For a few years now, France has had a clear 'made in France' label for customer contact: Relation Client 100% France, as a reaction against the offshore outsourcing of customer service. Other countries approach it slightly differently, with partly the same goal.

 

In addition to Champagne (which may only be produced in the French region of the same name) and Roquefort (also an 'Appellation d'Origine Protégée'), there is also '100% French customer service'. There is even a genuine quality mark for this. The designation 'Relation Client 100% France' offers consumers assurances regarding the quality of the service and, above all, the location from which that service is delivered.

The quality mark is an initiative of the French Association Française de la Relation Client (AFRC) and was launched in 2021. However, behind this was a request from the French Minister of Economy to increase the visibility of organizations that demonstrably conduct their client contact on French territory. French companies have ample choice when it comes to global near- and offshore locations. The French quality mark is strict (more on this later) and possibly for that reason not yet widespread: fewer than fifty French organizations now meet the requirements.

What is the situation like in neighboring countries? Ziptone investigated and encountered far-reaching laws and regulations in various countries, such as Italy. The analysis also reveals that France is quite unique and outspoken, with a 'National Customer Service' quality mark directly aimed at consumers.

Other Western European countries opt for three different approaches: national service quality labels; international standardization and certification (applied locally); and the so-called 'origin indication'.

France

An organization can only use the 'Relation Client 100% France' label if it guarantees that customers are served entirely in France. This applies to front office, pre-sales, sales, back office, and after-sales, as well as work packages performed in-house or by third parties. All employees involved in customer contact must hold an employment contract governed by French law. The sector label also considers other characteristics, but is less strict in those areas: think of certifications regarding CSR, inclusion, cooperation in local ecosystems, and the environment. Companies announcing that they have acquired the label (such as the cooperative health insurer MNH for hospital staff recently) emphasize, for example, that they work with 'local jobs'. This aligns with the sensitivity of French consumers and advocacy groups regarding origin labels, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, insurance, government, and utilities.

Nevertheless, near- and offshoring of customer contact is a huge business in France. Figures from the French Syndicat des professionnels des centres de contacts (SP2C) for 2025 show that more than half (54%) of French customer contact is carried out abroadA third of this goes to countries such as Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. These (by French standards) offshore locations are coming under severe pressure due to new legislation banning cold calling without consent from August 2026.

United Kingdom

The UK has two national standards for service quality: Customer Service Excellence and the ServiceMark of the Institute of Customer Service. The first standard, which focuses primarily on customer-oriented working, measuring, improving, and ensuring, says nothing about the local embedding of activities or operations. The British quality mark is particularly popular in (semi-)public service provision and has around 300 affiliated organizations.

The second label is from the Institute of Customer Service, a trade association that publishes, among other things, the 'national barometer for customer satisfaction' – the UK Customer Satisfaction Index – which is an important benchmark for the UK. The Institute of Customer Service has its own quality mark for service excellence: ServiceMark, a nationwide and independent professional standard that looks at customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Around 350 British organizations are affiliated with it. The quality mark carries authority, also with the British government, but plays no major role towards the consumer.

The location of the activities plays no role in either quality mark. However, the marks do contain elements relating to outsourcing in general. The UK has a long tradition of offshore outsourcing, particularly in the fields of IT and BPO. In recent years, however, several companies have brought customer contact back to their own country.

Germany

In Germany, there is the ServiceQualität Deutschland label, a certification and improvement program that originated in tourism and SME services. This label pays no attention to '100% Deutschland' or 'made in Germany' as guarantees for the location of customer service.

That does not alter the fact that the discussion about 'customer contact made in Germany' is not an issue in Germany. On the contrary, that discussion is taking place in the specialist media en during events and the subject is also on the agenda of consumer organizations. In addition, 'made in Germany' is a label what some BPO providers use.

Customer contact from outside the country's borders is also of interest to our eastern neighbors, as Germans complain about (tele)marketing fraud and unwanted calls. In other words: customer contact abroad is a cause for concern. distrust up. Nevertheless, nearshoring is used in Germany.

Incidentally, German companies are required by law and regulations to be cautious with geographical indications of origin. 'Made in Germany' falls under German trademark law and must not lead to confusion or deception.

Italy

Italy (like Spain) has its own standards for contact centers (such as UNI 11200) and relies relatively heavily on ISO 18295. Italy does not have a '100% Italian' quality mark, but the Italian government does have very strict laws and regulations regarding the location of customer contact. These rules are driven by 'delocalizzazione dei call center', or offshore outsourcing, particularly to Albania and Romania. Key drivers of the discussion on this are the labor unionsTelemarketing and call center fraud from neighboring countries is also a catalyst for regulation.

Those regulations are therefore quite strict. Italian companies that want to move customer contact abroad must do that report to the government in advance and of this there is also a register available. Callers must be informed in advance from which country they are being assisted and have the right to be served by a customer service representative based in Italy.

Spain

Spain has various national quality labels and service charters, but attention to 'national customer service' is limited.

However, the recently established applies national laws and regulations for customer contact also for foreign companies operating in Spain. Companies are also required by law to measure and document customer satisfaction. An essential part of that legislation is that consumers may demand to be addressed in their own language – Catalan, Basque, and Galician. This is a measure that increases the likelihood that customer service will be provided domestically.

Finland

Finland comes close to France when it comes to 'origin'. In Finland, there is the Avainlippu origin mark, which provides assurance regarding the Finnish origin of products and services. The concept of 'Finnish work' is embraced by thousands of Finnish companies, and consumers also attach importance to it. great value toFor example, the origin mark does stipulate that 'Avainlippu webshops' must provide their customer service from Finland, but unlike the French AFRC mark, the Finns are not as specific.

Opportunities for the Netherlands?

Our country has various 'quality marks' for customer contact, but a 'made in Holland' quality mark seems unlikely to succeed. Influential players on both the demand and supply sides benefit from offshoring as an alternative for customer contact in the Netherlands. There are few objections regarding the most obvious alternative – Suriname – and outsourcing in general, as a relatively uncontroversial practice in our country, suffers little from protectionism or nationalism.

There is not yet an audible call for transparency from consumer organizations. Trade unions are concerned about the relocation of customer contact to low-wage countries, but the FNV, for example, addresses this by pushing for the strengthening of local unions. The Dutch business community is struggling with high labor costs for customer contact and a tight labor market. In short, 'customer service made in Holland' seems like a hopeless mission for the time being.

(Ziptone/editors)

Customer Experience, Featured