The producer is whoever, acting professionally, first places the product on the French market — the test in article L. 541-10 of the Environmental Code, which ADEME states plainly: „est considéré comme producteur toute personne qui, à titre professionnel, met pour la première fois un produit sur le marché français". It is not decided by who owns the pallet, who pays the freight, or which Incoterm sits on the invoice. Sell to a French importer or distributor who resells, and that company is the producer. Ship directly to the French business that uses the goods, and you are — and if you have no French establishment you need a representative under article L. 541-10-9-1.Sources (2)
ADEMEADEME — which producers the EPR schemes cover
LégifranceLégifrance — Code de l'environnement
The test is one sentence
ADEME puts the whole rule in a line: the producer is any person who, acting professionally, first places a product on the French market, whether it is meant for households or for businesses. The same test governs household packaging, professional packaging and every other stream. What changes between streams is which packaging is caught, not who counts as the producer.
ADEME then gives the usual shapes it takes: the manufacturer when it designs and makes the product in France; the importer when it brings a foreign-made product onto the French market; the distributor or donneur d'ordre when it sells under its own brand.
How it lands, case by case
| Situation | Producer for EPRO | Representative needed? |
|---|---|---|
| You ship palletised goods from abroad directly to a French factory, hotel or workshop that uses them | You — you are first on the French market | Yes, if you have no French establishment |
| You sell to a French importer or wholesaler who resells to French businesses | The French buyer — it opens the French market | No, for that channel |
| You sell under your own brand through a French distributor who imports for you | Depends on who is first on the market and whose brand it carries — check the contract | Ask before assuming |
| Your French subsidiary imports and sells | The subsidiary — it is established in France | No; the subsidiary registers directly |
| A marketplace sells your goods to French businesses | You, unless the marketplace has taken on the obligations | Yes, unless the marketplace covers that channel |
Three things that do not decide it
- Incoterms. DDP, DAP, EXW and the rest allocate cost and risk between buyer and seller. They are contractual and they do not move a statutory duty. What matters is who first places the goods on the French market, which is a question of fact about the supply chain, not of what the invoice says.
- Who owns the pallet. Ownership of the packaging is a different question from who placed the packaged product on the market. It matters for pooled pallets — see below — but it is not the producer test.
- Where the stock sits. Goods held in a French warehouse do not make the warehouse operator the producer, and holding stock in France is not by itself what makes you established there.
Pooled pallets are the real exception
If your professional packaging is pooled pallets circulating in an approved individual system, the obligation may already be carried there. ADEME lists three approved for this scheme — Euro Pool System France, La Palette Rouge and International Pallet Pool BV. All three are pallet poolers, which is precisely the case the route exists for. Worth checking before you pay for the same pallets twice; it does not help with your own cartons, film or straps.
Both sides of the same shipment
One delivery can put you in two streams at once. Send a pallet of packaged goods to a French business and the pallet, the straps and the stretch film are professional packaging; if some of those same goods also go to consumers as online orders, that shipping packaging is household packaging instead. Which one applies is decided by the arrêté of 2 December 2025 — see household or professional packaging.
If it is you
Then the sequence is the one in what to do before 1 January 2027: mandate first if you are not established in France, then eco-organisme membership — ADEME asks for it before 31 December 2026 — then the IDU, then declarations. The streams page shows which other streams the same goods may trigger, and the calculator estimates the contribution.
Frequently asked questions
We sell DDP. Does that make us the producer?
Not by itself. DDP means you carry the cost and risk of delivery including duties; it does not decide who first places the goods on the French market. If you deliver DDP to a French distributor who then resells, that distributor is still the one opening the French market. If you deliver DDP to the business that uses the goods, you are first on the market and the duty is yours.
Our French customer is the importer of record. Are we off the hook?
Usually yes for that channel, because the importer is first on the French market and takes producer status with it. It depends on the facts rather than the label: if you sell under your own brand and the customer imports on your instruction, ask us before assuming. Get it in writing either way.
Do we need a separate representative for EPRO?
No. A producer may hold one mandate covering every stream it is caught by. If you already have a French representative for household packaging, professional packaging can be added to the same mandate.
We only send a few pallets a year. Is there a threshold?
Article L. 541-10-9-1 sets no minimum volume, turnover or company size for the representative duty. Eco-organismes publish simplified small-producer regimes that reduce what you contribute, but they do not change whether you are caught.
Sources
- ADEME — which producers the EPR schemes cover
- Légifrance — Code de l'environnement
- Légifrance — article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Environmental Code (full text)
- ADEME — professional packaging (EPRO) scheme page
- ADEME — household or professional packaging: how to tell
Founder of EPR France Rep, the France-based EPR authorised representative for companies selling into France.
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