That's au revoir to bringing back any camembert or confit de canard as of today.

escaped

Photos - hopefully

It's a long time since I had any Galettes de Bretagne. They were something we always brought home.

Nanato3

Nannylovesshopping

I shall miss bringing home my favourite Portuguese cheese, also tomatoes and beetroot, all very superior to those I can buy here, obvious answer, eat more there😳🤣

As to the tomatoes and beetroot have you tried growing your own ?
Own grown tomatoes are delicious, and smell divine.

Am in Portugal a lot of the time, so not here to water growing veg, my garden is my spaniels domain and it shows😳🤣

Yes, I can buy the 415g Amora mayonnaise bottles here on Amazon, but it's £8.49 each. I paid €2,34, that's about £2 for the same squirty bottle in France.
Also I get points on my French loyalty card which has a brochure of amazing gifts!
Win, win!

My family always have Amora products in the 'fridge.

I think you can buy Amora products in the UK... it's a Unilever brand I believe...

Nannylovesshopping

I shall miss bringing home my favourite Portuguese cheese, also tomatoes and beetroot, all very superior to those I can buy here, obvious answer, eat more there😳🤣

As to the tomatoes and beetroot have you tried growing your own ?
Own grown tomatoes are delicious, and smell divine.

DD and partner flying in from France yesterday were not checked at customs on either end.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202504/medium-dt7jpt-20250418-111127.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202504/medium-9y0r4x-20250416-100331.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202504/medium-dpgvj7-20250416-100104.jpg

Photos - hopefully

Nannylovesshopping

I shall miss bringing home my favourite Portuguese cheese, also tomatoes and beetroot, all very superior to those I can buy here, obvious answer, eat more there😳🤣

Good solution Nannylovesshopping. But what about the scales when we get home?!

Here's a selection of a few things I've brought back this time, though I'd still have preferred cheese butter, UHT milk and salamis! Should keep me going until I return next month to replenish. Shameful to think I've been doing this for over 50 years. It's a habit.
Oh yes, plus a special Easter shell chocolate from a wonderful chocolate factory we visited.

SusieB50

I have just messaged my DD , they are travelling back tomorrow from France . Too late ! They went shopping yesterday and will have to eat a large amount of Comte tonight..

How are people abroad meant to know?
Maybe the authorities should hand out leaflets at the ferry ports, the customs officers would then have enough goodies to last them for months!
I hope your DD has a feast tonight, SusieB50. 😋

There just isn't the manpower to check all the vehicles.

I have just messaged my DD , they are travelling back tomorrow from France . Too late ! They went shopping yesterday and will have to eat a large amount of Comte tonight..

I shall miss bringing home my favourite Portuguese cheese, also tomatoes and beetroot, all very superior to those I can buy here, obvious answer, eat more there😳🤣

*Blood Pressure Alert*

I am a member of a caravan forum with many members and we also visit France twice a year.

I am afraid most of us take meat and dairy into France. None of us have ever been searched.

We are always searched in Portsmouth, on our return, for stowaways.

Some foods like the comté cheese I bring back are 36 months old, so were made such a long time ago that I can't really see a problem. (The outbreak of FMD first started in Berlin three months ago, I don't think France has been affected.) Also the French UHT creamy milk I bring back in packs of six for my coffees has been heated to an exceptionally high temperature of 135°C to kill off every bug known to man and beast. Unopened cartons can last for years.

I guess it has to be a temporary blanket ban on all dairy products, or how else could they control it? I'm surprised our vehicle which had been traipsing round farms in rural Normandy and Brittany didn't have to drive over disinfected mats to access the car ferry, but I repeat there was a complete lack of attention being paid.

I don't know Mollygo - there's a link in the article to what NI are doing. I'm afraid I didn't read it.

I am a bit concerned, because our dog food comes from Ireland. Sometimes my nephew brings it over for us.

Going on the statement above
^ They must go through heat treatment, which is meant to kill germs, and come with health certificates signed by vets.^
Does that mean that EU members, buying meat, cheese, or other dairy products from the supermarket where we would buy Rillettes, cheese etc. are expected to survive on food that hasn’t been heat treated?

