the European Union. Therefore, in addition to formulating separate trade regulations that do not violate the interests of the European Union, France must also follow the foreign trade policies of the European Union like other member States.

Starting from its own interests, the European Union divides the countries in the world into five categories according to political and economic systems, geographical regions, historical causes and relations with the European Union: European Free Trade Area countries, Lomé Agreement countries (that is, countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific), Mediterranean coastal countries, other members of the World Trade Organization and "state-owned trading countries" (also known as centrally planned economies). The EU generally gives preferential tariffs and unlimited treatment to imports from the first four countries (except agricultural products and textiles), except for goods that are harmful to safety, health and morality, and rare and endangered animals and plants that are protected. For imports from "state-owned trading countries", strict control measures are taken, and not only the highest tariffs are imposed on many products, but also strict quantitative restrictions are imposed. In recent years, especially since the end of 1989, with the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the changes in the political and economic systems of eastern European countries, the EU has signed contact country agreements and established economic agreements at different levels with many of these countries, and has cancelled or will cancel the quantitative restrictions on imports from these countries in stages. China has become one of the few trade targets that are strictly controlled by the EU's import volume and are subject to anti-dumping measures. Moreover, bound by the EU's trade policy, France cannot sign trade agreements with third countries alone.

In general, the French government adopts administrative means of indirect intervention in the management of foreign trade, but sometimes it directly intervenes through the promulgation of laws, decrees and notices to importers and exporters, and adopts different principles and policies at different times.

In addition, the important principles and policies of France's foreign trade are all questioned and determined by the top leaders of the state or government. Moreover, France also has an inter-ministerial committee subordinate to the Prime Minister's Office, which is composed of the heads of the Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Department of Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Equipment and other professional departments, and is responsible for studying and examining some major issues in the field of foreign trade. The implementation of various foreign trade policies and regulations is the responsibility of all relevant departments.

France is a "market economy" country, and does not formally formulate a foreign trade import and export plan, but the relevant departments make predictions on the annual foreign trade import and export. The General Department of Foreign Economic Relations under the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, the National Bureau of Economic Research and Statistics (INSEE), which is composed of economic experts from various departments, and the major banks all forecast the production, finance and currency, foreign trade and other indicators of various sectors of the national economy. The government intervened in the import and export of certain products according to the market forecasts of various departments and the new situation in international trade at that time, encouraging or restricting them. The French government's trade policy and all-round economic policy are all based on its own interests. It can be seen that although France's foreign trade policy follows the framework of the EU's policy, it also embodies the fundamental principle of the supremacy of national interests.

I) Import Trade Management

As a member of the European Union, France implements the foreign trade regulations and management system of the European Union, but when it comes to the technical and safety standards of imported goods, the relevant guiding regulations of the European Union are first converted into domestic regulations before implementation. The General Department of Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry participates in the research and formulation of EU foreign trade policies on behalf of the French government, and coordinates the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry and other relevant departments to implement EU foreign trade regulations and management systems. For the import of some special commodities, France continues to implement its own import management measures in accordance with Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome. Some French functional departments involved in economic and trade management maintain direct counterpart contact with relevant institutions in the EU headquarters, hold regular consultations, and deal with technical problems arising in the process of foreign trade management in a timely manner. French legislation, the latest news of EU foreign trade laws and regulations, and French import trade management regulations, which were translated from relevant EU guiding trade laws and regulations, were published through the French official gazette.

II) Export Trade Management

France is a member of the European Union. In foreign trade, the government, in accordance with the foreign trade policies and regulations formulated by the European Economic Union and its obligations in international organizations and agreements, formulates specific policies and measures for France's foreign trade, promulgates administrative regulations, and exercises administrative supervision and management over the trade activities of enterprises.

The French government implements a policy of encouraging exports, so that general commodities can be exported freely, and only a few products are subject to export management, such as export subsidies for agricultural products and the export of military equipment, high-tech products and nuclear technology and equipment. In order to support the promotion of exports, the French government has continuously taken some measures according to the domestic and international economic and market situation in each period.

French tax law stipulates that export goods are subject to zero tax rate. Goods subject to zero tax rate do not have to pay VAT at any link, that is, they are completely tax-free. Those who have paid taxes can also get a tax refund. This is one of the important means for the French government to encourage exports. With regard to the operation of zero tax rate, France mainly adopts the method of duty-free purchase, supplemented by the method of paying taxes first and then deducting them. France's export tax rebate system is not managed by separate indicators in the national budget. Moreover, according to the types of enterprises, tax exemption and tax refund are adopted for management.

