# Ordering products from the EU



## lgpars (Dec 15, 2015)

If you are ordering any products from a EU country, does Portugal charge you any duty on the orders or is this like an American ordering things in the States? I know if you order from the U.S. or somewhere other than a EU country they will charge you I'm sure. Also, can you order anything you want if it's a EU country and have it shipped to Portugal such as food items, etc. Does Customs or whoever is in charge of packages coming into Portugal inspect packages from EU countries or do they just let anything in if its from a EU country. I am living in the Algarve and there are many items I have not been able to find that I would like to have. Corn meal and a cast iron skillet being two items but there is no use getting the skillet without the corn meal to make corn bread. Ha. I have been craving corn bread and Portugal does not have corn meal that I have been able to find. I found corn flour but it is not the same as meal. Any info anyone can give me would be most appreciated. I am also looking for plus size clothes in the Algarve. Cannot find any anywhere!! i don't like to order clothes online as I like to try them on first. Does anyone know where there are some?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

lgpars said:


> If you are ordering any products from a EU country, does Portugal charge you any duty on the orders or is this like an American ordering things in the States? I know if you order from the U.S. or somewhere other than a EU country they will charge you I'm sure. Also, can you order anything you want if it's a EU country and have it shipped to Portugal such as food items, etc. Does Customs or whoever is in charge of packages coming into Portugal inspect packages from EU countries or do they just let anything in if its from a EU country. I am living in the Algarve and there are many items I have not been able to find that I would like to have. Corn meal and a cast iron skillet being two items but there is no use getting the skillet without the corn meal to make corn bread. Ha. I have been craving corn bread and Portugal does not have corn meal that I have been able to find. I found corn flour but it is not the same as meal. Any info anyone can give me would be most appreciated. I am also looking for plus size clothes in the Algarve. Cannot find any anywhere!! i don't like to order clothes online as I like to try them on first. Does anyone know where there are some?


One of the things you have to take on board when you move to another country is the fact that many products that you are used to are no longer available. Corn meal being one of them (I like corn bread as well). The only solution is to adapt and make the best of a new cuisine and discover the positives. Cast-iron cookware is readily available in the products of Le Creuset. With regard to clothes, it depends on what you call plus-sizes - there are many online retailers who will allow returns - Marks and Spencer (Marks & Spencer â€“ Women's, Men's & Kids Clothing â€“ Lingerie - Homeware) although in Portugal you may also be able to buy from the UK site; Bravissimo (Lingerie, Swimwear and Nightwear for D Cup and above | Bravissimo) for the best lingerie anywhere; Cotton Traders (www.cottontraders.com); Bonmarché (www.bonmarche.co.uk); amazon, of course do some clothes.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Your nationality has nothing to do with duty being charged or not. There is free passage for goods between any EU country and these goods will pass through the postal system without inspection.

In addition to the excellent sites mentioned by Baldilocks I would add asos.com. I have never used them myself so cannot give any recommendation. All I will say is that I used to work in an office in Spain and all the staff there used to order from Asos who offer free delivery and a 28 day, no quibble returns policy.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

I just tried a dummy order on that French site and it went through OK and offered me two different carriers for the delivery. 

Have you tried lojasliberty dot com


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## RichardHenshall (Jul 26, 2009)

lgpars said:


> Well I just found a site where I could order American products in France. After getting my order ready and trying to place the order it said it does not ship to this country even though they say they do on their site. The site is myamericanmarket dot com so I emailed them to see what is going on.
> 
> As to ordering clothes online, I have not had very good success getting something that fits so I would like to find some shops here in the Algarve.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the sites for sure.


My advice would be to stop trying to buy American food from the site you're promoting and start buying local fresh food.

It's not clear to me why a site selling American food in France is relevant to someone looking for outsize clothes in Portugal?


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

RichardHenshall said:


> My advice would be to stop trying to buy American food from the site you're promoting and start buying local fresh food.
> 
> It's not clear to me why a site selling American food in France is relevant to someone looking for outsize clothes in Portugal?


Regarding the food, I agree with your sentiments entirely. It took me some time to realise that I did not need all those UK ingredients I thought I could not do without. I think I am right in saying that the Portuguese eat a corn bread despite corn meal not being available. It makes me wonder what they use and I'll check that out with my baker friend when I see him on Saturday.

To be fair, in his OP igpars covered two points; outsize clothes and duty payable on goods purchased from another EU country.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

Corn Meal is used to make Polenta in Europe, The coarse milled corn is easily available in Portugal (labelled Polenta even though that is the name of the finished dish) as it is used to make Xerém which is part of the national gastronomy for many a Portuguese speaking country, not just Portugal.

