Pravano · Knowledge base · Packaging / PPWR

EPR abroad: the register under Article 44 of the PPWR will not save you

Methodology: Marek Galetka, founder of Pravano. English translation of our Czech article, which a person approved before publication; every number, date and legal reference of the translation is checked automatically against the original.

Cross-checked as of 5 October 2026 · based on primary sources

Updated 5 October 2026. Based on Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) and Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. An informative readiness check, not a legal service or an official audit. Original: česká verze.

A line of reasoning that naturally suggests itself in cross-border sales: wait until the registers of producers under the PPWR are launched and then register everywhere at once. It is a logical line of reasoning – and precisely the mistake that in practice leads to breaches of obligations the company does not even know about. The register under Article 44 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) is indeed yet to be set up. But extended producer responsibility (EPR) in the individual countries does not wait for it.

This article keeps strictly to one point: what applies in cross-border sales regardless of when the registers under Article 44 are launched, and what, by contrast, really does wait for the implementing acts. This is general information, not individual legal advice for a specific company.

What applies with certainty: EPR already operates in national schemes today

Anyone who makes packaged products available for the first time directly to end users on the territory of another Member State is a producer there under Article 3(1), point 15(d) of the PPWR. Typically this is exactly the online shop that packs goods in its own warehouse and ships them to customers in another EU country – without a local distributor, without a warehouse on the spot, directly.

From this follows extended producer responsibility under Article 45(1) – which expressly states that it applies within the schemes established in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. These are the existing national EPR schemes – mechanisms that have been operating in the individual Member States for many years, regardless of whether and when the new national registers under the PPWR are set up.

In other words: the PPWR does not introduce EPR as something new. It specifies who the producer is in cross-border sales and adds one new obligation – the appointment of a representative (see below). The obligation itself to join the extended producer responsibility scheme in the destination country, however, existed before and continues to apply under the national rules of each country.

Decision guide: when you are a producer in the destination country

The condition “directly to end users” in Article 3(1), point 15(d) decides between two different situations:

• You ship goods from your warehouse straight to a customer in another EU country, without a local intermediary who would resell the goods → you are a producer in that country and the EPR obligation under Article 45(1) concerns you directly.
• You supply goods to a local distributor or wholesaler who sells them on to end customers under its own registration → the producer is typically this local entity, because it is the one that makes the packaged product available for the first time directly to the end user.

If you combine both models – part of the goods goes through a local partner, part straight from the warehouse – assess the two flows separately. The obligation arises for you only where you supply directly.

New obligation from 12 August 2026: the authorised representative under Article 45(3)

Under Article 45(3), the producer appoints in writing an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility in each Member State in which it makes packaging or a packaged product available for the first time and in which it is not established. This obligation follows the general applicability of the PPWR – under Article 71, the regulation applies from 12 August 2026 (the only exception is Article 67(5), which concerns a different area and is unrelated to this topic). The text contains no deferral for Article 45(3) – the appointment of the representative therefore cannot be postponed until the register is set up. The Commission has proposed suspending the application of Article 45(3) until 1 January 2035 (proposal COM(2025) 982, procedure 2025/0395(COD)), but as at 30 September 2026 the proposal had not been adopted – the obligation therefore applies, and the progress of the legislative procedure needs to be followed.

Beware of confusing the two: this authorised representative for extended producer responsibility (Article 3(1), point 20) is a different role from the manufacturer's authorised representative under Article 17, who above all keeps the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation on behalf of the manufacturer. These are neither interchangeable terms nor two names for the same function.

What implementing acts will still specify (outlook)

The register of producers under Article 44 is a separate matter from the obligation itself. Producers register in every Member State in which they make packaging or a packaged product available for the first time, or in which they unpack a packaged product without being end users – and without registration they may not supply (Article 44(4)). The mechanism for setting up the register has two stages:

• The Commission was to adopt, by 12 February 2026, an implementing act laying down the format for registration and for reporting (Article 44(14)).
• From the entry into force of this first implementing act, Member States have 18 months to set up a national register in each of them (Article 44(1)).

Whether the Commission has already issued this implementing act cannot be determined from the text of the regulation – it is a question of the current state of affairs, not of the text of the legislation, and must be checked with the source as at today's date. What matters for decision-making, however, is this: even if the register were formally not yet operating, the obligation to join EPR in the destination country under Article 45(1) is in no way suspended by that – it runs in the existing national schemes regardless of the status of the register under Article 44.

If you plan to wait for the register to be launched and only then deal with the obligations in all countries at once, you risk breaching, in the meantime, national rules that already operate today independently of the registers under Article 44.

National layers differ – and in some countries stricter rules apply

The PPWR sets the framework, but the specific administration (where to register, who checks, what thresholds apply) is determined by the national scheme of the country concerned. In practice this means that the requirements differ from country to country:

• Some national schemes work with quantity thresholds for small volumes of supplies; others have no threshold at all, and the registration obligation arises regardless of the volume of sales.
• In some countries, the producer's registration is also checked by the online marketplaces through which you sell the goods – without a valid registration, a marketplace may prevent you from offering goods to local customers. In addition, under Article 45(4) of the PPWR, an online platform through which consumers conclude distance contracts with producers must, before making its services available to the producer, obtain from it information on its registration in the consumer's Member State and a self-certification of compliance with extended producer responsibility in that state; the registration details, however, presuppose the registers under Article 44, which had not been set up as at 1 October 2026.
• Some countries require the appointment of a local representative for foreign distance sellers as a separate condition, independently of what Article 45(3) requires at EU level – the two obligations may therefore add up.