3) Foreign trade export insurance

The French government generally insures foreign trade exports through COFACE. Founded in 1946, the company has dual functions. Besides operating its own insurance business like other insurance companies, it also provides services for state-supported exports or investments. But the two are financially separate, and the latter is directly under the management of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry. 20 ~ 25% of French exports are guaranteed by the company. In the past, the state entrusted the French foreign trade insurance company through some state-owned enterprises holding majority shares in the company, and UAP was its main shareholder. 194 After the privatization of UAP in April, 64% of the shares of French foreign trade insurance company entered the hands of private shareholders. Although the status of French foreign trade insurance company has changed, the French government still entrusts French foreign trade insurance company to continue to manage foreign trade risks that the private sector does not bear. For this reason, the French government amended the insurance law by decree, allowing the state to continue to retain the right to supervise the operation and management of French foreign trade insurance companies and the right to appoint company leaders. At the same time, it will stipulate that the Minister of Economy and Finance will appoint two government members to the board of directors of the company, and the government has the right to attend various meetings of the company, access all internal documents, and veto the appointment of the chairman and general manager of the company.

Since its privatization, the French Foreign Trade Insurance Company has set up representative offices, subsidiaries or branches in 16 countries, and indirectly established cooperative relations with local companies in 9 countries through the organization of "credit union". In addition, the medium and long-term credit insurance department has provided a considerable number of project loan guarantees since 1995, which is the most important content of French foreign trade insurance company serving the country, and its operation is highly transparent. However, the decision to provide medium and long-term credit insurance rests with the Export Credit and Insurance Committee authorized by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry.

Iv) policies to encourage exports

1, develop preferential export loans

The export enterprise makes a 3-year or 5-year plan for export development, and after the bank designated by the authorities considers it feasible, the bank will provide the enterprise with a considerable amount of loans with preferential interest rates to support the enterprise.

2. Promote exports with development assistance.

France uses capital export to drive commodity export. The French government supports projects in which French enterprises participate in the competition through grants or mixed loans of long-term preferential loans and export credits from the government, so as to enhance the competitiveness of French enterprises and help them finally win contracts.

Through its assistance to developing countries, France has promoted the export of French goods and technical equipment. French-speaking countries in Africa are the main beneficiaries of French aid, so French goods can be seen everywhere in these areas.

3. Strengthen the quality of export products.

1On July 22nd, 1993, the Council of the European Community adopted directive 93/68, which simplified and coordinated some existing directives on labeling the relevant products with the symbol "CE" that meets the requirements of the technical regulations of the European Community on safety, hygiene and health of technical products.

According to the regulations of the European Union, the "CE" mark proves that the product meets the requirements of the technical regulations of the European Union, which can ensure the free circulation of the product in the European market.

Commodity inspection in France has always followed the standard of * * *, and in some respects it is even worse, so French goods generally meet the quality standard of * * *, which provides a reliable guarantee for the export of French goods.

4. Give full play to the role of intermediary organizations.

Some intermediary organizations in France, such as the semi-official agency UBIFRANCE, also shoulder the responsibility of promoting France's foreign trade. It mainly provides foreign market information to French foreign trade enterprises, especially exporters, in order to promote the export of industrial and agricultural products.

Haiguan

I. Overview

(1) Definition

1.Territory under customs jurisdiction

1) French customs territory:

According to the provisions of Article 1 of the current Customs Law of France, the territory under the jurisdiction of French customs includes French mainland land and sea areas, Corsica, French coastal islands and overseas provinces (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique and Reunion); All or part of the duty-free zone belonging to the customs category can be regarded as the territory under the jurisdiction of French customs.

2) EU customs territory

After the establishment of the unified EU market, the free circulation of goods, personnel, funds and services has been realized in the EU 15 member countries, so a new concept: EU customs jurisdiction territory has emerged. It is the sum of 15 national customs jurisdictions of member countries. Eu member States

Imported goods from third countries outside the EU are subject to uniform customs rules and uniform customs tax rates.

The EU customs territory basically includes the territory of 15 member states.

2. Import and export

Since EU 15 countries are regarded as a unified big market, the commodity circulation among EU member countries is no longer regarded as import or export, but as INTRODUCTION.

And an EXPEDITION. Only trade with a third country outside the EU is called import and export.

(2) Customs control over import and export.

Generally speaking, the French government has always strongly encouraged free trade, and the customs has made great efforts to import and export.

