First determine whether you are a “producer,” and then identify the Member State in which you bear extended producer responsibility (EPR).
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) will generally apply from August 12, 2026.
As that date approaches, many Chinese exporters are asking: where should PPWR registration be completed? Must every Chinese company register? If there is an EU importer, does that remove the exporter’s responsibility?
In brief:
Not every Chinese exporter must register in its own name, but registration cannot automatically be assumed to fall to the EU importer.
The decisive questions are not whether the packaging was made in China, but who first makes the packaging or packaged product available in a particular EU Member State, whether the customer is an end user, and whether that party is a “producer” within the meaning of the PPWR.
1. Separate Three Different Concepts: “Registration” Is Not a Single Requirement
At least three distinct matters must be separated when discussing the PPWR.
1.1 Product compliance
These are the requirements the packaging itself must meet before entering the EU market, including materials and design, recyclability, labelling, the declaration of conformity, and technical documentation. Manufacturers, importers, and distributors may each have responsibilities in this area.
1.2 Producer and EPR registration
This is the “registration” discussed in this article. It concerns extended producer responsibility for packaging waste, including registration, reporting, fee payment, and the organisation of collection and treatment.
Article 44 of the PPWR requires every Member State to establish a register of producers. In principle, a producer must register in each Member State in which it first makes packaging or packaged products available.
The PPWR is therefore not a single EU-wide certificate, nor does one registration number provide access to every Member State.
1.3 Third-party certification
Third-party certifications for compostability, recycled content, recyclability, and similar attributes may support specific environmental claims, but they are not PPWR producer registration and do not replace product-compliance documentation.
These three areas may support one another, but none substitutes for another.
2. Why “Manufacturer” and “Producer” Are Not the Same Under the PPWR
In everyday Chinese usage, “producer” is easily understood as the factory that physically makes the packaging. Under the PPWR, however, producer is a legal role connected to EPR obligations.
The European Commission’s 2026 implementation guidance further distinguishes the roles:
Manufacturer primarily relates to product-compliance responsibilities for packaging.
Producer primarily determines the Member State in which EPR must be fulfilled.
Within the same supply chain, the two roles may be held by the same company or by entirely different companies.
Accordingly, a Chinese factory that physically makes packaging is not automatically the EPR producer in every Member State. Conversely, an importer, distributor, or cross-border seller that does not manufacture packaging may become the producer because it is the first party to make the packaging or packaged product available locally.
3. Four Common Scenarios for Chinese Exporters
Scenario 1: selling to an EU importer or distributor that resells locally
If the EU customer purchases the goods and is then the first party to make the packaging or packaged product available on the local market, that customer is generally more likely to be the producer in that Member State.
The Chinese exporter should nevertheless state clearly in the contract who is responsible for destination-country registration, reporting, fees, and data retention, and should provide accurate information about packaging materials, weight, category, and technical documentation.
The analysis should not end simply because an EU importer is involved.
Scenario 2: a Chinese brand sells through an EU subsidiary or local importing entity
The respective product-compliance and EPR roles of the brand owner, EU subsidiary, and importing entity must be assessed separately.
The EU entity may be a manufacturer or importer, and it may also be the producer that first makes the packaged product available locally. Companies should avoid treating “brand owner,” “importer,” and “EPR producer” as automatically identical.
Scenario 3: a Chinese company sells directly to EU end users through its own website, a platform, or direct shipping
This is a frequently overlooked, higher-risk scenario.
If a Chinese company sells packaging or packaged products directly to consumers or professional end users in a Member State, the Chinese seller may be the producer in that country and may need to register and fulfil EPR obligations there.
For producers established in a third country, the PPWR allows Member States to require the appointment of a local EPR authorised representative. The requirement must therefore be checked country by country and should not be treated as a completely uniform EU rule.
Germany, for example, has stated that from August 12, 2026, a foreign company with no branch in Germany that sells empty packaging or packaged products directly to German end users must appoint an authorised representative and complete the applicable registration in the LUCID Packaging Register.
Scenario 4: supplying only empty packaging or packaging materials to EU businesses
Suppliers of paper, barrier materials, empty cups, empty cartons, and similar products are not necessarily the parties that ultimately bear EPR.
