Packaging EPR · France

Packaging EPR in France — a plain guide for small cross-border sellers

Does packaging EPR in France apply to you?

If you ship packaged products to consumers in France, France treats you as a "producer" of that packaging and expects you to be signed up before you sell. That holds even for a very small webshop. For low-volume sellers France actually has one of the simplest routes in the EU — a flat annual declaration — so this is usually cheap and quick to sort out. Here's how it works.

Who counts as the "producer" in France?

The producer is the business that first places filled packaging on the French market — normally you, selling directly to French customers. One early step is a quick diagnosis of whether your packaging is household packaging (goods sold to consumers) or professional/commercial packaging, because France runs separate streams and professional-packaging EPR is also active from July 2026. Most small consumer webshops fall in the household stream.

Where you register: the authority and the PRO

France works through approved eco-organisations rather than a government portal you file into directly. You join one, and it registers you and obtains your ADEME unique identifier (IDU) — the number that proves you're in the system.

• The PRO (eco-organisation): Citeo, Adelphe or Léko for household packaging (Citeo is the most common). You sign a membership contract online.
• The authority/register: ADEME, via the national REP producer identification, which issues the IDU.

Authority / register: https://filieres-rep.ademe.fr/en/ · PRO: https://www.citeo.com/en/my-membership/

Do you need an authorised representative in France?

Yes. Since 10 July 2026, French law (Article L. 541-10-9-1) requires any REP-liable seller without a French establishment to appoint a mandataire (representative) — on top of PPWR Article 45(3), in effect EU-wide from 12 August 2026. Together these make it a settled requirement for a Finnish seller, not a case-by-case check. We appoint yours as part of onboarding. For the wider picture, see when PPWR requires an authorised representative.

Status 24 October 2026: the representative requirement still applies. The European Parliament (20 October) and the Council of the EU (21 October) have voted for different partial suspensions of the EU-level requirement for some EU-based sellers and must now agree one text, so nothing has changed yet. In France it matters even less: Article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Environmental Code requires a French representative from every EPR producer not established in France, with no size threshold, and an EU suspension would not remove that by itself. See how national rules interact with the suspension.

What it costs in France (indicative)

Here is how the cost breaks down — and what is already inside our price:

• The small-company flat route (indicative). If you sell under 10,000 consumer sales units per year, Citeo offers a simplified flat declaration of about €80 per year, with no detailed packaging breakdown required for that declaration. For a tiny exporter this is often the whole official cost — and it sits inside the Pakkausvastuu price.
• Material-based fees (above the flat route). If you're above the flat threshold, your contribution depends on the product family and the material/components you use, adjusted by "eco-modulation" (bonuses/penalties based on recyclability). The current-year Citeo tariff or simulator gives the exact figure for your packaging.
• Pakkausvastuu's price. Our service fee for France is €230 a year (€350 in the first year), plus Citeo's or another approved eco-organisation's actual cost, typically around €190 a year for a small seller — both are always itemised separately on the invoice, at cost. The typical total is about €420 a year (about €540 in the first year). The service fee covers handling Citeo (or another approved eco-organisation) membership, your ADEME IDU, the authorised representative, and the annual declaration and deadline tracking; the eco-organisation's actual charge varies with your packaging volumes and is estimated before you start. Selling into five or more countries takes 10% off the service fee, ten or more takes 15% off — the actual cost doesn't discount.

Fees, thresholds and deadlines for France change yearly. The figures here are indicative — we confirm the current numbers live before you approve anything.

Selling into more markets too? Get a country-by-country quote →

Reporting and deadlines

Reporting is an annual declaration through your eco-organisation. If you qualify for the flat route, that declaration is a simple once-a-year threshold attestation rather than a detailed material report. We keep your IDU, membership contract, tariff version and next deadline in one record.

How Pakkausvastuu handles France for you

Send us your packaging details once. We run the household-vs-professional diagnosis, join you to Citeo (or another approved eco-organisation), get and store your ADEME IDU, appoint your mandataire representative, and file the right declaration — flat or detailed — each year. You get one all-in price a year, with the scheme's and representative's share itemised on the invoice.

France packaging EPR: frequently asked questions

This guide is general information for small exporters, not legal advice. Your exact obligations depend on your packaging and sales — get a quote and we'll confirm them for you.

Get your country-by-country quote

Selling to Germany or the Nordics too? See our Germany and Sweden guides, or send your packaging once and get one clear quote for every country you sell into. Get a country-by-country quote →

Already covered in Finland through Sumi or Rinki? Read what your Finnish PRO covers and what it doesn't once you start exporting.

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