American corn meal originated in Italy. Authentic polenta is most typically made from a variety of corn called eight-row flint, or 'otto file' in Italian

Cornmeal vs. Grits vs. Polenta vs. Masa
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerém_(culinária)


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Igpars - I met up with some American friends today in Coimbra and they have confirmed what MrBife said. Polenta is perfectly suitable for making corn bread as there is very little difference between that and corn meal. They say that you will find it in any good health food store and on the selves of some supermarkets. I know that I have seen it in Jumbo in Coimbra.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Going back to the original question about tax, they can charge you the difference in VAT percentages between the two EU countries concerned. 

for example, if the VAT rate in the country you're buying from is 19% and PT's is 23%, they can charge you the 4% difference. - The good news is they rarely do so.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

JohnBoy said:


> ... I think I am right in saying that the Portuguese eat a corn bread despite corn meal not being available. It makes me wonder what they use and I'll check that out with my baker friend when I see him on Saturday...


I'm back from the bakery and indeed the Portuguese do have a corn bread known as Broa de Milho which is a yeast leavened bread made from 50/50 wheat flour and course corn flour. The baker says that the product you need is 'farinha de milho' which you should find locally. If you cannot find it in the supermarket then why not do as I did and cultivate a relationship with your local baker. I started a few years ago by buying my bread flour and yeast from him. Now we have become firm friends and I've even spent the night watching them at work turning out the bread and cakes from his wood-fired oven.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

You can buy Maizena 'farinha de milho in most Intermarche supermarkets


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Isn't that white cornflour TM? What the OP was looking for was coarse yellow flour of corn, very similar to polenta.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

John,

I've just looked at mine and it is indeed white....... Sorry about that. - I used to buy the same product in SA & it was yellow.

But isn't it more or less the same product just finer ground?

The good news is that you can buy it in my local Intermarche! LOL


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

travelling-man said:


> John,
> 
> I've just looked at mine and it is indeed white....... Sorry about that. - I used to buy the same product in SA & it was yellow.
> 
> ...


According to Wikipedia, cornmeal is the flour from maize whilst cornflour (Maizinha) is the starch.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflour

Another of life's mysteries solved.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

JohnBoy said:


> According to Wikipedia, cornmeal is the flour from maize whilst cornflour (Maizinha) is the starch.
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflour
> 
> Another of life's mysteries solved.


That's right - Cornmeal is similar to wheatmeal (wholemeal/wholegrain), i.e. it contains the whole grain not just the starch, whereas cornflour like wheat flour is just the starch part and hence known by Americans as corn starch.


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## lgpars (Dec 15, 2015)

JohnBoy said:


> I just tried a dummy order on that French site and it went through OK and offered me two different carriers for the delivery.
> 
> Have you tried lojasliberty dot com


No I have not tried that one. I just got an order I placed with My American Market in France. I was overjoyed to find a lot of things I have been looking for but they are expensive and the sizes of the products are small. I probably will not order again unless I get desperate but it was nice to get some things I wanted like Quaker yellow cornmeal, Crisco, sweet pickle relish, Jif peanut butter, etc, They are super fast on filling and shipping the order and a pleasure to work with. Their customer service was very fast and super nice. 

My husband also ordered me a cast iron skillet from somewhere in Germany. He had to order his hearing aid batteries because we could not find them here so he ordered me a skillet too. There were super fast delivery also. Got them in like two days. What was funny is the skillet had Made in America on it. LOL

I'm so glad to now know I can order in the EU without any hassles from Customs.


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## lgpars (Dec 15, 2015)

RichardHenshall said:


> My advice would be to stop trying to buy American food from the site you're promoting and start buying local fresh food.
> 
> It's not clear to me why a site selling American food in France is relevant to someone looking for outsize clothes in Portugal?


Well actually I was looking for plus size clothes as well as some various food items I use to cook with. I'm a southern cook from Georgia. We do buy fresh foods locally here in Quarteira every Wed. They have a large open air market and that is where we buy most of our veggies, fruit, nuts, dried beans, etc. And actually I found some ground yellow cornmeal there this last week. I do not think they use it to make cornbread like I do but it worked great. I just added the leavening to make it self-rising and the other stuff for cornbread. I don't know what the Portuguese use it for as they told me I could not make bread with it. They must make a corn mush to eat or something.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

lgpars said:


> I don't know what the Portuguese use it for as they told me I could not make bread with it. They must make a corn mush to eat or something.


More likely they feed it to the chickens.


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