Am I affected by the PPWR authorised representative requirement?

If you sell packaged goods directly to end users in an EU member state where you have no establishment, you are required to appoint an authorised representative for EPR in that specific country, under Article 45(3) PPWR, which has applied since 12 August 2026.

The date has passed. What do I have to do now?

Identify every EU country you sell into directly, check where you already have an establishment or local representation, and appoint an authorised representative by written mandate in the markets where you lack one. Then make sure the representative is recorded in the national register, as Germany requires in LUCID.

Was the representative duty not suspended?

No. The European Commission proposed on 10 December 2025 to suspend the Article 45(3) duty until 1 January 2035 for producers established in the EU, but the Council discontinued negotiations on 24 June 2026. The obligation applies as written.

What happens if I do nothing?

Selling without an appointed representative in a target member state violates the PPWR. In Germany the LUCID register does not complete a foreign producer's registration without a representative, and marketplaces must obtain and verify your packaging EPR number per member state, so the practical result is blocked listings and halted sales before any penalty is imposed.

How much does an authorised representative cost per country?

Costs vary significantly by member state and by the service provider you choose. Many compliance partners offer bundled EU-wide representation, which can be more cost-effective than appointing separate entities for each individual market.

Do the PPWR representative rules apply to marketplace sellers?

Yes. Cross-border distance selling via online marketplaces is fully captured. If you are the producer first making the packaged product available in that market, you must ensure representation, and the marketplace will ask for the resulting registration number.

PPWR: an authorised representative in every export country?

What changed on 12 August 2026

On 12 August 2026, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) started to apply across the EU^[1]. Among its producer responsibility rules is Article 45(3): a producer that makes packaging or packaged products available for the first time in a member state other than the one where it is established, by selling directly to end users, must appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (EPR) in that member state by written mandate^[2]. If you operate a Dutch webshop or brand shipping directly to consumers in Germany, Belgium, France or other EU countries, this requirement applies to your sales operations now.

The PPWR entered into force in February 2025 and its rules apply on a phased basis from 12 August 2026^[1]. The authorised representative is the party the national register and the national producer responsibility organisation deal with: it registers the producer, reports packaging volumes and settles the EPR fees in that country on the producer's behalf, while the underlying responsibility for your packaging stays with your company. Germany spells out what that means in practice: since 12 August 2026 a producer without an establishment there must appoint an authorised representative and enter its details in the LUCID Packaging Register before first making packaging or packaged products available on the German market, and the registration cannot be completed without those details^[3].

One development is easy to miss. On 10 December 2025 the European Commission proposed suspending the Article 45(3) duty until 1 January 2035 for producers already established in the EU^[7]. The Council discontinued negotiations on that proposal on 24 June 2026, so the relief never became law. Plan on the obligation, not on the proposal.

Article 45(3) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 requires an authorised representative for EPR in each member state where packaging first reaches an end user directly and the producer is not itself established^[2].
The representative is recorded in the national producer register next to the producer, as Germany already requires in LUCID^[3], and carries out registration, reporting and payment in that country.
The duty is tied to where you sell and whether you are established there, not to a shipment volume threshold.

Are you affected? Run the PPWR exporter test

To determine whether the authorised representative requirement applies to your current business model, evaluate your distribution channels country by country. The trigger is straightforward: making packaged products available to end users in an EU member state where you hold no establishment.

Do you ship packaged goods directly to private consumers or comparable end users in another EU member state via your own webshop or digital sales channels?
Do you lack a registered branch, subsidiary or other establishment in that destination member state?
Are you the entity invoicing and dispatching the goods across the border directly to the customer?

If you answer yes to these criteria for any individual country, the representative obligation applies in that specific market. A Dutch webshop selling to consumers in Germany and Austria without local entities needs an authorised representative in Germany and another in Austria, because the duty arises in each member state where the producer is not established^[2].

An explicit no-case occurs when you sell exclusively B2B to an established domestic distributor or retail partner in the destination country who takes legal ownership before the border under agreed commercial terms (such as EXW or FCA) and acts as the initial domestic distributor placing the packaging on that market. In that setup the domestic importer bears the primary packaging responsibility, and the foreign seller does not have to appoint a local representative.

To evaluate your specific setup and establish where representative duties arise, contact ClearoSystems for PPWR consulting.

What to do now that the date has passed

The PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026^[1], so this is remediation rather than preparation: a structured review of your cross-border logistics and your existing compliance contracts. Because appointing a representative involves a written mandate and verification by the national register, the steps below should be executed without delay.

Inventory all EU export destinations: list every EU country where you actively ship packaged products or maintain localised checkout options.
Check existing registrations: identify markets where you already hold direct national producer registrations or work with local compliance partners.
Select authorised representatives: appoint qualified legal entities established in each destination member state, or partner with a compliance provider that covers several markets at once.
Execute written mandates: the appointment is made by written mandate^[2], and each national register sets out how the representative is recorded^[3].
Update register records: make sure the authorised representative's details are filed with your national producer registration, such as your LUCID registration in Germany, where the representative is listed together with the producer data.