Just spotted this article:

UK ban on EU cheese and meat: What it means for you

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qn7jzj3qgo

The ban only applies to travellers bringing in items personally - not commercial importers such as farmers or shops as commercial meat and cheese imports face higher standards than individuals are subjected to.

They must go through heat treatment, which is meant to kill germs, and come with health certificates signed by vets.

It doesn't cover Northern Ireland either - which apparently is doing something else???
I seem to have missed that!
(Sorry if someone said it earlier).

I understand MOnica we lived in Françe for 8 months of each year 2015-18.
A lot of Europe were the same when the smoking ban came in, even when we lived there for ‘lock ins’

Jaxjacky

I understand what you and MOnica are saying escaped, I suppose I was always concerned about being stopped, either way. What would you do if they did confiscate your dog food?

I wouldn't dream of breaching the current new regulations because they have been applied specifically because of the foot and mouth putbreak.

Thata is very different from ignoring a law not based on a specific danger where the law makers themselves cannot be bothered to do anything about enforcing it.

It lays out the big difference between attitudes to the law in our different countries. In Britain, we go on common law, where the individuals to a contract agree their own terms and it is considered criminal to breach them.

In a number of European countries they have law codes, drawn up by adminstrators, who never have to enforce or work with the law. The ordinary people face with laws that govern everything they do, but are often impractical and impossible to work with, have developed ways to deal with the problem that occur, dealing 'under the table' as the French say.

The same applies to countries. France will sign up to European regulations, but then just not make any effort to enforge them.

When in France I follow French noms, in the UK I follow British, but any law anywhere will be followed meticulously where there is a clear and present health and safety issue.

Well, I'm not a smuggler, and I've not broken the law at all! If I had, however, then I'd be sitting here now eating my camembert and yummy French steak because arriving in Portsmouth .....
No questions were asked
No signs anywhere about restrictions (all 6 of us were looking out for them)
No security check of the vehicle
Maybe customs at Portsmouth haven't received the memo from Keir yet. (Or they've had so many memos they can't keep up!)

Lovely sunny afternoon, smiley officials.

And the dog scoffed all his treats on the ferry.

😆

Georgesgran

No, Gran10.

I often watch a programme about Customs in Australia where they confiscate various foods brought into the county on overseas flights and impose large on the spot fines.

I watch that too. People hoping to waltz through Nothing to Declare when they have huge amounts of food. Good for Australia. We could take a leaf out of their book on a few issues.

I am quite frankly horrified and disgusted at how many on here openly boasting how they knowingly break laws! Why? So they can bring sausages, meats, dairy and dog food with them???? I hope you get caught and foned. More importantly I hope you will not be the cause of foot and mouth coming to UK. Hang your heads in shame.

escaped

PS I'm not an international spy intent on shopping anyone, but someone in a camper van next to us waiting for the ferry this morning got out their carton of milk to make a cup of tea, and butter for their croissants! Maybe they will chuck it all overboard on the ferry.

Of course I’m interested.
We will be in France later this year and I usually bring back Rillettes and cheese.
I won’t do it 😥 if the ban is still in place but who knows.
I’m still interested in whether the ban will eventually affect the European products which I am still buying at the supermarket, some of which bear the strange message
not for EU

PS I'm not an international spy intent on shopping anyone, but someone in a camper van next to us waiting for the ferry this morning got out their carton of milk to make a cup of tea, and butter for their croissants! Maybe they will chuck it all overboard on the ferry.

All on board now Mollygo and sailing into beautiful blue skies.
No mention of anything by officials at the French port. No questions, asked, just drove through, so no chance to even declare or otherwise. No checks in the car either by the elusive security patrols

Apparently, however, beady-eyed DGD in her vehicle spotted a small A4 poster on the customs cabin saying no cheese, dairy, or meat products. It's that usual laidback French attitude to regulations, but then it's not their problem!

It might be a different story once on British soil, so I will keep you posted. (If you're remotely interested. 😉) 🌊 ⛴️