G/TBT/N/FRA/165  
4 September 2015  
(15-4526)  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 governme nt involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  
Name and address (including telephon e 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:  
Délégué interministériel aux normes - SQUALPI 
DiGITIP 5 - bâtiment le Bervil 
12 rue de Vaugirard 75572 Paris Cedex 12 
Tel.: +33 1 53 44 98 24 
Email: josiane.portou-dupin@finances.gouv.fr /d9834.france@finances.gouv.fr  
Ministère de l'écologie, du développement durable, des transports et du 
logement 
Direction générale de la prévention des risques Service de la prévention des nuisances et de la qualité de l'environnement Bureau de la qualité écologique des produits 
Grande Arche - paroi nord 
92055 La Défense Cedex Email: caroline.henry@developpement-durable.gouv.fr /nadia.herbelot@developpement-
durable.gouv.fr   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2. 10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ],  5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided  in addition where applicable): Household 
chemical products liable to represent a significant health and environmental risk, including within the limits of the sector of extended prod ucer responsibility in respect of the specific 
diffuse waste defined in the Order of 12 August 2012. This Order established the list of 
chemical products liable to present a significant health and environmental risk, as set forth 
in points I and III of Article R. 543-228 of the French Environmental Code, and the criteria provided for in paragraph 1 of point II of the same Article.  
5. Title, number of pages and lang uage(s) of the notified document: Décret relatif à la 
signalétique appropriée informant l'utilisateur des produits chimiques ménagers pouvant 
présenter un risque significatif pour la santé et l'environnement qui relèvent d'une 
consigne de tri  (Decree relating to the appropriate markings informing users of household 
chemical products liable to represent a signif icant health and environmental risk and which 
are subject to sorting instructions) (4 pages, in French) G/TBT/N/FRA/165 
- 2 - 
  6. Description of content: The sector of extended producer responsibility in respect of 
specific household diffuse waste (used tins of paint, solvents, plant protection products, 
etc.) has been operational since April 2013. Article L. 541-10-4 of the French 
Environmental Code provides for the implemen tation of a set of symbols informing users 
that this waste is subject to specific waste sorting instructions and must not be thrown away together with household waste. 
Thus, any party placing chemical products on the market which are liable to represent a 
significant health and environmental risk sha ll inform users, by means of a common set of 
symbols, that these products are subject to specific waste sorting instructions and must 
not be collected together with general municipa l waste. This set of symbols shall include, 
as a minimum, a crossed-out waste bin symbol (see below), and must appear on the product or, failing this, on the packaging, in the instructions for use or in any other 
medium, including electronic media. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: In contrast to the 'Triman' logo that must be placed on recyclable products, 
the crossed-out waste bin symbol must be pl aced on chemical products representing a 
significant health and environmental risk, in order to inform users of these products that 
they require specific treatment due to thei r nature (most often hazardous products) and 
must therefore be deposited in the dedicate d skips at approved waste disposal sites. 
Furthermore, the purpose of this symbol is very different to that of symbols associated 
with the CLP regulation for hazardous products . On the one hand, products affected by the 
REP DDS sector are not exclusively hazardous products (in the interests of global 
consistency in the sector to facilitate recycling by citizens); on the other hand, the CLP regulations aim to give users information on the hazardousness of the product itself, while 
the crossed-out waste bin is intended to prov ide them with information about the end of 
life of the product and particularly the way in which it should be recycled when the time comes to dispose of it. 
8. Relevant documents: Article L. 541-10-4 of the French Environmental Code provides 
that chemical products liable to represent a significant health and environmental risk must 
bear an appropriate set of symbols in order to prevent users from having these products 
collected together with general municipal waste, and that the procedures for applying this Article shall be established by Decree.  
9. Proposed date of adoption: 1 January 2017 
Proposed date of entry into force: - 
10. Final date for comments: 60 days from the date of notification. 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresse s, if available, of other body:  
Ministère de l'écologie, du développement durable, des transports et du 
logement Direction générale de la prévention des risques Service de la prévention des nuisances et de la qualité de l'environnement 
Bureau de la qualité écologique des produits 
Grande Arche - paroi nord 92055 La Défense Cedex 
Email: caroline.henry@developpement-durable.gouv.fr /nadia.herbelot@developpement-
durable.gouv.fr  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachme nts/2015/TBT/FRA/15_3488_00_f.pdf