“Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique”: what does French law really say?

A flyer handed out without the notice “Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique” (do not litter in public places), a poster on a white background that could be mistaken for an official notice, a promotional leaflet with no SIREN number… These oversights might seem minor, but they can lead to a distributor refusing your job, a formal warning, or even a reprint at your own expense. Every type of printed material follows its own rules. At 2M Numérique, we can check these notices with you before printing — here is our clear, material-by-material memo so your documents go to press with peace of mind.

This guide is for information only: regulations evolve and some obligations depend on your line of business. For a specific project, talk to us and we will point you in the right direction.

Mandatory notices on a flyer

As soon as a promotional print is handed out in the street, put in letterboxes or left on a counter, several notices come into play. Some are required by a legal text, others are simply good practice: here they are, each with its French legal reference.

“Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique”: mandatory or recommended?

It is the best-known notice, and yet no French text in force requires it: the wording appears in no code and no statute. It is often linked to Article L.541-10-1 of the French Environmental Code; that article actually places printed paper within an extended producer responsibility scheme, without prescribing any wording. “Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique” remains a recommended practice, reminding readers that the document should not end up in the street.

What the law penalises is the act itself: dropping, abandoning or throwing waste in a public or private place outside the designated containers is punishable by a 4th-class fine (Article R.634-2 of the French Criminal Code). As for distribution, handing out or having others hand out leaflets to drivers or passengers of vehicles travelling on a public road is punishable by the same class of fine (Article R.412-52 of the French Highway Code).

The Triman logo and sorting information

Since 1 January 2022 (AGEC law of 10 February 2020), every product placed on the market for households and covered by an extended producer responsibility scheme carries a common sorting symbol, the Triman, together with information on how to sort it, often called Info-tri (Article L.541-9-3 of the French Environmental Code). Printed paper, except books, and graphic paper intended for end users who produce household waste are covered by these schemes (Article L.541-10-1, 1°): a flyer handed out to the public is therefore concerned. For printed matter, the producer concerned is the client who has it issued. The sorting information is drawn up by the approved producer responsibility organisations for this scheme (Article R.541-12-18).

The size of the item does not remove the obligation: it decides where the information goes. When the area of the largest side of the product is under 10 cm² and no other document comes with it, the logo and the information may be provided digitally; between 10 and 20 cm², only the information may be, the logo staying on the item (Article R.541-12-21). Even an A7 flyer (7.4 × 10.5 cm, about 78 cm²) is well above these thresholds: both appear on the print. We like to point out that this framework is a step in the right direction: it is also the spirit of our eco-friendly, short-supply-chain printing approach.

Fines: who risks what?

You sometimes read that forgetting “Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique” could cost up to €750. That is inaccurate: €750 is the ceiling of a 4th-class fine for an individual (Article 131-13 of the French Criminal Code), and Article R.634-2 targets the person who throws the leaflet away, not the advertiser. The penalties that really concern a flyer are as follows:

• Missing printer's details: a €3,750 fine for the printer, the same penalty for those who distribute the print, and up to six months' imprisonment if the printer was already convicted for the same offence in the previous twelve months (French law of 29 July 1881, Article 3).
• Missing company identification details on promotional material: a 4th-class fine (French Commercial Code, Article R.123-237), i.e. up to €750 for an individual and five times that amount for a company (Article 131-41 of the French Criminal Code).
• Handing out to motorists: a 4th-class fine for anyone who distributes or has leaflets distributed (French Highway Code, Article R.412-52).

The printer's details: mandatory

The French law of 29 July 1881 on freedom of the press requires that any document made public bear the name and address of its printer (Article 3). Distributing a print without this notice is prohibited. When the print uses different techniques and requires several printers, the name and address of one of them is enough; “ouvrages de ville ou bilboquets” (small jobbing work) are exempt (more on this below). In practice, it is a discreet line in small print at the foot of the document.

A flyer written in French

In France, the French language is mandatory in any written, spoken or audiovisual advertising (Law no. 94-665 of 4 August 1994, Article 2). A flyer distributed in France therefore presents its message in French.

Sector-specific notices

• Alcoholic beverages: advertising is limited to certain information (alcohol content, origin, composition, way of drinking…) and, with some exceptions such as circulars intended for professionals, must carry a health message stating that alcohol abuse is dangerous to health (French Public Health Code, Article L.3323-4).
• Promotional games and lotteries: promotional operations based on a prize draw or an element of chance are prohibited towards consumers whenever they are unfair (French Consumer Code, Article L.121-20). The rules and notices depend on the operation: let's talk about it before the layout.

Finally, your business must be identifiable: on its promotional material, every registered business states its unique identification number (the SIREN), the letters RCS followed by the town of the registry if it is registered there, and the address of its registered office (French Commercial Code, Article R.123-237). On our flyers and leaflets, the studio fits these lines in neatly without spoiling the layout. And if you are unsure about the material, our guide which paper to choose for your flyers will help you decide.

Personal data: which notices on a flyer?

A purely promotional flyer, which simply presents an offer without asking anything of the reader, involves no data collection. The question arises as soon as the material points to a form, a QR code or a reply coupon inviting people to leave their name, email address or phone number.

In that case, the data controller prepares GDPR-compliant information, to be placed where the data is collected (form page, back of the coupon):

• Identity and contact details of the data controller.
• Purposes of the collection and legal basis for the processing.
• Recipients of the data, where applicable.
• Intended retention period.
• The person's rights (access, rectification, erasure, objection…) and how to exercise them, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with the CNIL, the French data protection authority.

