Chapter III: Criminal provisions.

The officers mentioned in article L. 521-12 of the Environmental Code are authorised to investigate and record breaches of the provisions of article L. 1343-2 of this Code insofar as they concern dangerous substances or mixtures used for non-medical purposes, and of the regulatory measures taken to apply these provisions.

Failure by a manufacturer, importer or downstream user of any substance or mixture to comply with the obligations laid down in … is punishable by three months’ imprisonment and a fine of €20,000: 1° Article L. 1341-1 relating to the information needed to prescribe preventive and curative measures ; 2° In article L. 1342-1 relating, in the case of a hazardous mixture, to the information required to be provided on…

Persons having access to the information provided for in articles L. 1340-5 and L. 1341-1 are bound by professional secrecy under the conditions and subject to the penalties provided for in articles 226-13 and 226-14 of the French Criminal Code. However, professional secrecy may not be invoked against a judicial authority acting in the context of criminal proceedings.