Packages to France: the Triman logo, sorting instructions and your registration
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
If you supply directly to French consumers, you are placing packaging on the French market. This requires the Triman logo, sorting instructions, and registration.
You receive your first order from Lyon. The address is correct, payment is correct, the box is ready. What you probably don't know at that moment: by sending that package, you are placing packaging on the French market, and this comes with obligations that have nothing to do with customs or VAT.
France has extensive producer responsibility for packaging, with two visible consequences: a logo with sorting instructions on the packaging, and registration plus an annual declaration. For Dutch webshops that deliver directly to French consumers, this also applies in principle. Below are the main points — with the caveat that this is a summary and not legal advice: always check your own situation with the official source or with an advisor.
Why you are suddenly a "producer"
In the French system, the party responsible is the one who first places a product on the French market. For distance selling from abroad, this is not the French consumer, nor is it the carrier, but the seller themselves. So, if you sell directly to individuals in France, you fall into that role — even if you only send a few packages a month.
The basis is in the French Code de l'environnement, including Article L541-9-3 on sorting information. The legal texts can be found at legifrance.gouv.fr.
The Triman logo and sorting instructions
The Triman is a small black figure with three arrows that indicates that a product or packaging falls under a sorting scheme. It is rarely alone: next to it should be the info-tri, a short instruction that tells the consumer which part belongs where — the box with paper, the film with plastic, and so on.
Three things you need to know about this:
On the packaging, not just on your website. In the past, the information could also be displayed digitally. For the current rules, the marking must be on or with the product: on the packaging itself, on the label, or in the enclosed documentation.
In French. The sorting instruction is intended for the French consumer and is therefore in French, possibly supplemented with symbols.
With an end date that has already passed. For household packaging, the transition period ended on March 9, 2023. Packaging without the required marking may no longer be placed on the market as new since then.
There are penalties for the absence of the marking; the amount of these is laid down in the same Code de l'environnement. More important than the fine is usually the practical risk: a French business customer or a platform may ask for proof of compliance before doing business with you.
Registering, declaring, and your unique number
In addition to the marking, there is the administrative side. In broad terms, this comes down to three steps:
Joining an eco-organization. For packaging, these include Citeo, Adelphe, and Leko. They collect contributions and organize collection and processing. They publish their own rates and conditions; see for example citeo.com.
Applying for a unique identification number. After joining, a identifiant unique is issued via ADEME — a number that starts with FR. Marketplaces and business partners practically ask for this. Information about the register can be found at ademe.fr.
Annual declaration. You declare how much packaging material you have placed on the French market, broken down by material type and weight. You pay a contribution for this.
That last step is the reason to start keeping track now. Anyone who only realizes in the spring that they have to declare will have to reconstruct an entire year's shipments.
What this means for your box and your administration
The practical side is less complicated than the regulations suggest. You need three things: to know what you are sending, to know how much it weighs, and to get the correct information on the packaging.
Consciously choose between a box and an envelope. A bubble wrap envelope of 33 x 23 cm costs €0.80 and a metallic bubble wrap envelope of 22 x 17 cm €0.90. They are light, but they are composite packages: paper plus film. Cardboard with loose filling material is often easier for the recipient to separate — and therefore easier to explain in your sorting instructions.
Ask your supplier what's already on it. Some packaging comes already marked, others don't. If you're unsure, ask before ordering a large bundle for the French market.
A workable approach for the coming months
You don't have to solve this in one afternoon, but autumn is a logical time to start — before the busy months, not during them.
Look at your orders to see how many shipments went to France. Zero? Then this is preparation, not a problem.
Weigh your standard packaging and record the weights in the same file where you track your shipments.
Limit the number of packaging variants. Each additional size is an extra line in your declaration.
Review the current requirements with an eco-organization and on official French sites, and record when you did so.
And keep monitoring it: European and French packaging rules have been adjusted multiple times in recent years. What is correct today may be different next year — refer to official sources and not a blog, not even this one.
Ready for your first French package
First standardize your packaging, then arrange your registration: in that order, the work remains manageable. The sizes you need can be found in Letterbox Packaging, Boxes, Envelopes, Protection & Filling Material, and Tape. Do you want to know which bundles best fit a fixed package size, or do you have questions about delivery in larger quantities? Email info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we are happy to calculate with you.
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