Question
Do I have to register in every EU country I ship to?
Reviewed 2026-08-15
Short answer
Yes. There is no single EU-wide packaging registration.
How it works
- Packaging EPR is run nationally: own register, own organisations, own thresholds, own fees.
- Sell to eight countries and that is eight registrations and eight sets of reporting.
- If you are not based in a country, you may need a representative there as well.
Why it hurts small sellers
- The cost per country barely changes with how much you sell.
- Two orders a year can cost you almost as much to comply with as two thousand.
The practical approach
- Pull your last 12 months of sales by country.
- Get real quotes for the countries that matter.
- Keep the countries that earn more than they cost. The ones you barely sell to are where stopping makes sense.
Sources
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