Promote:
Export from Saint Martin
A short guide for companies selling from Saint Martin: the export figures, the agreements and their limits, the main steps and who can help, each with its source.
1. Trade agreements
What each arrangement can mean for a seller, and its limits. A preference is conditional: check the rules of origin before you quote.
European Union single market and customs territory (outermost region status)
Goods sent to mainland France and other Union countries move inside the Union's customs territory, though VAT and octroi de mer are due on arrival.
The island keeps its own taxes, and the Union's VAT system does not apply there.
Source: French customs, Saint-Martin special cases, March 2019 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of March 20, 2019
2. Steps to export
The main steps, in order, each with the body responsible and its official page.
Exporting from Saint Martin
- Register the business online through INPI's business formalities portal before you sell abroad; the CCISM can advise and assist.Institut national de la propriété industrielle; Chambre Consulaire Interprofessionnelle de Saint-MartinOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Impôts Saint-Martin, new business tax booklet, 2026 edition (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of March 27, 2026
- Get the TGCA identification number from the tax office; exports themselves are outside the 4 percent turnover tax.Centre des Finances Publiques - Pôle fiscalGenerally within two months of registrationOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Impôts Saint-Martin, new business tax booklet, 2026 edition (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of March 27, 2026
- Ask customs how goods are treated for the destination, since goods sent to France pay VAT, octroi de mer and excise on arrival.Direction générale des douanes et droits indirectsOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: French customs, Saint-Martin special cases, March 2019 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of March 20, 2019
- For food, animals and plants, ask the DAAF territorial unit about food safety, animal protection and plant protection rules.UT DAAF - Direction de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture et de la ForêtOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Préfecture, DAAF territorial unit page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
Show 1 more export step
- For consumer products, ask the DEETS territorial unit about product quality, safety and metrology rules.UT - DEETS Direction de l’Economie, de l’Emploi, du Travail et des SolidaritésOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Préfecture, DEETS territorial unit page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
3. Organizations that help exporters
Start with French customs and ITSEE. Each card links to the organization’s own site.
Each card says what it can help with:Get adviceFind financeMeet requirementsResearch markets
- The island has 31,160 residents, so this guide lists every national body found with evidence dated 2025 or later; it has 11 organizations. Source (opens in a new tab)
Export development and market information
- Research markets
Territorial statistics institute
ITSEE
Institut Territorial de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques de Saint-Martin
Publishes the island's annual figures, population, tourism and business-creation data, and is building the first local consumer price index.
Visit ITSEE (opens in a new tab)Source: ITSEE, Saint-Martin in figures, 2025 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
- Meet requirements
Overseas central banking agency
IEDOM
Institut d’émission des départements d’outre-mer
Publishes the annual economic and financial report on the island and bank statistics, and handles the right to a bank account.
Visit IEDOM (opens in a new tab)Source: IEDOM, page of the 2025 report on Saint-Martin (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 2, 2026
Show 1 more organization
- Research markets
National statistics office
Insee
Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques
Publishes the island's legal population each year from the census, in its overseas collectivities series.
Visit Insee (opens in a new tab)Source: Insee, populations of overseas collectivities, 2023 census (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of December 29, 2025
Customs and tax
- Meet requirements
Customs authority
French customs
Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects
Answers customs questions for the island through its Guadeloupe regional directorate and lists the island's marinas approved as clearance points.
Visit French customs (opens in a new tab)Source: French customs, approved clearance points list (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
- Meet requirements
Tax administration office
Pôle fiscal
Centre des Finances Publiques - Pôle fiscal
Receives tax returns, issues the TGCA identification number and answers business tax questions for the island.
Visit Pôle fiscal (opens in a new tab)Source: Impôts Saint-Martin, taxes for businesses (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
Standards and sector requirements
- Meet requirements
Economy, labor and consumer authority
DEETS
UT - DEETS Direction de l’Economie, de l’Emploi, du Travail et des Solidarités
Covers consumer protection, product quality and safety, metrology, labor law and business support through a territorial unit attached to the Guadeloupe directorate.
Visit DEETS (opens in a new tab)Source: Préfecture, DEETS territorial unit page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
- Meet requirements
Food and agriculture authority
DAAF
UT DAAF - Direction de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture et de la Forêt
Runs food safety checks, animal and plant protection and farm support through a territorial unit attached to the Guadeloupe directorate.
Visit DAAF (opens in a new tab)Source: Préfecture, DAAF territorial unit page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
Chambers and industry associations
- Get advice
Chamber of commerce and trades
CCISM
Chambre Consulaire Interprofessionnelle de Saint-Martin
Helps people define a business project and assists with company formalities and tax filing obligations.
4. Worth knowing
Taxes on shipments to France
French customs' page, updated March 2019, says goods sent from the island to Guadeloupe, other overseas departments or mainland France pay VAT, octroi de mer and excise on arrival.
What to do: Ask the customs regional directorate for the current treatment before you price.
Source: French customs, Saint-Martin special cases, March 2019 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
Logistics and border performance
About 70 percent of the island's goods came through the Dutch side in 2023, where the freight zone is better equipped, IEDOM reports.
What to do: Decide which port and which side's rules apply before you book a shipment.
Source: IEDOM, annual economic report on Saint-Martin, 2025 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
Missing trade data
Foreign trade statistics for Saint-Martin have been counted inside Guadeloupe's since 2013 and cannot be separated, IEDOM says.
What to do: Do not quote an island export total; ask the buying market for its own import figures.
Sources: IEDOM, annual economic report on Saint-Martin, 2025 (in French) (opens in a new tab); UN Comtrade, partners' imports from Saint Martin, total, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of November 1, 2026
5. How Promote:Global helps
- Compare potential export marketsSee which markets import what you sell, ranked on public trade data, and read each country before you commit.
- Check duties and document requirementsCheck the duty, the origin conditions for a preferential rate and the documents a shipment needs.
- Find advisors and service firmsAsk an advisory firm a scoped, paid question, or browse firms that list their own services, from legal work to logistics.
- Organize your next stepsKeep each product and market in a project, with a roadmap of steps you work through.
Turn this guide into your Saint Martin project.
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Promote:Saint Martin is an independent guide by Promote:Global, not an official government portal. The organizations named here are independent public and membership bodies, not Promote:Global partners, and every link goes to their own site.
Facts read from public sources, with an editorial cut-off of November 1, 2026. Nothing here is investment, legal, tax or sanctions advice. Check current status with the organization before you rely on it.