news
BRINGING ITEMS UK-FRANCE
EUROPE’S OLDEST PERSON A French nun, Sister André has just celebrated her 117th birthday. She is believed to be the second-oldest living person in the world (the oldest is Kane Tanaka from Japan, who is 118). Sister André has not only survived two
BAKERS SEEK UNESCO LISTING
world wars, she also recently contracted covid-19 but said she didn’t realise she had it, although she did feel tired. When asked by AFP (Agence FrancePresse) what message she would give to young people, she said “Be brave and show compassion.”
Inspired by the success of Italy's Naples pizza, which was protected by the UN's cultural body last year, bakers in France are making a bid for the baguette to be added as a listed treasure. Artisan bakers have shown concerns over the massproduction of the bread, and therefore want to preserve the traditional baguette (which is already protected by a 1993 law). To meet the criteria, the bread must only be made from four ingredients: wheat flour, water, yeast and salt. It cannot be frozen or contain added preservatives.
Some of you may have already experienced new rules on bringing items from the UK to France since the 1st of January. French VAT, customs declarations and possibly an import duty must now be considered when you are moving items between the UK and France following Brexit. Items purchased in the UK (brand new or secondhand) need to be declared if their value is over 430€ if travelling by sea or air, or 300€ for car travel (this includes if you are travelling by car on a ferry). Anything over these amounts could be charged 20% French VAT - and may also be charged for an import customs duty, which is anything up to 22% (it is worth noting that many items are at 0%). This is thanks to the ‘rules on origin’ which is part of the Brexit deal, which states that exemptions no longer apply on items that have been imported into the UK (from another part of the world) and then exported to the EU. If you are bringing items over from the UK over the stated values you will need to fill in Cerfa n° 10070*03 which is available here: www.servicepublic.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R42719. It might be necessary (for example, you are moving to France) to bring your paperwork directly to the customs office on arrival in France. It is wise to contact the Douane directly to make sure everything is in order and there are no surprises when you arrive. www.douane.gouv.fr. If you have a limited knowledge of French you might want to consider a hand-holding service or a removals company (if you are moving to France) for help and guidance.
VACCINATIONS IN FRANCE
This subject understandably continues to be a hot topic for many people here in France. At the time of print (the latter part of February), GPs in France have been given vaccines to administer to their patients between the ages of 50 and 64, who have serious forms of illness (diabetes, heart problems, respiratory etc). 29,000 GPs have volunteered to give the vaccine, although they have only been given one bottle of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is enough for 10 doses (in order to avoid wastage). It is believed that the second delivery (the following week), GPs should be seeing deliveries of 2 or 3 bottles, with the aim for it to continue to rise each week as more vaccines become available. Via the www.covidtracker.fr website (which give details on covid-19 data) you can select ‘Vaccin Planner’ (or visit here directly: www.covidtracker.fr/vaccinplanner/ to calculate when you might receive your vaccine. You have to fill in a few details (age, health) and you are given a date based on the average amount of doses given per day at that current time. (I (Gayle) have just tested it and it tells me I would be vaccinated between August 2023 and September 2024! (I’m 49 this summer.) I’m guessing this is because it’s basing it on the amount of daily vaccines that are currently being administered which is 77,000. The government still says they would like anyone who would like to be vaccinated to have been given this option of the end of summer this year).
etcetera 9
