Does EPR & PPWR apply to me?

You are a Distributor only when none of your packaging is designed, specified, or branded by you – across every layer. That means the product's retail packaging is the original brand's (you resell other companies' already-packaged goods) and your shipping packaging is generic, off-the-shelf stock from EU suppliers – plain boxes, generic mailers, bubble wrap. Because none of it carries a design or brand of yours, the supplier or original brand that made it is the legal 'Manufacturer' under the PPWR, not you. If you sell your own-brand product, this is usually not you: the retail packaging you had made is yours (see Manufacturer, below).

Your duty is verification and due care (Article 19). Before you make the packaging available, check that it carries the required harmonised sorting label and that the manufacturer or importer behind it is a registered producer that has provided its details – you're confirming they met their obligations, not re-running their conformity assessment. You do not create technical documentation or sign a Declaration of Conformity yourself, but you must cooperate with market-surveillance authorities and hand over any documents you hold on request.

You are an Importer when you place packaging from outside the EU on the EU market – for example, bringing in goods (and their packaging) from China, the USA, the UK or Turkey. Importers carry a heavier burden than domestic distributors.

You must actively ensure the non-EU manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the Annex VII technical documentation. You keep a copy of the EU Declaration of Conformity available to authorities and must be able to produce the technical documentation within 10 days of a reasoned request. You also have to put your own name, trade name and postal address on the packaging (or a digital data carrier) – you are its EU point of contact.

Note: if you sell that imported packaging under your own brand, Article 21 reclassifies you as the Manufacturer, with the full documentation duties below.

Under Article 3 you are the 'Manufacturer' of any packaging you have designed or made under your own name or trademark – and that means every layer, not just the shipping box. The pouch, bottle, jar, or label your product is sold in counts just as much as a custom-printed mailer or bespoke box. The trigger is design control, not a printed logo: deciding the size, material, shape, or structure makes you the Manufacturer, even with no visible branding and even if a supplier physically produces it. So if you sell an own-brand product, its retail packaging is almost always yours by this test – even when you ship it in a plain, off-the-shelf box you bought unbranded. (One carve-out: if you are a micro-enterprise and your supplier is in the same Member State, the supplier keeps the Manufacturer title.)

As Manufacturer you carry the heaviest burden. You must run a conformity self-assessment (Annex VII, Module A – internal production control), compile the Annex VII technical documentation (material composition, recyclability and minimisation assessments, test reports), and draw up and sign an Annex VIII EU Declaration of Conformity for each packaging type before it goes on the market.

This is a legal, not administrative, act: under Article 39(4), by signing the Declaration you assume responsibility for the packaging's compliance – even if you relied on suppliers' data. Keep the documentation available to authorities for 5 years (single-use) or 10 years (reusable).

If you design or commission your own packaging and also import it (or its goods) from outside the EU, Article 21 makes you the legal 'Manufacturer' – branding imported packaging as your own puts the full manufacturer burden on you: a Module A conformity assessment, Annex VII technical documentation, and a signed Annex VIII EU Declaration of Conformity. Because that packaging comes from outside the EU, you must also get the material data from your non-EU suppliers to back the documentation, and act as the EU point of contact for it.

Most growing stores end up here: standard packaging for some lines, custom for others; some goods sourced in the EU, some imported. PPWR duties are assigned per packaging type, so you can be a Distributor for one product and a Manufacturer for another at the same time.

For standard EU-sourced packaging you have light Distributor duties (verify your supplier's Declaration of Conformity). For imported packaging you take on Importer verification duties. For anything you design or brand, you are the Manufacturer and must produce the full documentation. Map each packaging type to its role and apply the matching duties.