In France, EPR includes 7 categories: packaging, electrical appliances, electronic equipment, batteries, furniture, tires, paper and textiles.
According to relevant regulations, sellers only need to register the goods they sell in France. The registration of each category is carried out through different recycling agencies. Finally, EPR is issued by the French public environmental protection organization ADEME public Environment Agency.
Because the goods all contain packaging, every product sold in France needs to register EPR for packaging law.
For example, the packaging EPR registered in France, the validity period of EPR is 1~2 weeks. Since the system of the French public environmental protection agency ADEME is being replaced, the EPR registered EPR will first get the registration certificate of the recycling company.
After obtaining the seller who must upload the EPR number stipulated by Amazon, the registration certificate can be issued in the background of Amazon. After January next year, the French public environmental protection organization ADEME officially issued the EPR certificate.
According to European habits, registration is processed in the order of submission, and the speed of receiving the EPR certificate also depends on how busy ADEME is.
Therefore, it is recommended that sellers must be prepared in advance and not wait until the last minute. If the service agent says that they have a good relationship with the French officials and can give the seller a certificate in advance, this is mostly unreliable.
In fact, each Amazon regulation is subject to local government laws and regulations. France’s Regulation No. 2020105 stipulates that in accordance with the polluter pays principle and from the perspective of preventing waste and environmental protection, a framework for extended producer responsibility EPR has been established. The EPR department of the French public environmental protection agency ADEME is responsible for the detection and implementation of this regulation to ensure that local recycling services are provided to users.
According to Article L541-9-5 of the Environmental Protection Law, the penalties for the seven categories of EPR in France are the same. The maximum fines for manufacturers for EPR non-compliance are as follows:
For natural persons who do not comply with the regulations, the fine is 1,500 euros per ton or fine per ton, and for companies that do not comply with the regulations, the fine is 7,500 euros. This fine can also be increased by daily administrative fines and can be traced back to previous sales in France. The recycling costs of up to 20,000 euros.
If the registered EPR starts at the effective date, the seller’s protected recycled products will take effect at the time of registration. If the seller has sold them before, no one is currently inspecting them, but it does not mean that they will not be inspected by the French public environmental protection agency in the future. To comply with the EPR, producers can voluntarily report back three years of sales.
The above is the editor’s summary of the application of the French EPR and the relevant content of non-compliance penalties. I hope it will be helpful to you.