EU ★ Market GuideBeta

Amazon reports 'EPR number invalid' for France – what is causing this?

Verified on 2026-09-01 · Packaging law (PPWR)

In short

Usually one of these three causes is to blame: the wrong number was entered (France requires the IDU – Identifiant Unique – from the ADEME register, not your contract or customer number from the éco-organisme), the number was entered in the wrong format (FR identifiers start with 'FR' and end with a digit code per product category), or the registration is not yet active/updated in the ADEME register. Check the IDU in the open ADEME dataset and enter exactly that identifier.

What to do now, concretely

  1. Look up the IDU with your éco-organisme (e.g. Citeo, Léko, Adelphe) – it appears in your customer portal or the registration confirmation.
  2. Check the number against the public ADEME producer register (open dataset, linked below).
  3. Enter exactly the IDU in Seller Central – without any additions, spaces or the scheme's contract number.
  4. If the IDU does not appear there: follow up with your éco-organisme on whether your data has already been transmitted to SYDEREP/ADEME.

This error is a classic in the Amazon seller forum since the checks became automated: sellers enter their Citeo customer number instead of the IDU – and the validation fails even though they are correctly registered.

Related country guides

France

Does this apply to you too? Check your specific situation – free.

Check your business

Sources: Amazon Seller Forum: „EPR Verpackungen Frankreich – Nummer ungültig“ (accessed 2026-09-01) · ADEME: offenes Produzentenregister mit IDU (accessed 2026-09-01)

Legal information, not legal advice. The linked official sources prevail; data marked “draft” has not been finally verified.

More seller questions