France — CE marking and additional national obligations

CE marking gives you free movement of goods across the EU single market, but each Member State retains national consumer-protection, language, and waste-management powers. France is one of the more demanding jurisdictions on those layers. The Loi Toubon, published at Légifrance, has mandated French in product documentation since 1994. The more recent AGEC law (loi anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire) — Law no. 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 — added circular-economy obligations including the Triman logo and reinforced Extended Producer Responsibility (REP).

Market surveillance is conducted by the DGCCRF — Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes — operating under the French Ministry of the Economy and exercising the powers granted to national market-surveillance authorities by Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Documentation requests, sampling, and corrective-action orders all originate there.

DGCCRF — France's market surveillance authority

The DGCCRF is the primary enforcement body for non-food consumer-product compliance in France. Its agents, working from regional units (DDPP / DDETSPP), execute the inspection, document-request, sampling, and withdrawal powers set out in Articles 14 and 16 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. In practice, a French DGCCRF inspector can:

• Demand the EU Declaration of Conformity, technical file, and supporting test reports within a short deadline (usually 10 to 30 days).
• Take samples for laboratory testing and recover the cost from a non-compliant economic operator.
• Order removal of non-compliant products from the market or import re-export.
• Issue administrative fines and refer serious cases to criminal courts (the "répression des fraudes" half of the agency name).

Where the product is a radio device, the Agence nationale des fréquences (ANFR) shares competence. Workplace equipment under directives like the Machinery Regulation also involves the labour inspectorate (Inspection du travail).

Loi Toubon — French on user documentation

Law no. 94-665 of 4 August 1994, commonly called the Loi Toubon, is published at Légifrance as the loi relative à l'emploi de la langue française. Its operative consumer-product provision is Article 2:

"Dans la désignation, l'offre, la présentation, le mode d'emploi ou d'utilisation, la description de l'étendue et des conditions de garantie d'un bien, d'un produit ou d'un service, ainsi que dans les factures et quittances, l'emploi de la langue française est obligatoire."

In plain terms, every customer-facing string on or around a product sold to a French consumer must exist in French: name, packaging copy, instructions for use, safety warnings, warranty terms, invoices. Foreign-language versions are allowed in parallel, but Article 4 of the same law requires that the French text be at least as legible and intelligible as the others. The 2006 General Electric Medical Systems case (€500,000 fine plus daily penalties) shows the courts will enforce the rule even against B2B distribution of technical documentation. For our broader translation playbook see doc-translation-requirements.

Triman logo and Info-tri — AGEC law

The Triman symbol, a stylised figure surrounded by recycling arrows, became mandatory for all products covered by an REP filière under the AGEC law — Loi n° 2020-105 du 10 février 2020 relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l'économie circulaire. The implementing decree (Decree no. 2021-835 of 29 June 2021, "signalétique commune") specifies that Triman must be accompanied by an "Info-tri" infographic explaining how each component should be sorted (yellow bin, return to store, dedicated container, etc.).

The mark must appear on the product, its packaging, or — by derogation for some items — on accompanying documentation including a downloadable digital version. Importantly, Triman is not a CE mark and does not replace it; the two coexist on the same product.

AGEC, REP filières, and eco-organisme registration

Extended Producer Responsibility (responsabilité élargie du producteur — REP) is codified in the French Environment Code (Code de l'environnement, articles L541-10 and following, as amended by AGEC). The principle: anyone who first places a product on the French market — manufacturer, importer, or distance seller — finances and organises that product's end-of-life management.

AGEC extended REP to several new categories on top of the historical ones. As of 2026 the major filières relevant to hardware producers include:

Producers must register with the appropriate eco-organisme, receive a identifiant unique (UID) issued via ADEME's national register, and display that UID in commercial documents and on certain communications. The UID, not the Triman logo itself, is the proof that you are participating in the filière. For software products with no physical good placed on the market the obligation generally does not apply — but bundled hardware (a USB key, a printed dongle) reactivates it.

