Who Is Responsible for Packaging Compliance Under PPWR?

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) does not place the same responsibilities on every business in the packaging supply chain. Instead, obligations vary depending on the role an economic operator plays. The latest European Commission guidance also makes clear that terms such as manufacturer, producer, importer and distributor have specific meanings under PPWR, and they do not always match the way businesses use those terms in practice.

For businesses placing packaging on the EU market, understanding which role they fall into is essential. In some cases, a company may even take on more than one role at the same time.

This article explains the main obligations applying to manufacturers, suppliers, authorised representatives, importers, distributors and fulfilment service providers under Chapter IV of PPWR, including the Commission’s latest interpretation of those roles.

PPWR does not place the full compliance burden on one party alone. Instead, it creates a chain of responsibility. Manufacturers carry the core conformity obligations, but importers, distributors and other operators are also expected to carry out checks, retain information, cooperate with authorities and take action where problems arise.

That makes role-mapping essential. Businesses need to understand not only what packaging they handle, but also the legal role they are performing in relation to it.

Manufacturers carry the most extensive obligations under PPWR. They must only place packaging on the market if it complies with the applicable requirements in Articles 5 to 12.

Before placing packaging on the market, manufacturers must:

• Carry out, or have it carried out on their behalf, the conformity assessment procedure under Article 38.
• Draw up the technical documentation required by Annex VII.
• Prepare an EU declaration of conformity once compliance has been demonstrated.

They must then retain that documentation for:

• 5 years for single-use packaging
• 10 years for reusable packaging

Manufacturers must also ensure packaging remains compliant throughout production and reassess it where design changes, specification updates or changes to relevant standards could affect conformity.

They must also ensure packaging is traceable and includes the required identification and contact details, whether on-pack, digitally or in accompanying documentation.

If packaging already placed on the market is found to be non-compliant, manufacturers must take corrective action without delay, including withdrawal or recall where necessary, and notify the relevant market surveillance authority.

They must also provide compliance documentation to authorities within 10 days of a reasoned request.

The new guidance highlights that: the manufacturer is not necessarily the business that physically makes the packaging.

• For sales and grouped packaging = manufacturer will normally be the operator that applies the final processing steps and fills the packaging with its product, often the brand owner.
• For transport, service and primary production packaging = the manufacturer will normally be the company making that packaging, unless the packaging is clearly branded by the user, in which case the user is the manufacturer.
• The guidance also clarifies that where a company has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, that company is normally the manufacturer.

Suppliers of packaging or packaging materials are not responsible for carrying out the full conformity process themselves, but they do have a vital supporting role.

Their core obligation is to provide manufacturers with the information and documentation needed to demonstrate that the packaging and packaging materials comply with PPWR.

This includes:

• Information needed for the technical documentation under Annex VII and for the relevant requirements in Articles 5 to 11.
• Information required under other EU legislation for contact-sensitive packaging (where relevant).

In practice, that means suppliers need to be ready to provide accurate and usable technical, material and compliance information to their customers.

The guidance also clarifies that a supplier may be considered a manufacturer where the brand owner is a micro-enterprise and the packaging supplier is in the same Member State.

A manufacturer may appoint an authorised representative through a written mandate.

That representative can carry out specified administrative and regulatory tasks on the manufacturer’s behalf. These can include:

• Holding the EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation for the required retention period.
• Cooperating with national authorities.
• Supplying authorities with information and documentation on request.
• Making relevant documents available within 10 days.
• Terminating the mandate if the manufacturer acts contrary to its obligations.

However, the authorised representative cannot take on the manufacturer’s obligation to ensure the packaging complies, nor can it assume responsibility for drawing up the technical documentation.

An authorised representative may support compliance, but the legal responsibility remains with the manufacturer.

An importer’s responsibility is to ensure that they only place compliant packaging on the EU market.

To verify compliance, importers must check that:

• The manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment procedure.
• The technical documentation has been prepared.
• The packaging is labelled in accordance with Article 12.
• The required accompanying documents are in place.
• The manufacturer has met its identification and contact detail obligations.

