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Do the EU packaging rules apply to you?

Answer five questions and find out which rules apply to you, when they start, and what to do. Every line links to the official source.

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Key dates

13 Dec 2024: Product safety rules (GPSR) started. This date has passed.
12 Aug 2026: EU packaging rules start, including needing a representative in each country.
12 Aug 2028: New EU packaging labels required. Not 2026.
2030 / 2040: Reuse targets, and more recycled content required.

Commonly wrong

Registering for one producer scheme covers the others.
No. The product and its packaging are two separate schemes, with separate registrations and fees.
Why this is wrong
Micro-enterprises are exempt from the new EU packaging rules.
No. There is no general micro exemption from EPR registration.
Why this is wrong
The new EU packaging labels are required from 12 August 2026.
No. Harmonised EU labelling starts 12 August 2028.
Why this is wrong
Switching off EU shipping makes the problem go away entirely.
It stops new sales. It does not settle obligations from sales already made.
Why this is wrong
Defra EPR means every business now pays packaging fees.
Defra EPR is the UK's packaging recycling rules — extended producer responsibility. Under £1 million turnover or under 25 tonnes of packaging a year, you are out of scope. Above that, you register and report on GOV.UK.
Why this is wrong
You cannot sell into Europe without a packaging licence.
There is no such licence. What sellers call a packaging licence is really two things: an entry in a country's packaging register, and a paid contract with a recycling scheme. Which ones you need depends on where you sell.
Why this is wrong
Only sellers outside the EU need local representatives.
More than you'd guess — and EU-based sellers need them too. Six countries required one for every foreign seller before the EU rules did, five let you join the national scheme directly instead, and the EU rules now expect one everywhere for posted orders.
Why this is wrong
Selling into Hungary means paying the environmental product fee on your packaging.
Not for packaging — that ended in January 2025. Packaging now runs through the EPR fee instead, paid to MOHU, the state concession company. Guides describing the product fee, or offsetting one fee against the other, are out of date.
Why this is wrong
There is a 50-tonne EU-wide threshold below which small sellers are exempt.
Only in the Netherlands. It is not an EU-wide threshold.
Why this is wrong

Northern Ireland is a different answer

PPWR product rules apply via the Windsor Framework. For EPR you stay in UK pEPR. An NI to Republic sale is a sale into the EU. The NI position

What this is

Which rules apply to you, and when.
A country-by-country register directory.
A primary source on every claim.
Dated and changelogged.

What it is not

Legal or professional advice.
A fee calculator — costs are attributed ranges only.
A substitute for asking the register directly.

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