G/TBT/N/FRA/230  
27 October  2023 
(23-7267) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  French  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.  
 
1. Notifying Member : FRANCE  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  
Ministères économiques et financiers  (economic and finance ministries)  
Direction générale des entreprises/SCIDE/PNRP  (Directorate -General for 
Enterprise/SCIDE/PNRP)  
Bât. Sieyès -Teledoc 143  
61, Bd Vincent Auriol  
75703 PARIS Cedex 13  
d9834.france@finances.gouv.fr  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments  
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:  
Ministère de la transition écologique et de la cohésion des territoires  (Ministry for the 
Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion)  
Commissariat au développement durable  (Commiss ion for Sustainable Development)  
Service de l'économie verte et solidaire  (Solidarity and Green Economy Service)  
Tour Séquoia  
92055 Paris -La Défense Cedex  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], 3.2 [ ], 7.2 [ ], 
other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading . ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable) : Household 
washing machines  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document : Arrêté relatif 
aux critères, aux sous critères et au système de notation pour le calcul et l'affichage de 
l'indice de durabilité des lave -linges ménagers (Order regarding the criteria, sub -criteria 
and scoring system for calculating and displaying the sustainabil ity index of household 
washing machines) (6 pages, in French)  
6. Description of content : The sustainability index consists of a score out of 10 intended 
to be displayed at the time of purchase to inform consumers of the longevity of electrical 
and electro nic products . The purpose of this index is to replace the French repairability 
index and take into account the criteria of product reliability and scalability.  
In particular, reliability  includes criteria related to the robustness of products and their 
maintenance and upkeep . This Decree applies to all electrical and electronic equipment 
subject to calculation and display of the sustainability index.  G/TBT/N/FRA/230  
- 2 - 
  This Order applies to household washin g machines . It specifies the criteria, sub -criteria 
and scoring system applicable to household washing machines to calculate the 
sustainability index by model.  
Producers, importers or other parties placing electrical and electronic equipment, 
including hou sehold washing machines, on the market shall be required to calculate the 
index for the categories of products concerned and to make this information available.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable : Directiv e (EU) 2018/851 on waste encourages Member States to take 
appropriate measures to prevent waste generation . In addition, one of the objectives of 
the European action plan for the circular economy (COM (2020) 98) is to improve the 
durability and repairabili ty of products . Under Law No. 2020-105 of 1 0 February 2 020 on 
combating waste and on the circular economy, and following the establishment of a 
European repairability index for smartphones and tablets, France would like to gradually 
replace all repairabili ty indices with sustainability indices starting from 1 January 2 024. 
The first product categories affected are smartphones, televisions and household washing 
machines.  
As with the repairability index, the texts concerning the sustainability index provide not 
for the labelling of product units but for electronic labels displayed by vendors in -store or 
online.  
By taking into account the criteria of reliability and scalability, the sustainability index 
aims to encourage consumers to make products last  by opting for more robust products, 
caring for them better and repairing them when they break or stop working . Thus, the 
sustainability index complements the European repairability index in terms of consumer 
information geared towards extending product li fe cycles . This is a major objective that 
seeks to reduce environmental impacts and preserve the planet's resources, since most 
of the environmental footprint of electrical and electronic products is attributable to their 
manufacture.  
This measure also see ks to encourage manufacturers to integrate sustainability criteria 
from the outset of product design, thus tending towards products that are more 
environmentally friendly because they are "eco -designed".  
From an environmental standpoint, this measure will allow France to pursue its national 
objective of reducing the resource consumption linked to French consumption : to reduce 
resource consumption relative to GDP by 30% compared to 2010, by 2030 (Law No 2015 -
992). More durable products will effectively lead to a reduction in resource consumption 
(reduction in the need for new products), a reduction in the quantity of waste electrical 
and electronic products and a lower environmental impact (such as greenhouse gas 
emissions) associated with their manufacture a nd end of life.  
Environmental protection  
8. Relevant documents:  
Law No. 2020-105 of 1 0 February 2 020 on combating waste and on the circular economy 
(Article 16)  
9. Proposed date of adoption : To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force : To be determined, 12 months after the publication 
of the text  
10. Final date for comments : 60 days from the date of notification  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if avai lable, of other body:  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2023/TBT/FRA/23_13198_00_f.pdf