There are fewer restrictions, but this does not mean that there are no restrictions. As a government to import and export trade

The executive body of management policy, French Customs' management of import and export is mainly manifested in

The following aspects:

1). Export management

1 For some sensitive commodities, the import and export are restricted or strictly prohibited, such as certain chemicals, biological products, arms, etc., an export license must be applied to the competent government department in advance. Customs release the goods with export license;

In addition, France imposes an embargo on some countries, that is, it restricts their import and export trade. These measures are mainly aimed at Iraq, but also at countries like Angola, Myanmar, Liberia, Libya and Sierra Leone. Every trade embargo has its particularity.

3. The export of artworks requires special certificates. For example, the export of films can only be released after the approval of the French Film Center;

4. The export of agricultural food is required to produce a "health and quarantine certificate" according to the relevant French laws;

5. For high-tech products, including products and technologies, which can be converted for military purposes, the Customs shall exercise supervision over end users to prevent these dual-use technologies from being used for military purposes by importing countries. Customs supervision over sensitive high-tech products consists of the following levels:

First, the importing country must submit the Certificate of International Import (CII), with which the exporter can apply for the Export License from the French Foreign Trade License Bureau (SETICE: Service des Titres du Commerce Exterior);

Second, the customs will pass the inspection with the Export License issued by the French Foreign Trade License Bureau;

Thirdly, after one year, the exporter must submit the Certificate of Commodity Use Inspection (CVL) to the French Foreign Trade Licensing Bureau to prove that the end users of the importing country meet the requirements.

2. Import management

Customs' management of import is mainly embodied in taxation, quota management and origin management.

1) Taxation: Customs levies two kinds of taxes on third-country goods imported into the EU unified market, one is customs duties, and the other is value-added tax; As we mentioned earlier, the EU 15 member countries have unified the tariff system, and implemented a unified tariff policy and a unified tax rate. However, there are still great differences among member countries of value-added tax, which is levied by customs of various countries separately.

2) Tariff rate: EU member states implement "tariff tariff" (TDC:TARIF DOUANIER COMMUN). Before 1993 1 month 1 day, this tariff was called "tariff tariff tariff" (T.E.C.

II. Introduction to the Customs and the General Administration of Indirect Taxation:

(1) Main functions

French Customs is a tax authority, established in 179 1 year. Until 1959, he was given military functions to supervise homeland security.

The General Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxation now belongs to the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, headed by the Secretary of State for Budget, and has nearly 20,000 employees. Since 1993 1 month 1 day, the French customs has been entrusted with the mission of the European Union, which protects the economies and citizens of the EU 15 member countries, especially in the fight against illegal trade.

Due to the establishment of a large European market and the abolition of tax borders, the functions of French customs have been redefined. In addition to imposing tariffs on imported goods in the traditional sense, cracking down on illegal trade and supervising the entry and exit of goods and people abroad, its functions are extended to other fields. At present, the General Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxation has replaced the General Administration of Taxation and is responsible for the management of indirect taxes. However, it also cooperates with other departments to participate in cracking down on counterfeiting, protecting cultural heritage, protecting the environment or banning the circulation of radioactive materials.

1.Customs: a tax authority.

The average annual tax collected by French customs is nearly 300 billion francs (45.735 billion euros, 1999 is 352.4 billion francs, 53.723 billion euros). The annual customs duty accounts for 16% of the French government's national treasury revenue. These taxes are mainly composed of consumption tax and direct taxes on certain consumer goods (such as petroleum products, cigarettes and alcohol, etc.). At the same time, the customs collects value-added tax on imported products. For local and different departments, the customs collects many kinds of assessed fees, special taxes or additional taxes from non-EU countries, and collects customs duties and various taxes from products from countries outside the EU to support the EU budget.

2. Protecting EU financial interests

At present, the EU budget has grown to 500 billion francs (76.2 billion euros), and a considerable part of this figure is formed by smuggling, which has three forms:

N tax evasion that affects customs tariff revenue, especially the quota tax on imported goods that is evaded;

N The evasion of customs duties in transit procedures enables goods to circulate within the EU without paying customs duties. The most common thing is that goods imported from countries outside the EU are not subject to customs duties. Illegal traders use fake documents, steal official seals and forge official seals.

N In view of the need of fiscal revenue, it is a long-term and priority task for customs to protect the EU budget in order to combat illegal traders' duty evasion.

In n 1995, EU member states formulated a coordinated policy to punish tax evasion that is harmful to the EU budget.

2. 1. Combating cigarette smuggling

Customs cracked down on illegal smuggling of cigarettes, prevented illegal sales of loud cigarettes and prevented the loss of tax revenue.

2.2. Check the value-added tax within the EU.

In the internal trade of EU member states, the payment of value-added tax is carried out among consuming countries, and the products are tax-free. In order to crack down on value-added tax evasion, the customs and the State Administration of Taxation cooperated together to check the irregularities of invoices and seize the channels for shopping without invoices or false sales. These behaviors all involve illegal competition and smuggling, which facilitates the development of underground economy.