The exact conditions, thresholds and deadlines of the individual national schemes must be checked directly with the competent national authority or the operator of the scheme concerned, for each destination country separately – generalising across states would be misleading. One obligation, however, is imposed directly by the Czech Packaging Act: a person established in the Czech Republic who supplies by means of distance communication directly to consumers or other end users in another Member State single-use plastic packaging or packaging items (obalové prostředky) listed in Annex 4, Part C or D (e.g. beverage bottles of up to 3 l, packets and wrappers containing food for immediate consumption, beverage cups, food containers for immediate consumption, plastic carrier bags) must designate an authorised representative in accordance with the law of the destination state (Section 13a(3) of Act No. 477/2001 Coll.); otherwise there is a risk of a fine of up to CZK 5,000,000.

Practical example

A Czech online shop sells drugstore products and cosmetics, packs the goods in purchased boxes without its own printing and ships them to end customers in Germany and Austria. If you operate such an online shop, your company is, under Article 3(1), point 15(d), the producer of the packaging in both countries. This means: registration in the relevant national EPR scheme of each destination country, monitoring of any quantity thresholds (if they exist in the country concerned) and, from the date the PPWR applies, also the written appointment of an authorised representative in each of those countries where you are not established. Waiting for the launch of the registers under Article 44 does not help in this scenario – the obligations in Germany and Austria run independently of them.

How to find out where the obligation arises for you

A decision procedure that works regardless of your line of business:

1. List all EU countries to which you supply goods directly to end consumers (B2C).
2. For each country, find out whether there is a national EPR scheme for packaging and what the conditions for producer registration are.
3. Check whether the country sets a quantity threshold below which no registration obligation arises – and if so, compare it with your actual volume of supplies to that country.
4. Check whether the country requires the appointment of a local representative under its own national rules; you must always appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility under Article 45(3) of the PPWR in every country where you are not established.
5. Record the results in a simple table (country – scheme – registration yes/no – representative yes/no – deadline) and keep this table up to date, because you register in each country separately and the deadlines differ.

If you supply only one or two countries, you can put this overview together yourself in a few hours of work. If you supply several countries at the same time, it pays to verify the situation by means of a quick check, which will show you exactly where the obligation arises for you and what needs to be dealt with first.

Penalties: national schemes are already enforcing today, the PPWR adds another layer

Member States must lay down general penalties for infringements of the PPWR by 12 February 2027 – they must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and for infringements of Articles 24 to 29 they must also include administrative fines (Article 68(1) and (2)). This deadline, however, concerns penalties for infringements of the PPWR regulation itself as a whole.

The national EPR schemes in the individual countries (typically the administrators of packaging registers) have their own long-established enforcement mechanisms independent of this deadline – including checks of registration via online marketplaces. A missing registration in the destination country may therefore be penalised under the national rules of that country regardless of when the penalties for infringements of the PPWR itself take effect.

30/60/90-day action plan

1. Within the next 30 days: draw up a complete list of the EU countries where you sell directly to end customers, and for each one check the existence and basic conditions of a national EPR scheme for packaging. Appoint the authorised representative under Article 45(3) in each of these countries where you are not established without delay – the obligation applies from 12 August 2026.
2. Within 60 days: for each country on the list, find out whether a quantity threshold exists and whether your volume of supplies to that country triggers the registration obligation; register wherever the obligation arises.
3. Within 90 days: check that you have an authorised representative under Article 45(3) appointed in writing in each country where you supply for the first time and where you are not established, and set up an internal process that regularly updates the list of countries and the status of registrations – especially when expanding sales into new markets.

Common misconceptions

First misconception: “We will wait for the register under Article 44 and then deal with everything at once.”
The registers are an administrative tool that will only come into being in each Member State after the implementing act has been issued, at the latest within 18 months of its entry into force. The EPR obligation itself under Article 45(1) runs in the existing national schemes regardless of the status of these registers.

Second misconception: “A small volume of sales abroad means it does not concern us.”
Quantity thresholds are not uniform across countries – some national schemes have them, others require registration regardless of volume. The assumption that a threshold exists must be verified in each specific country, not inferred from another one.

Third misconception: “The authorised representative under Article 45 is the same as the manufacturer's authorised representative under Article 17.”
These are two different roles with a different scope of mandate (Article 45(3) versus Article 17). Confusing them means mandating the wrong person with the wrong task.

Summary

If you sell packaged goods directly to end customers in another EU country, you are a producer there under Article 3(1), point 15(d), and extended producer responsibility under Article 45(1) falls on you within the existing national scheme of that country – regardless of when the national registers of producers under Article 44 are set up. In addition, from the date the PPWR applies (12 August 2026), there is the obligation to appoint in writing an authorised representative for EPR in each country of supply where you are not established (Article 45(3)). If, on the other hand, you supply through a local distributor who sells the goods on under its own registration, the producer may be that distributor, not you – the word “directly” is decisive. The register under Article 44 is a separate tool that is still being set up, and waiting for it is the most expensive mistake that can be made in cross-border sales, because the obligations in the destination countries keep running in the meantime.

This article is a general explanation, not individual legal advice. A specific overview for your company (Pravano Kompas) comes with the free check – in writing, within 2 working days.