From 12 August 2026, an exporter with no establishment in an EU Member State can no longer sell packaging or packaged goods into that market without appointing an authorised representative. Article 47 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) — makes the appointment a condition of placing packaging on the market, and Articles 44 to 46 decide who owes the extended producer responsibility (EPR) fee and where. The first question for any non-EU supplier is therefore not what the fee costs, but which party the regulation treats as the producer.
Three roles, and they are not interchangeable
| Role | What the regulation means by it | What it obliges |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The party that orders and decides the packaging's design specification | Conformity with the sustainability and labelling requirements — including the Article 5 substance limits and the Article 6 recyclability grade. One manufacturer per pack across the EU. |
| Producer | Whoever first makes the packaging or packaged product available in a Member State | EPR: registration and reporting in that Member State, and the fee for collection and recovery where the packaging becomes waste |
| Authorised representative | A party established in a Member State, appointed by a non-EU producer | Assumes the EPR obligations in its own name — with the registration itself remaining the producer's own duty |
The distinction that catches exporters is manufacturer versus producer. A supplier that makes the pack to a customer's specification may not be the manufacturer at all, while the importer who first places it on a national market is the producer and owes the fee — even though it never touched the design.
What the appointment involves
Who needs one: a producer established outside the EU that sells empty packaging or packaged products directly to end users, with no branch in the Member State.
From when: 12 August 2026, the date the regulation applies.
How many: one. Only a single authorised representative may be appointed.
In what form: a written mandate signed by both parties, in the language the national register requires.
In practice the authorised representative concludes the system participation agreements, submits the packaging volume reports and the declarations of completeness, and handles return obligations and deposit schemes. What it cannot do on the producer's behalf is the producer registration in the national register — that stays with the producer, which is the detail most often missed when a mandate is drafted.
Where the fee lands, and why it moves
- The fee follows the waste, not the sale. The EPR obligation attaches in the Member State where the packaging is expected to become waste. Goods sold into one country and shipped onward to another can move the obligation with them.
- Paying twice is recoverable. If fees have been paid in one Member State and a distributor then first makes the packaging available in another, the regulation provides for reimbursement rather than a second charge.
- Design changes the fee. EPR fees are increasingly modulated by recyclability and by material, which ties this article back to the Article 6 grades: a heavier or less recoverable construction can cost more per tonne in fees as well as being barred later.
- Registration is per market. Selling into several Member States means several registrations and, where required, several appointments — one per market, not one for the EU.
FAQ
Does a non-EU supplier always need an authorised representative?
Where it sells empty packaging or packaged products directly to end users in a Member State and has no establishment there, yes, from 12 August 2026. Where an EU importer or distributor is the party that first places the goods on the national market, that party is the producer and carries the EPR obligation.
Can the authorised representative register on the producer's behalf?
No. The representative assumes the EPR obligations in its own name, but the producer registration in the national register remains the producer's own duty.
Is one representative enough for the whole EU?
No. EPR is organised per Member State, so the appointment and the registration are made market by market.
How does this connect to the substance and recyclability rules?
They meet at the fee. EPR fees are modulated by recyclability and material, so the construction that satisfies Article 6 is also the one that tends to cost less under Article 45.
Browse the range
The full regulatory background, including the PFAS thresholds and the recyclability timeline, is in our PFAS-free packaging white paper. The materials library lists grades by base paper and barrier level, and the eco paper bag and baking and food paper ranges cover the food-contact formats most often affected. Tell us the destination market and the pack construction, and we will confirm the grade and the documentation you need. Compliance documentation is provided offline on request; we do not publish certificate numbers online.
More in this series: how PFAS is tested in food packaging · recyclability grades A, B and C · the 100 mg/kg heavy-metal sum