Common mistakes

• Treating CE marking as a passport to France. CE is necessary; Toubon, Triman, REP registration, and DGCCRF readiness are additional and independent.
• Translating only the user manual. Article 2 of the Loi Toubon also covers packaging copy, warranty terms, safety warnings, and the Declaration of Conformity excerpt typically reproduced in user-facing material.
• Putting Triman without Info-tri. The 2021 decree mandates the two together; a lone Triman has been found insufficient by DGCCRF in inspections.
• Forgetting REP for embedded batteries. A connected device with a built-in lithium cell drags you into both the EEE and battery filières — two separate eco-organisme registrations.
• Believing your distributor handles UID registration. Under French law, the obligation falls on the first placer on the market. If you are a non-EU manufacturer selling through a distributor, your importer or EC REP — see eu-authorised-representative-ec-rep-guide — typically bears it.

How Cenitia helps

Cenitia's compliance vault models France-specific obligations as first-class items in the technical file: it surfaces the Loi Toubon translation checklist, the Triman + Info-tri artefacts, and the eco-organisme registration evidence alongside the harmonised CE deliverables covered in ce-marking-101. When the DGCCRF requests documentation, you export a single bundle that already maps to French national requirements.

Our regulation watcher monitors AGEC implementing decrees and Code de l'environnement amendments. When a new filière scope is published or a Triman derogation changes, every product file affected is flagged for re-check — so your French market access stays current without re-reading the Journal officiel.

Frequently asked questions

Does CE marking alone let me sell my product in France?

CE marking is necessary but not sufficient. France layers on national obligations: French-language user documentation under the Loi Toubon (Law 94-665 of 4 August 1994), the Triman sorting symbol introduced by the AGEC law (Law 2020-105 of 10 February 2020), REP eco-organisme registration via ADEME for in-scope filières, and market surveillance under DGCCRF.

Which authority enforces CE marking in France?

The Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF), part of the Ministry of the Economy, is France's primary market surveillance authority for non-food consumer products. It uses Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 powers to inspect, sample, and order corrective action or withdrawal.

Must user manuals be translated into French?

Yes. Article 2 of the Loi Toubon (Law 94-665) requires French in product designation, presentation, instructions for use, and warranty conditions whenever the product is supplied to a consumer in France. Multilingual manuals are allowed if the French text is as legible and intelligible as the others.

What is the Triman logo and who must display it?

Triman is the French national sorting symbol introduced by the AGEC law (Loi 2020-105 of 10 February 2020). It must appear on products and packaging covered by an Extended Producer Responsibility filière, together with a 'Info-tri' rules-of-sorting infographic. It applies on the product, packaging, or accompanying documentation.

Do I need to register with an eco-organisme to sell in France?

Yes, if your product falls under one of the REP filières established by the French Environment Code (notably articles L541-10 and following, as amended by the AGEC law). Producers and importers must register with an approved eco-organisme (e.g. ecosystem for EEE), obtain a unique identifier, and finance end-of-life management.

Is DGCCRF the only authority I deal with?

No. DGCCRF leads consumer-product market surveillance, but radio equipment falls under ANFR (Agence nationale des fréquences), workplace equipment under labour inspectorates, and environmental obligations under ADEME and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The relevant authority depends on the product family.

Related from the Library

• ce-marking-101 — the harmonised EU baseline on which French add-ons sit
• doc-translation-requirements — language obligations across EU Member States
• eu-authorised-representative-ec-rep-guide — for non-EU producers placing goods on the French market
• declaration-of-conformity-101 — the DoC the DGCCRF will ask for first
• technical-file-101 — what to assemble before a DGCCRF inspection

Further reading

• DGCCRF official page — Ministry of the Economy, market-surveillance authority
• Loi n° 94-665 du 4 août 1994 (Loi Toubon) — French language obligation
• Loi n° 2020-105 du 10 février 2020 (AGEC) — anti-waste / circular-economy law
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance — basis of DGCCRF enforcement powers
• ADEME — REP filières overview — national agency operating the producer registry
• ANFR — French frequency agency — radio equipment market surveillance

Last reviewed: 5 July 2026. Cited regulations watched continuously by Cenitia — when one amends, this article is flagged for update.