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Packaging Rules CheckEU packaging rules for small sellers

Changelog

What changed, and when

A regulatory tool that quietly goes stale is worse than none.

  1. 2026-08-16

    • Added a question explaining that electricals need separate WEEE registration as well as packaging registration, and that neither covers the other.
    • Recorded the UK WEEE small producer route: under 5 tonnes a year, registered directly with the regulator.
    • Recorded that UK WEEE registration does not cover sales into the EU, where you register per country.
    • Flagged as unconfirmed whether EU WEEE applies to a Northern Ireland producer alongside the UK rules.
    • Added a United Kingdom entry to the country directory, covering who you register with, the turnover and tonnage bands, and what large producers pay.
    • Recorded that UK registration does not cover the EU, and EU registration does not cover the UK.

  2. 2026-08-15

    • First version published: obligation checker, country directory and question hub.
    • Recorded that Article 45(3) catches any producer not established in the destination member state, including EU sellers shipping cross-border — not only non-EU sellers.
    • Recorded that Council negotiations on the proposed Article 45(3) suspension (COM(2025) 982 final) were discontinued on 24 June 2026.
    • Recorded that the proposed suspension covered EU-established producers only, so it would not have helped GB or NI sellers.
    • Noted the ENVI committee vote on narrowing relief to micro and small enterprises, expected 1 October 2026 — after the application date.
    • Confirmed harmonised packaging labelling applies from 12 August 2028, not 2026.
    • Recorded that there is no general micro-enterprise exemption from packaging EPR registration.
    • Country directory researched in detail for Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Czechia. The other 17 member states are published as outline only and marked unchecked.
    • Recorded the Netherlands 50-tonne threshold, and the open question of whether it survives PPWR's registration duty from 12 August 2026.
    • Recorded the Northern Ireland position: PPWR product rules apply via the Windsor Framework, EPR stays under UK pEPR, and an NI to Republic of Ireland sale is a sale into the EU market.