French environmental cost label for clothing: what changed on 1 October 2026

Since 1 October 2025, a brand has been able to display the environmental cost (coût environnemental in French) of its clothing: a figure expressed in impact points, calculated under a public methodology, for the clothing textile products defined by ministerial order. Decree No. 2025-957 of 6 September 2025 sets out who may calculate it, how, and what must be published before the figure can be communicated.

Two of its articles protected brands until 1 October 2026. Those 2 protections ended on that date, but labelling has not become mandatory.

1From 1 October 2026, labelling stays voluntary but brands have less control over publication

Labelling does not become mandatory for anyone on 1 October 2026. The French scheme is based on voluntary participation: Article D. 541-243 of the French Environmental Code applies to anyone who voluntarily informs consumers of the environmental cost of their products.

What changes is how much control a brand keeps over this information. Until 1 October 2026, a company that did not want to label its products could publish nothing, and under the decree nobody could publish an environmental cost in its place: that protection has ended.

2A third party can publish your environmental cost without your consent

Article D. 541-244 opens the calculation to everyone, subject to conditions: any legal entity or individual may calculate and communicate the environmental cost of a textile product reference, based on available data or on data estimated from available data, provided that they meet all the conditions set out in Article D. 541-243.

The article's next sentence set a time limit. Until 1 October 2026, this possibility applied only if the persons referred to in Article D. 541-243 had given their consent or had published the environmental cost concerned on the portal referred to in Article D. 541-243. Since that date, neither the brand's consent nor a prior publication is required.

A non-profit organisation, a media outlet, a comparison platform or a competitor can therefore calculate the environmental cost of your product references from estimated data and publish it, even if you have published nothing yourself.

What a third party must do to publish

The same article requires the third party to meet all the conditions set out in Article D. 541-243. It must therefore file on the official portal the calculated cost, its breakdown by impact category, the durability coefficient, the identification of the product reference, the date of the calculation, its own legal status and the version of the methodology used. It must also make the cost available at the time of purchase and comply with the official signage.

The portal holds more than the result: the data used in the calculation must be filed there for each parameter of the methodology. Fraud enforcement officers, ministry officials and staff of ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition) can consult them, and Article R. 541-246 requires the evidence that justifies the calculation to be kept available to them. A third party that publishes is therefore subject to the same checks as a brand.

The decree also sets a hierarchy between figures, which matters to brands. Where the manufacturer, the importer or any other company placing the product on the market determines the environmental cost of one of its own product references, that environmental cost is then the information used by anyone who voluntarily communicates it. The third party must then align with it within one month at most.

Publishing your own calculation is therefore the most direct way to make your figure prevail over anyone else's. The decree does not, however, provide a procedure for contesting a published figure, and it does not state what starts the one-month period. This adds to the arguments in our article on the risk of publishing nothing (in French) (in French), which focused mainly on commercial pressure.

3Anyone who publishes a score must now publish the environmental cost too

Article D. 541-245 covers a different situation: any legal entity or individual that voluntarily communicates a score relating to one or more environmental impacts of a textile product must also communicate the environmental cost. That score must not contradict the environmental cost or cause confusion with it.

Here too, a transitional sentence limited the obligation. Until 1 October 2026, it applied only if the manufacturer, the importer or any other company placing the product on the market had calculated and communicated the environmental cost of the textile product references concerned. Since that date, it applies in all cases.

Brands that developed their own indicator before the public scheme existed are the first to be affected: since 1 October 2026, that figure must sit alongside the environmental cost without contradicting it. If it is communicated on a physical medium, the environmental cost must be communicated there as well.

4Key takeaways

The method and the calculator are already available. The Ecobalyse calculator, developed by the French government and ADEME, calculates the environmental cost of a product reference free of charge, and our overview of the tool explains how it works. The timetable by sector (in French) (in French) and the general guide to environmental labelling (in French) place textiles within the scheme as a whole.

• Labelling remains voluntary: no brand is required to publish its environmental cost, unless it communicates a score.
• The 2 transitional protections ended on 1 October 2026: the brand's prior consent and the prior publication condition.
• A third party can publish your cost, from estimated data, provided it follows the same rules as you.
• Your own calculation prevails: once published, it becomes the information that third parties must adopt, within one month at most.

For a textile brand, the question therefore becomes what figure its own product references would give, and whether it is better to find out before a third party publishes it. The textile eco-design levers (in French) matter too, since the durability coefficient takes account of the breadth of the range and repair incentives.

Further resources

Frequently asked questions

1Is the French environmental cost label mandatory from 1 October 2026?

No, the French scheme remains voluntary. The 2 transitional conditions in Articles D. 541-244 and D. 541-245 of the French Environmental Code ended on 1 October 2026. The first prevented a third party from publishing a brand's cost without its consent, and the second limited the obligation to publish the environmental cost for anyone already publishing a score.

2Can a competitor publish my environmental cost?

Yes: since 1 October 2026, any individual or legal entity can do so without your consent. They must, however, meet all the conditions of Article D. 541-243: file the calculation and its data on the official portal, state the date of the calculation, their own legal status and the version of the methodology used, and use the prescribed signage. A figure published outside this framework is not compliant.

3What if a third party publishes a wrong environmental cost for my product?

The decree sets a hierarchy: if you determine the environmental cost of a product reference yourself, or if you update it, your value becomes the reference information for anyone communicating it. The third party must align with it within one month at most. Publishing your own calculation is therefore the most direct response.

4Does the obligation apply to my in-house "eco-responsible" label?

It depends on its form. Article D. 541-245 covers the communication of a score relating to one or more environmental impacts, not qualitative claims. A statement such as "responsible approach" is not a score; a numerical index, a grade or a ranking is one, and the official environmental cost must then be published as well.

5How long does it take to calculate a product's environmental cost?

The calculation itself is quick in Ecobalyse; the time goes into the preparation. The method relies on product-specific parameters, such as the product type, the materials and the countries of manufacture, which have to be gathered reliably for each product reference before you decide which ones to publish first.

6How often can a published environmental cost be updated, and when must it be?

The environmental cost may be updated at most once every 3 months. If the official methodology changes, the update must take place within 12 months at most, except where the cost was communicated by marking or labelling on the product or its packaging.

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