The Administrative Regime Governing the French Regulations on Foreign Trade

by Yves Chapel

This is both a detailed account and a brief comment on the rules governing foreign trade in France. The author first comments on the three guiding principles of the relevant French legislation: 1) the individual has a right to import goods, within known procedures, 2) in the procedure of examination of applications, use is made of the services of organs which do not belong to the State as such, 3) there is a strong link with the control of currencies, and the administrative execution is markedly centralised.

Monsieur CHAPEL goes on to study the two fundamental legal provisions, and the agencies entrusted with their practical enforcement: Technical Directorates in the Ministries and « Technical Committees », the Office of Currency Control (« Office des Changes »), and finally delineates the actual working of this administrative machinery.

His conclusion is that the « Office des Changes » possibly enjoys excessive powers, even though they are indirect, and that this may point to a regrettable tendency towards « dirigism », but he adds that the French legislation is imbued with the principle that such concentration of powers in the hands of the State must be balanced by provisions enabling the individual to defend his interests. This hopeful attitude was justified by a recent liberation of some specified imports, a provision which is commented on in an additional note.