Tattoo law in France
What the law requires of a tattoo studio here, and how to check one yourself. We list 368 studios in France.
Checked against primary sources on 21 July 2026. Laws change — the sources are linked at the bottom so you can verify anything here.
Is this studio licensed?
Licensed nationally
France does not issue a tattoo "licence", but it comes closer than most countries, and the two obligations below are real and checkable. First, a tattooist must DECLARE their activity to the Agence régionale de santé (ARS) for their region — creation, cessation and transfer of the business all have to be declared, and so do temporary appearances at conventions and salons. Declaring is mandatory in order to practise, but note what it is not: nobody inspects you before you may open, and there is no certificate of competence in tattooing itself. Second, and more unusually, hygiene training IS compulsory. Anyone performing tattooing or piercing must complete a training course in hygiene and sanitation of at least twenty-one hours spread over three consecutive days, delivered by an organisation approved by the ARS. A professional based abroad who works in France only occasionally does a shorter seven-hour course. There is also a duty to inform you of the risks and the precautions before any work starts. So the fair question to a French studio is not "are you licensed?" but "are you declared to the ARS, and can you show me your hygiene training certificate?"
Check the official register →Décret n° 2008-149 du 19 février 2008; art. R.1311-3 code de la santé publique; arrêté du 23 décembre 2008 (declaration); arrêté du 3 décembre 2008 (prior information)
How old do you have to be?
A tattooist in France may not tattoo or pierce a minor without the WRITTEN consent of a person holding parental authority — the father, the mother, or the legal guardian. The requirement that it be written is the part worth remembering: a verbal "my mum says it's fine", a text message, or a parent on the phone does not meet it. Note this is different again from the United Kingdom, where no one can consent for a minor at all, and from Germany, which sets no age rule in statute.
Article R.1311-11 du code de la santé publique
What inks are legal here?
French tattoo inks are covered by the EU-wide rules. Ink is separately governed by the EU REACH restriction: non-compliant inks left the market on 5 January 2022, and Pigment Blue 15:3 and Pigment Green 7 became unusable on 4 January 2023, which removed a large part of many artists' colour range.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2081, amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), entry 75
Inspections, and what to do if something goes wrong
The ARS holds the declarations and oversees the hygiene and salubrity requirements set by the 2008 decree.
Concerns about hygiene, or about a studio operating without having declared itself, go to the ARS for the region the studio is in.
https://www.ars.sante.fr/What we have not confirmed
The training regime was amended by an arrêté of 5 March 2024 made under art. R.1311-3. The twenty-one hours over three consecutive days stated above is what the ARS publishes now and is cited to the ARS, but we have not read the 2024 arrêté line by line, so treat the detail of course content as subject to change and check with the ARS. We have also not recorded whether declarations are published in a register the public can search — unlike the Netherlands and Texas, we found no consumer-facing lookup, so ask the ARS directly.
Sources
- Décret n° 2008-149 du 19 février 2008 (hygiène et salubrité, tatouage et perçage) — retrieved 2026-07-21
- Arrêté du 23 décembre 2008 (modalités de déclaration) — retrieved 2026-07-21
- Arrêté du 5 mars 2024 (formation, art. R.1311-3 CSP) — retrieved 2026-07-21
- ARS Hauts-de-France — Activité de tatouage, perçage corporel et maquillage permanent — retrieved 2026-07-21
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2081 — REACH Annex XVII entry 75 — retrieved 2026-07-21
- BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) — FAQ on tattoo inks, describing the EU-wide REACH restriction — retrieved 2026-07-21
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it can go out of date. Every source above is linked so you can check the current position yourself.