For Germany, expect one duty to stay with you personally: filing your own registration in the LUCID Packaging Register of the Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) and keeping those details current. The representative acts on your behalf in the German system, but the register requires the representative's details before it completes a foreign producer's registration^[3], so prepare the mandate paperwork early rather than in the week you need it. What the German requirement means across packaging, electronics and batteries is covered in our article on when you need an authorised representative in Germany.

What has not changed: national registrations

The representative requirement does not erase existing national packaging systems overnight. The ^[1]PPWR EU harmonisation replaces fragmented national requirements with a common set of EU rules covering the whole packaging life cycle, but national producer registers and producer responsibility organisations (PROs) remain the operational backbone of packaging collection and recycling: in Germany, for instance, packaging still has to be licensed with a system operator and reported, whoever files it on your behalf.

Your existing domestic and export registrations remain mandatory and legally valid. Dutch obligations under the Besluit beheer verpakkingen 2014 continue to apply, meaning your Verpact registration and annual reporting procedures stay in effect. Similarly, direct registrations with schemes such as Fost Plus in Belgium or CITEO in France retain their operational role.

Country / scheme	Operational status	Authorised representative rule
Netherlands (Verpact)	Domestic registration and reporting under the Besluit beheer verpakkingen 2014 remain in place	Not applicable for companies established in the Netherlands selling in the Netherlands
Germany (ZSVR / LUCID)	Registration in the LUCID packaging register plus system participation	Mandatory for non-established sellers since 12 August 2026; LUCID does not complete the registration without it^[3]
France (CITEO / ADEME)	Mandatory unique identifier (IDU) and annual volume declaration	Mandatory for non-established distance sellers under Article 45(3) PPWR
Belgium (Fost Plus / Valipac)	Mandatory declarations above national packaging thresholds	Mandatory for non-established distance sellers under Article 45(3) PPWR

In the Netherlands, the current threshold of 50,000 kg of packaging per calendar year for the packaging waste management contribution and reporting duty under the Besluit beheer verpakkingen 2014 remains in force today^[4]. Per Verpact, this threshold is expected to lapse only with the introduction of the PPWR producer register, anticipated from 12 August 2027 at the earliest, with the first full reporting expected over 2028^[5]. These dates are Verpact guidance and remain subject to formal Dutch legislative implementation.

Outlook: how the rules develop from here

Packaging compliance requirements continue to evolve at both EU and national level. Several implementation details under Regulation (EU) 2025/40 remain open: the standardised labelling symbols are expected to be announced by the end of 2026, and for shipping packaging, service packaging and primary production packaging it is not yet entirely clear who counts as the producer under the PPWR^[6].

Future waste management contributions will eventually apply below today's 50,000 kg threshold once the PPWR producer register and its reporting apply in the Netherlands^[5]. The exact tariff levels and calculation formulas for those contributions have not yet been determined.

Secondary EU legislation on labelling and technical requirements is still being prepared, with a harmonised packaging labelling system due to apply from 2028^[1].
National producer registers are still building out how they verify and record authorised representatives; Germany already requires the details in LUCID.
Dutch legislation adapting the Besluit beheer verpakkingen 2014 to the PPWR producer register remains pending in official publications.

Which obligations apply in each export country depends on your exact role in the chain and on where you are established: manufacturer, brand owner sourcing from third parties, or distance reseller each lands differently in every target market. These distinctions cannot reliably be resolved through a general checklist alone. Contact ClearoSystems for PPWR consulting to evaluate your specific setup, clarify representative duties, and secure compliant market access across the EU.

Frequently asked questions

Am I affected by the PPWR authorised representative requirement?: If you sell packaged goods directly to end users in an EU member state where you have no establishment, you are required to appoint an authorised representative for EPR in that specific country, under Article 45(3) PPWR, which has applied since 12 August 2026.
The date has passed. What do I have to do now?: Identify every EU country you sell into directly, check where you already have an establishment or local representation, and appoint an authorised representative by written mandate in the markets where you lack one. Then make sure the representative is recorded in the national register, as Germany requires in LUCID.
Was the representative duty not suspended?: No. The European Commission proposed on 10 December 2025 to suspend the Article 45(3) duty until 1 January 2035 for producers established in the EU, but the Council discontinued negotiations on 24 June 2026. The obligation applies as written.
What happens if I do nothing?: Selling without an appointed representative in a target member state violates the PPWR. In Germany the LUCID register does not complete a foreign producer's registration without a representative, and marketplaces must obtain and verify your packaging EPR number per member state, so the practical result is blocked listings and halted sales before any penalty is imposed.
How much does an authorised representative cost per country?: Costs vary significantly by member state and by the service provider you choose. Many compliance partners offer bundled EU-wide representation, which can be more cost-effective than appointing separate entities for each individual market.
Do the PPWR representative rules apply to marketplace sellers?: Yes. Cross-border distance selling via online marketplaces is fully captured. If you are the producer first making the packaged product available in that market, you must ensure representation, and the marketplace will ask for the resulting registration number.