Customs: the DGDDI authorized to operate maritime manifests

The Directorate General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (DGDDI) is now authorized to exploit maritime manifests to target its inspections. An order of June 18, 2026, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic No. 0209 of September 8, 2026 under NOR CPPD2620327A, authorizes the implementation of the automated processing known as e-Manifest, following the opinion of the CNIL.

The text, signed by the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts, is part of the fight against drug trafficking and customs fraud. It is based on the analysis of manifests—transport documents detailing the cargo of ships—transmitted by shipping companies for all vessels operating in French ports.

A national tool complementary to the European ICS2 system

The purpose of the e-Manifest processing is risk analysis and targeting concerning goods and tobacco products mentioned in Article L. 513-1 of the Customs Code, as well as decision support for the control of these goods. The scope of offenses covers customs fraud provided for in Articles 414, 414-2, 415, and 459 of the Customs Code.

It will be deployed in parallel with the European ICS2 system (Import Control System), which analyzes carriers’ entry summary declarations before their arrival in the Union territory. According to the CNIL, e-Manifest relies on more reliable contractual and logistical data, available without delay, and is limited to maritime transport at the national level, whereas ICS2 covers all modes of transport at the European level.

Strictly regulated personal data

The categories of recorded data are limited:

identification data of freight agents (first and last name for natural persons; SIRET number for legal entities);
the names of the directors of transport companies;
the SIRET number of the parties to the contract;
identification data of customs agents;
other data relating to the transport contract and the goods.

Data is kept for a maximum of five years from the date of transmission, subject to the needs of criminal or customs proceedings. Only DGDDI agents specifically authorized by their head of department have access to it, within the limits of the need-to-know principle. Consultation and communication operations are subject to a log kept for one year.

The CNIL’s opinion and the rights of individuals

The CNIL was referred for an opinion by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty, on the basis of Article 31 of the Law of January 6, 1978, relating to information technology, files and liberties. Its deliberation no. 2025-113 of November 27, 2025 (request for opinion no. 25002476) welcomes the limited scope of the data and the retention period, while requesting clarification on the “identification data” category and the scope of offenses—commitments undertaken by the ministry.

The rights of access, rectification, erasure, and limitation are exercised through the office for the fight against trafficking and organized crime of the DGDDI, located at 11, rue des Deux-Communes, 93558 Montreuil. These may be restricted to preserve investigations, in which case the data subject exercises their rights through the CNIL. The right to object does not apply to this processing, and general public information is provided on the website douane.gouv.fr.

An operational scope for freight surveillance

By providing customs with a national tool for the collection and exploitation of manifests, this decree strengthens the targeting capacity for non-random inspections of ships, complementing the European ICS2 system and the SIRENE processing. For maritime freight operators and carriers, it implies a systematic transmission of contractual and logistical data, the processing of which is now governed by guarantees of proportionality, retention periods, and individual rights.

Source: Decree of June 18, 2026 authorizing the e-Manifest processing, NOR CPPD2620327A, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic no. 0209 of September 8, 2026, accompanied by CNIL deliberation no. 2025-113 of November 27, 2025.