E-commerce + Agec law: what's in it for you?

If you are an e-merchant with a turnover of more than 50 million euros per year and who puts his products (at least 25,000 products per year) on the French market, then you are concerned by the implementation of this law that will come into force from January 1, 2023, soon. However, don't worry: we explain you all the content of this law and how to comply quickly.

What is the Agec law and what does it imply?

In a concern of transparency and better communication towards consumers, the Agec law wants to be an obligation to inform the consumer on certain environmental characteristics of the purchased products. It also aims to fight against waste, better production, and extend the extended responsibility of the producer. This information must be given in the form of a dematerialized product sheet accessible at the time of purchase. This whole approach is part of a more global framework: nowadays, any company that markets a product can no longer ignore its end of life, for which it is responsible.

Which actors are concerned and for which types of goods?

• Textiles, household linen and shoes,
• Electrical and electronic equipment,
• Household, industrial and commercial packaging,
• The papers,
• Furnishing elements,
• Toys,
• Sports and leisure items.

Beware, if your annual turnover is less than 50 million euros, you will only be caught in the net until January 1, 2024, when this law will apply to all companies, regardless of their turnover.

What do you need to communicate to buyers?

Everything is detailed in the official decree of this law.

However, the information and the manner in which it is to be displayed differs according to the sectors concerned:

• For electronic equipment: the presence of precious metals and rare earths must be displayed as follows: "Contains X milligrams of silver", for example.
• For garments: the geographical indication of the country where certain manufacturing stages take place, such as weaving or making up, must be indicated in the form of a mention.

All products that are subject to a dematerialized product sheet, and the information that must be mentioned, are displayed here.

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What are the consequences of not complying with the law?

If a company does not comply with the basics of the Agec law then this is interpreted as a misleading commercial practice, punishable by a fine of 3,000 euros for a natural person and 15,000 euros for a legal person.

In addition, the penalty can also be increased to 10% of the annual turnover or 50% of the advertising expenses incurred, according to the Consumer Code. Finally, the rate can be brought up to 80% of the advertising expenses incurred if the so-called misleading claims concern the environmental impact of the good or service offered for sale.

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How will PIM help you achieve compliance?

Good news, all the functionalities allowing you to comply with this new law are already included in PIM! If you are already equipped with PIM Quable, you can proceed with this compliance in a completely autonomous way; by adding fields (or attributes), by enriching the information en masse, by piloting them (thanks to completions, tags and validation processes) and by distributing them on your usual channels.

To put it simply, PIM is the ideal tool for you to fill in this new mandatory information and to distribute it in the way you want (Portal, PDF...), so that the availability of the information is guaranteed.

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For your distributors, retailers and marketplaces, nothing could be simpler: you will be able to respond easily and quickly to their requests by providing them with the relevant information in any format.

The notion of consumer information will be strengthened over time (from January 2024, the reparability index will have to be added, for example). Here again, the flexibility of PIM is the right answer, as it can evolve.

Conclusion

The entry into force of this law is part of a real turning point concerning recycling, reuse, responsible consumption and the fight against waste for a more sustainable economy. It is also a real turning point on your side, on the e-trade side, to put you in the standards in case of the least control.

Even if PIM knows perfectly well how to respond to these new requirements of transparency and communication with your current and future consumers, whether they are online or in your physical points of sale, we advise you to get in touch with your legal department concerning this Agec law.

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Do you want to comply with the Agec law?

Request your free demo.

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Also, find the infographic Loi Agec, which summarizes everything you need to know about this new law and how to best prepare for it: