On 10 July 2026, a new obligation quietly came into force in France that affects almost every company selling into the French market from abroad — whether from Spain, Germany, the UK, the US or China. If your business is not established in France and you place products on the French market, you must now appoint a mandataire: a representative established in France, designated by written mandate, who takes over your Extended Producer Responsibility (REP) obligations.
Most affected sellers have never heard of it. The rule arrived inside France's anti-fast-fashion law and received almost no coverage outside French legal circles. This guide explains what changed, who is affected, why marketplaces will enforce it long before any inspector does, and — because the market of providers is younger and thinner than it looks — how to choose a mandataire without creating a new risk for yourself.
What exactly changed on 10 July 2026
Law n° 2026-602 of 8 July 2026 — the law targeting fast-fashion, via its Article 5 — created a new Article L. 541-10-9-1 in the French Environmental Code. It states that every producer not established in France, whether based in another EU country or outside the EU, must designate by written mandate a representative established in France. That mandataire is "subrogated" in the producer's REP obligations — registration, declarations, eco-contributions.
The obligation is horizontal: it applies across France's ~19 REP filières (product streams) — not just packaging, but electronics, batteries, furniture, textiles, toys, sports equipment, DIY products and more. If you sell a cotton tote bag with a battery gadget inside a cardboard box, you may be touching four filières at once.
This is France's second attempt at the rule, and that history matters. A 2020 decree (R. 541-174) tried to introduce the same mechanism and was annulled by the Conseil d'État on 10 November 2023 (decision n° 449213) because it lacked a legislative basis. The 2026 law supplies that basis — and turns what used to be an option into an obligation. In other words: this time it is designed to stick.
Who is affected
Under French REP law, the obligated "producer" is whoever places the product on the French market. For distance selling, that is explicit: a seller shipping from abroad directly to French households is the producer. Your company's nationality is irrelevant; what matters is that you are not established in France.
- EU-based D2C brands shipping to French consumers from Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands… — affected.
- Non-EU sellers (UK, US, China) shipping to France — affected.
- Marketplace sellers on Amazon.fr, Cdiscount, ManoMano or Fnac without a French entity — affected, with one nuance below.
- Companies with a French subsidiary or establishment — not affected by this rule; the French entity is the producer.
There is one exception written into the law: the obligation is deemed satisfied when a person established in France already ensures compliance with your REP obligations. In practice that mainly covers cases where a marketplace itself takes on the obligations for your sales through it. If part of your French revenue is direct (your own webshop), the exception does not cover that part.
Why you cannot quietly ignore this
The honest answer to "what happens if I do nothing?" is not primarily "a fine" — although the fine exists (administrative penalties up to €30,000 per missing unique identifier, per filière). The real enforcement mechanism is your sales channel.
Article L. 541-10-9 of the same code makes marketplaces co-responsible: platforms must verify that every third-party seller has a valid IDU (identifiant unique — the registration number issued via ADEME's SYDEREP system) for the relevant filières. If the seller doesn't, the platform itself becomes the producer — and platforms respond to that kind of liability the way they always do: by blocking listings. Amazon already enforces German LUCID numbers this way; French IDU checks follow the same playbook.
And here is the scale of the exposure: our analysis of ADEME's public producer register found roughly 69% of producer registrations belong to companies not domiciled in France. The rule is aimed squarely at cross-border e-commerce.
What a mandataire actually is (and is not)
A mandataire is a person or company established in France that you appoint by written mandate. Once appointed, the mandataire is subrogated in your REP obligations: it registers you, files your declarations with each eco-organisme, and pays the eco-contributions on your behalf (with your money).
Three points that providers rarely explain:
- Legally, the mandate is one. The law does not require one mandataire per filière. When a provider quotes you per-filière pricing, that is their commercial packaging of the service, not a legal requirement.
- "Subrogated" does not clearly mean "you are off the hook." The law says the mandataire takes over the obligations; it does not say the producer is released from them. There is no implementing decree and no case law yet — the rule is weeks old. Treat any provider who promises "full transfer of liability" with caution: that question is genuinely unresolved.
- A mandataire is not the same as a facilitator. ADEME explicitly distinguishes the mandataire (holds the mandate, assumes the obligations, has the SYDEREP account) from a facilitateur (helps with the formalities but assumes no responsibility). Software and consultants — Pack Declare included — are facilitators. A facilitator alone does not satisfy Article L. 541-10-9-1 for a non-established producer.
The provider market is thinner than Google makes it look
When we mapped the market in August 2026, two findings stood out.
First, among the established international EPR compliance operators, genuine French mandate coverage is rare: of twelve international providers we investigated, only one offered a French mandate at all — and only for electronics and batteries. Even one of Europe's reference EPR operators subcontracts the French mandataire layer to a third party. Subcontracting is the norm in this market, not the exception.
Second, the top French-language search results for "mandataire REP" are dominated by companies created after the law passed — some registered weeks ago, with no employees, minimal share capital, or business registry codes that have nothing to do with compliance. All of them offer to assume your legal REP responsibility. There is no official register of mandataires (ADEME does not publish one), so nothing stops anyone from making that offer.