The key questions remain whether the customer is an end user, who first makes the packaging available in the Member State, and whether the packaging is empty packaging, transport packaging, or part of a packaged product at the time of the transaction.
Even when they do not bear the EPR registration obligation, suppliers of materials and empty packaging may still be responsible for product information, document transfer, and supply-chain cooperation.
4. Complete These Seven Steps Before Looking for a Registration Portal
For any export transaction involving the EU, the assessment can follow this sequence:
Step 1: identify the packaging object.
Is it empty packaging, packaging material, transport packaging, or sales packaging already containing a product?
Step 2: list the destination Member States.
Do not write only “EU export”; identify the actual countries of sale, such as Germany, France, and Italy.
Step 3: identify the customer.
Will the customer resell the goods, or is it an end user such as a consumer, factory, or food-service business?
Step 4: confirm who first makes the packaging available locally.
Use the contract, order, logistics arrangements, transfer of title, and actual sales route to determine who first makes the packaging or packaged product available in the Member State.
Step 5: determine the product-compliance roles and the EPR producer separately.
Do not use a single “responsible party” label to cover every obligation.
Step 6: check the national system.
Confirm the competent authority, registration platform, producer responsibility organisation (PRO), authorised-representative rules, reporting periods, and fee arrangements.
Step 7: continue fulfilling obligations after registration.
Registration is not the end. Companies must report packaging quantities, materials, and categories as required locally, pay the relevant fees, and retain traceable records.
5. What Information Can Be Prepared Now?
Companies can begin by establishing a “country–transaction–packaging” register containing at least:
- Company name, address, contact details, tax number, and commercial-registration information;
- Brands and selling entities;
- Destination Member States, customer types, and transaction routes;
- Contracts, orders, and logistics arrangements;
- Packaging structure, material categories, unit weight, and annual quantities placed on the market;
- Declarations of conformity, technical documents, and supplier evidence;
- Appointment details for a local PRO or EPR authorised representative, where applicable; and
- Member State registration numbers, reporting records, and proof of fee payment.
The PPWR provides a common framework for registration information, but Member States may require additional information under their national systems. Actual implementation should be checked item by item with the competent authority and registration platform in each target country.
6. Five Common Misunderstandings
Misunderstanding 1: obtaining a “PPWR certificate” completes compliance. The PPWR is not a single certificate; product compliance, EPR registration, and third-party certification must be handled separately.
Misunderstanding 2: registration in one EU country covers the entire EU. Producer registration is generally determined by each Member State in which packaging is first made available.
Misunderstanding 3: having an EU importer means the Chinese company has nothing further to consider. The analysis depends on whether the importer actually performs the first making-available role and whether the contract matches the real transaction.
Misunderstanding 4: every Chinese exporter must appoint an EU authorised representative. For third-country EPR producers, the PPWR permits Member States to impose this requirement; the position must be checked country by country.
Misunderstanding 5: registration proves that the packaging product complies with the PPWR. EPR registration does not replace requirements relating to materials, design, labelling, declarations of conformity, or technical documentation.
Conclusion: determine the role before discussing registration
The PPWR introduces more than an additional registration step. It requires companies to connect packaging materials, the transaction chain, and Member State responsibilities.
For Chinese exporters, the most reliable starting point is not purchasing a generic “PPWR registration service,” but answering four questions: which country is the product sold into, who buys it, what type of packaging is involved, and who first makes it available locally?
Only after those four points are clear can a company determine who must register, where registration is required, whether a PRO or authorised representative is needed, and what further product-compliance evidence must be prepared.
For a specific business model, first document the target country, customer, packaging type, and party making it available for the first time, and then confirm the position country by country with the competent authority or a qualified adviser.
BIOTEN Packaging Barrier Systems
Principal references
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Articles 3, 44 and 45, and Annex IX;
- European Commission implementation guidance for Regulation (EU) 2025/40, C(2026) 3702;
- The European Commission’s official Packaging Waste and PPWR implementation pages; and
- Official guidance from Germany’s Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) on foreign companies and authorised representatives.
