Made in France: an update on regulations and labels

French people are very much in favor of Made in France.

Witness the growing success of MIF Expo Paris. In 2022, this trade show dedicated to French-made brands welcomed 1,015 exhibitors and 100,000 visitors for its tenth anniversary. And the 2023 edition, from November 9 to 12, promises to be just as promising!

According to an Opinionway/Première Vision survey in March 2022, Made in France is synonymous with quality for 82% of French people, and eco-responsibility and ethics for 74%.

However, the French are struggling to find their way through the thicket of existing regulations and labels. According to a Rothelec study, dated September 2023, only 1 in 2 can tell the difference between "Made in France" and "Origine France Garantie" products!

It's therefore important to enlighten them on the subject.

Optional Made in France marking

A textile company "may, without authorization or verification by customs or any other body, itself affix a "Fabriqué en France", "Origine France" or "Made in France marking." It "only" needs to comply with current regulations, based on the customs notion of non-preferential origin." points out Valérie Brochet, Head of the Trade Policy Section at the DGDDI (General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Duties). In concrete terms, the product's last substantial transformation or processing must take place in France. For example, for a T-shirt, this would be the assembly of the various parts (sleeves, back, etc.).

It's the mission of the DGDDI and the DGCCRF (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes) to enforce these marking rules, via controls on national territory.

But upstream, it is also a question of informing companies about the proper use of marking linked to hexagonal manufacturing.

This is the role of the new Service de l'Origine et du Made in France (SOMIF), opened in 2022 in Clermont-Ferrand and competent throughout the country. Its six specialized agents respond to requests for IMF (Information sur le Made in France), a procedure created in 2016 and initially assumed by Ile de France Customs. SOMIF is thus responding to a growing need: between 2017 and 2022, requests for MFI jumped by 254%. That's 740 MFIs by 2022.

Valérie Brochet (DGDDI) sees in this "the desire of companies to promote their French manufacturing to customers, while needing to be supported by customs. The MFI enables them to secure the affixing of the marking, as regulations can be complex to grasp".

She points out that the MFI, "simple free advice", differs from "a label" which "is a paid certification process, in return for compliance with its specifications."

The reference labels

The best-known labels -Origine France Garantie and France Terre Textile- were both born in 2011. But they do not impose the same constraints.

For Origine France Garantie, promoted by the Pro France association, the product must take its essential characteristics in France, where at least 50% of its unit cost price must be acquired. The label, awarded by independent experts, is subject to in-depth study and annual controls. Of the 600 companies (all categories included) certified by 2023, 64 are in the textile sector.

The France Terre Textile (FTT) label, for its part, has obviously emerged in the...textile ecosystem. To qualify, companies must guarantee that at least 75% of their products' manufacturing steps are carried out in France, with a high level of quality (confirmed by tests) and respect for the environment. Approved companies are audited every three years, and are subject to annual controls.

"Our label continues to develop in France, explains Paul de Montclos, President of FTT and CEO of Garnier-Thiebaut. Including with regional labels. After the Sud Terre Textile label, finalized 9 months ago, we're in the process of labeling the West, the last region that wasn't yet. And where smes, making in France, had rather turned to Made in France, which values only the last working, France Terre Textile, on the other hand, takes into account the entire chain".

FTT today brings together 160 approved companies, "their number having roughly doubled since Covid". And this with a variety of profiles (weavers, finishers, garment, household linen and home textile manufacturers...), representative of the entire industry. Labeled products, meanwhile, number in the "tens, even hundreds of millions", a quantity also "doubled since the pandemic".

Paul de Montclos links this increase in the label "to the growing success of Made in France ", but above all "to the challenge of traceability", which has risen to prominence notably with the Agec law. "Our label enables the latter at every stage of the chain, from spinning to garment making, including knitting and weaving. "

@Paul de Monclos, President of FTT and CEO of Garnier-Thiebaut

Haro on francolavage!

But the existence of serious labels isn't enough to "clean up" the landscape. Since 2015, Fimif (Fédération Indépendante du Made in France) has been fighting against "francolavage". The association tracks down and reports to the DGCCRF brands using misleading signs evoking France (red white blue flags, Eiffel Tower...) on the packaging of imported products. By the end of 2021, Fimif estimated that French industry (all goods combined) would lose 4.5 billion euros and 50,000 jobs as a result of these practices. And French fashion and textiles are not the last to suffer!

No doubt: improving consumer information on Made in France is a crucial mission for our industry.