EU: Controversies about the French TRIMAN logo

 

The EU Commission is considering legal measures against the recent French TRIMAN logo.

The European Commission has urged France to ensure its waste sorting labeling requirements align with the EU’s principle of free movement of goods. Recently, the Commission issued a reasoned opinion to France (INFR(2022)4028), highlighting that the country’s labeling rules for waste sorting instructions may conflict with Articles 34-36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Currently, household products under France’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme must feature the ‘Triman logo,’ which signals that the product is subject to sorting rules, and the ‘infotri,’ which provides specific sorting instructions. At present, there are no harmonized EU rules on waste sorting instructions, although future regulations under the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will soon address this.

Until EU-wide regulations are in place, the Commission maintains that national labeling requirements should not impose unnecessary barriers to internal market trade. Industry stakeholders frequently identify national labeling requirements as a significant hindrance to market integration, impeding the free movement of goods within the EU.

The Commission’s goal is to eliminate obstacles that limit European companies’ access to the internal market and restrict growth. It contends that France has not sufficiently demonstrated the proportionality of its labeling policy, especially given the existence of less restrictive alternatives.

Moreover, the Commission notes that France failed to meet its notification obligations under the Single Market Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/1535), as the labeling law was not communicated to the Commission before its adoption. France now has two months to respond to the reasoned opinion and take corrective action, or the Commission may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

To find out more about product compliance in the EU, please contact the Product Compliance Institute directly.