Why solvency matters so much: eco-organisme mandate contracts address it explicitly. Refashion's model contract for textiles, for example, requires in its Article 7 that the mandataire be solvent — and if it is not, the eco-organisme can come back to you, the producer, for joint liability. Appointing a shell company does not make your risk go away; it adds a counterparty risk on top.
A quick due-diligence checklist
- How long has the company existed? (Check the INSEE/SIRENE registry — it is public and free.)
- Does it have employees and real share capital?
- Is its registered business activity actually compliance-related?
- Which eco-organismes does it already work with, and can it name reference clients per filière?
- Does it explain the liability question honestly, or promise a "full transfer" the law does not clearly provide?
Where the PPWR fits in
Separately from French law, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies since 12 August 2026. Its Article 45 requires an authorised representative for EPR in every Member State where you sell packaged products without being established — the PPWR's producer definition works much like the French one. A Commission proposal (COM/2025/982) would suspend that requirement for EU-established producers until 2035, but it has not been adopted — and even if it is, it would not touch the French mandataire rule, which is national law and makes no distinction between EU and non-EU sellers. Do not let headlines about the PPWR suspension convince you the French obligation went away. It did not.
What to do this month
- Establish whether you are affected. No French establishment + products reaching French households = affected. Our free obligations check maps your exposure country by country in a few minutes.
- Map your filières. Packaging is just one. Textiles (Refashion), electronics (ecosystem, Ecologic), batteries, toys, furniture, sport & leisure… each filière means its own eco-organisme, its own IDU and its own declaration. This is usually the step where sellers discover they have three or four obligations, not one.
- Check your existing registrations. If you already hold an IDU for packaging via CITEO, that filière's registration exists — but the mandataire requirement still applies to you as a non-established producer, and other filières may be entirely uncovered.
- Choose a mandataire with the checklist above and put the mandate in writing, defining which filières it covers.
- Keep your declaration data ready. Whoever files for you will need per-filière figures — packaging weights by material, product units by category. That is the part a mandataire does not do for you: they file numbers, they do not build them.
How Pack Declare helps
Pack Declare is the facilitator layer: we compute the numbers each French eco-organisme expects — from your real Shopify, WooCommerce or Amazon sales data — and keep your registrations and deadlines in one place. Our French coverage now spans multiple filières (packaging, textiles, electronics, batteries, toys), with official 2026 tariffs where published. We are not a mandataire and will not pretend the software alone satisfies Article L. 541-10-9-1 — but we make the mandataire's work auditable and your costs predictable, and we tell you exactly which filières you need to cover before you sign anything.
Check your French (and EU-wide) obligations free →
Frequently asked questions
When did the French mandataire obligation come into force?
On 10 July 2026. Law n° 2026-602 of 8 July 2026 created Article L. 541-10-9-1 of the French Environmental Code, requiring every producer not established in France to designate a representative established in France by written mandate. It replaces a 2020 decree the Conseil d’État annulled in November 2023 for lacking a legislative basis.
Do I need a French mandataire if my company is based in the EU?
Yes. The law makes no distinction between EU and non-EU producers — what matters is whether you are established in France. A Spanish, German or Dutch brand shipping directly to French households is the producer under French REP law and needs a mandataire. Only a French subsidiary or establishment removes the requirement.
Does the obligation cover all French REP filières or only packaging?
All of them. The obligation is horizontal across France’s roughly 19 REP filières — packaging, textiles, electricals, batteries, furniture, toys, sports equipment, DIY and more. A single shipment can touch several at once, and each filière carries its own IDU registration and its own eco-organisme.
Does my marketplace act as my mandataire?
Not automatically. The law deems the obligation satisfied where a person established in France already ensures compliance, which mainly covers sales a marketplace takes the obligations for. It does not cover your direct webshop sales. Marketplaces are separately required to verify every third-party seller holds a valid IDU.
What happens if I do not appoint a mandataire?
Administrative penalties reach €30,000 per missing unique identifier, per filière. The more immediate risk is commercial: Article L. 541-10-9 makes marketplaces co-responsible for checking seller IDUs, and a platform that would otherwise become the producer itself responds by blocking listings.
Does appointing a mandataire release me from liability?
That question is genuinely unresolved. The law says the mandataire is subrogated in the producer’s obligations, but it does not say the producer is released from them, and there is no implementing decree or case law yet. Treat any provider promising a full transfer of liability with caution.
Do I need a separate mandataire for each filière?
No. Legally the mandate is one — the law does not require a mandataire per filière. Its scope is whatever the mandate you sign covers, so define the filières explicitly in writing. Per-filière pricing is a provider’s commercial packaging, not a legal requirement.
Is compliance software a mandataire?
No. ADEME distinguishes a mandataire — which holds the mandate, assumes the REP obligations and has the SYDEREP account — from a facilitateur, which helps with formalities but assumes no responsibility. Software and consultants, Pack Declare included, are facilitators. You still need a mandataire established in France.
Related reading: CITEO and French EPR for online sellers · Are you a "producer" under the PPWR? · EPR for marketplace sellers