Photo credits: when must you name the author?

Before sending a flyer to print, check where each image comes from. A credit line never amounts to permission to use a photo: it is the licence or the written agreement obtained for it that sets what you may do with it. The author, for their part, keeps the right to have their name respected, a perpetual and inalienable right (French Intellectual Property Code, Article L.121-1): the licence specifies how to credit them.

In practice:

• A photo you took yourself: you are the author, so the question of credit does not arise.
• A royalty-free or purchased image: follow the attribution terms of the licence, which vary from one image bank to another.
• A third party's photo: using it requires the author's permission (assignment or licence of rights), and it is worth keeping proof of it.

Checklist of legal notices for your flyer

• Mandatory: the printer's name and address (law of 29 July 1881, Art. 3).
• Mandatory for a flyer handed out to the public: the Triman logo and sorting information (Environmental Code, Art. L.541-9-3).
• Mandatory: your SIREN number, the letters RCS and the registry town if you are registered there, and your registered office address (Commercial Code, Art. R.123-237).
• Mandatory: a message in French (law of 4 August 1994, Art. 2).
• Depending on your sector: the health message for alcohol (Public Health Code, Art. L.3323-4), the rules for promotional games and lotteries.
• If the flyer collects data: GDPR information where the data is collected.
• Recommended: “Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique”.

References checked on Légifrance on 19 October 2026, in the version in force on that date. If in doubt about a particular case, we can check with you before printing.

Business cards and stationery: your company's legal notices

The 1881 law exempts “ouvrages de ville ou bilboquets” from the printer's notice (Article 3): everyday small jobs such as business cards, letterheads or envelopes. On the other hand, your letters, invoices and promotional material carry your company details: SIREN number, the letters RCS and the registry town, registered office address (French Commercial Code, Article R.123-237); for a company, the company name followed by its legal form and, for an SARL or a joint-stock company, the amount of share capital (Article R.123-238). The intra-EU VAT number is required on invoices.

Depending on the trade, other obligations apply: in construction, for example, the ten-year liability insurance certificate is attached to quotes and invoices (French Insurance Code, Article L.243-2). Our business printing service takes this into account at the design stage. And to avoid layout mistakes, our article on business card mistakes to avoid is a good complement.

Invoices and quotes: what the law requires in black and white

The invoice is the most regulated document. It must include in particular: the date and a unique number following a chronological, continuous sequence, the name and address of the seller and the customer, the quantity, precise description and unit price excluding tax of the goods or services, the VAT rates and amounts, the payment date, the rate of late-payment penalties and, between businesses, the €40 fixed recovery fee (French Commercial Code, Article L.441-9; Article D.441-5; French Tax Code, Annex II, Article 242 nonies A). E-invoicing adds new mandatory details, such as the customer's SIREN number or the delivery address if different: since 1 September 2026 for large and mid-sized companies, and from 1 September 2027 for SMEs and micro-businesses.

For quotes, no general text requires set wording: the phrase “devis reçu avant l'exécution des travaux” (quote received before work begins), often copied, appears in no text in force and is not required for a printing quote. Clearly stating the quote's validity period remains good practice.

These documents are perfectly suited to a carbonless copy book or stationery in your brand style: we print them ready to fill in, consistent with the rest of your visual identity.

Posters and display: watch out for white paper

For your posters, two rules deserve attention. First, you cannot put posters up just anywhere: no one may affix advertising to a building without the owner's written permission (French Environmental Code, Article L.581-24), and the local council may set local rules. Second, a little-known detail inherited from the 1881 law: white paper is reserved for posters issued by public authorities (Article 15). An advertising poster may nevertheless be printed on white paper if it is covered with coloured text or illustrations and cannot be mistaken for an official poster — which is what nearly every well-designed poster does anyway.

Election material: the strict French Electoral Code

Leaflets, candidate statements, campaign posters: elections are a particularly regulated field. The Electoral Code applies the 1881 law to campaign material: the printer's notice is therefore mandatory, and white paper remains reserved for official notices (Article L.48). On election posters and circulars, it also prohibits the national emblem and the combination of blue, white and red where it may cause confusion with it, except for reproducing a party's emblem, and limits posters to 594 × 841 mm (Article R.27). If you are preparing campaign material, we can check these points with you before printing.

Stickers, window graphics and vehicle wraps: safety first

Dressing a vehicle or a shop window is about visibility and safety. On a vehicle, wraps and stickers are free on the bodywork, but the windscreen and front side windows must let through at least 70% of light (French Highway Code, Article R.316-3): a film that would bring light transmission below that threshold is ruled out there, and driving like this is punishable by a 4th-class fine and the loss of three licence points (Article R.316-3-1). For shop window graphics, perforated film is chosen when you need to see through, opaque film to screen off premises. In every case, the studio sets the cuts to the millimetre.

When in doubt, we check with you

Here is what to remember: a promotional print carries the printer's details and, if it is aimed at the public, the Triman logo; “Ne pas jeter sur la voie publique” remains a good habit; a business document states your legal notices; election and vehicle cases have their own constraints. Everything else — books (legal deposit, ISBN), ticketing — falls under more specific cases that we handle case by case.

A print shop based in Manciet (32), in the heart of Armagnac, 2M Numérique manufactures the vast majority on site (94%, 2024-2025 figures), under the Made in Occitania label. Our in-house graphic design studio can check these notices with you before printing, not after. Not sure what your material needs to carry? Tell us about your project and request your free quote, with a reply within 72 hours: we will talk it through before starting the presses.