If an importer considers, or has reason to believe, that packaging is not compliant, it must not place it on the market until conformity has been ensured.

Importers must also provide their own identifying information on the packaging, including:

• name,
• registered trade name or trademark,
• postal address
• electronic contact details (where applicable).

Where this cannot appear directly on the packaging, it must be provided via a digital data carrier or an accompanying document.

Importers must also ensure that storage and transport conditions under their responsibility do not compromise compliance.

If an importer later becomes aware that packaging it has placed on the market is non-compliant, it must take corrective action immediately and inform the relevant market surveillance authorities.

Importers must keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity and ensure that the technical documentation can be made available to authorities for:

• 5 years for single-use packaging
• 10 years for reusable packaging

They must also provide compliance documentation to authorities within 10 days of a reasoned request.

Before supplying packaging, distributors must verify that:

• The producer subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations is registered in the producer register under Article 44.
• The packaging is labelled in accordance with Article 12.
• The manufacturer and importer have complied with their identification and contact detail obligations.

If a distributor considers, or has reason to believe, that packaging is not compliant, or that the manufacturer or importer has not met the required identification obligations, it must not make the packaging available until the issue has been resolved.

Distributors must also ensure that storage and transport conditions under their responsibility do not jeopardise compliance.

If distributors become aware that packaging they have made available is non-compliant, they must ensure corrective action is taken, including conformity, withdrawal or recall where necessary, and notify the relevant market surveillance authorities.

Where fulfilment service providers handle packaging, whether empty or with a product, they must ensure that conditions during warehousing, handling, packing, addressing and dispatch do not jeopardise compliance with PPWR.

An importer or distributor will be treated as a manufacturer if it:

• places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark, or
• modifies packaging already on the market in a way that could affect compliance.

Where that happens, Under Article 21, they are treated as a manufacturer and subject to the Article 15 obligations.

This is particularly significant for private label businesses, brand owners and companies that alter packaging specifications after sourcing.

Under the UK system, businesses are typically described as producers. Under PPWR, however, the Regulation often focuses on manufacturers.

The key difference is that the two terms do not mean the same thing, under PPWR:

• Manufacturer = The operator responsible for packaging conformity under Article 15, and responsible for ensuring packaging complies with PPWR’s sustainability and labelling requirements before it is first made available on the EU market.
• Producer = is the manufacturer, importer or distributor responsible for EPR registration, reporting and fees in the Member State where the packaging is first made available and is expected to become waste. It is a defined term used for EPR and registration purposes under Article 44. Producer status can vary from one Member State to another depending on the route the packaging takes to market.

In practice:

• For sales packaging, the producer will generally be the business that fills the packaging and first makes it available in the relevant Member State.
• For transport packaging, the producer may be the manufacturer of the complete empty packaging, the filler, the importer, the distributor or even the unpacker, depending on how the packaging is supplied and used.
• For distance sales, the seller making the product available directly to the end user in another Member State can become the producer in that Member State.
• Where goods are unpacked or repacked in another Member State before onward supply, that can shift producer responsibility too.

The same company can be both a manufacturer and producer.

At a high level, PPWR divides responsibilities like this:

• Manufacturers must ensure packaging complies and produce the conformity documentation.
• Suppliers must support that compliance process with data and documentation.
• Importers must verify compliance before placing packaging on the EU market.
• Distributors must check key points before making packaging available.
• Fulfilment service providers must not undermine compliance during handling.
• Producers must fulfil EPR registration, reporting and fee obligations in the relevant Member State.

Under PPWR, operator status is not a label. It is the starting point for compliance.

The closer a business is to designing, branding, filling or first placing packaging on the EU market, the greater its legal burden is likely to be. But the latest Commission guidance makes clear that businesses cannot rely on informal assumptions about who the “manufacturer” or “producer” is. Those roles must be assessed carefully against the Regulation.