Customs is an economic organ.

The liberalization of international trade requires fair competition between countries and enterprises. The World Trade Organization and the European Union have adopted the same trade policy and determined the rules that the customs should follow. France is the fourth largest trading power in the world and always abides by international trade rules.

Customs is responsible for supervising the implementation of fair trade practices to protect the interests of enterprises. At the same time, the customs imposes anti-dumping duties on imported abnormal low-priced products; It adopts safeguard clauses when facing a serious crisis in a certain field; It guarantees the implementation of the agreements signed by the European Union (these agreements allow for lower tax rates according to different countries and the nature of products); It controls the customs value of goods, and the customs value is the base used to calculate the applied tariff; It prevents illegal trade aimed at disrupting customs regulations; In the field of textiles, it implements a variety of fiber agreements to restrict the import of the most sensitive textiles into EU member countries.

4.*** Same as agricultural policy:

Customs is authorized to be responsible for ensuring the implementation of EU agricultural policies. It supervises the implementation of policies based on the intervention of agricultural product price level and the principle of * * * same priority.

-As far as imports are concerned, in order to make up for the gap between the international market price and the implemented price in the EU, the customs imposes tariffs and other taxes with equivalent effects;

-As far as exports are concerned, "assistance" is provided when the world market price is lower than the EU price.

In the French domestic market, the Customs monitors the delivery of fruits and vegetables, checks the use situation, and monitors the flow of some agricultural products that receive "assistance". Since 1993, the customs has been responsible for all administrative procedures related to agricultural products trading and monitoring the flow.

5. Indirect taxes:

For a long time, French customs has been responsible for collecting some indirect taxes (especially internal taxes on petroleum products). 1993 After the formation of the EU big market, it was changed to manage and supervise all indirect taxes, which was previously the responsibility of the General Administration of Taxation (mainly tobacco, wine and precious metal products).

Through the management of indirect taxes, the customs is responsible for supervising whether various products comply with the rules of production, trade and sales. At the same time, customs plays an important economic role in the trade of grape planting, tobacco, petroleum products and precious metals, cereals and oil crops seeds.

6, foreign trade statistics:

Customs provides detailed foreign trade statistics for the government and important information for enterprises, which is beneficial for enterprises to conduct market research.

Statistical data are collected on the basis of customs declarations for trade with countries outside the EU and declarations for transactions within the EU.

These statistics are published monthly, quarterly and annually in BEATRICE database, MINITEL and online. According to the needs, the customs can also conduct research, which is the responsibility of the State Customs Foreign Trade Statistics Bureau.

In addition, customs plays an important role in consumer protection, transportation (land, water and air), anti-drugs, anti-money laundering, public safety protection, anti-counterfeiting, environmental protection, cultural heritage protection, participation in immigration management, anti-smuggling and maritime defense.

(2) Main departments:

In April 2002, the General Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxation was reorganized, and now there are six functional bureaus and the Statistics and Economic Research Department:

1.Bureau of Human Resources, Social Relations and Organization; （sous-direction A Ressources humaines, relations sociales et organisation）；

2. Sous-direction b programming (Budget et Moyens);

3. Sous-direction c systè mes d 'information et de té lé communication;

4. Bureau of Legal Affairs, Litigation, Administration and Anti-smuggling (Sous-direction affairs juridiques, Contetieux, Contr? les et lutte contre la fraude）；

5. Sous-direction e-commerce international;

6. Sous-direction f taxes indirect;

7. Department of Statistics and Economic Research (Dé partement des statistiques et desé tudes é conomiques)

Third, Sino-French customs cooperation:

According to the cooperation project agreement signed by the government of China and the European Commission, and the result of the project execution agency selected by the European Commission, the Statistics and Economic Research Department of French Customs has participated in the cooperation with the General Administration of Customs of China in foreign trade statistics since 1999. According to the project agreement, the project should be completed in 200 1 year, and then postponed to August 2002 to achieve the expected goal of the project. According to the contract signed between the French Customs and the European Commission, the French Customs conducted several training sessions on French foreign trade statistics in China and France, and the relevant expenses were paid by the European Union.

According to the project agreement, an expert from the Statistics and Economic Research Department of French Customs went to China for one week and two weeks in 2000 10 and August 2002 respectively, covering statistical methods. In addition, two training sessions on the establishment of foreign trade statistics system were held in French Customs; China sent a delegation of 13 customs officers to visit Paris on1June, 1999; In July 2000, China Customs 17 delegation visited.