EU weighs PPWR compliance relief as cross-border small businesses face costs
Key takeaways
- EU lawmakers are considering temporary relief from PPWR authorized representative requirements for small cross-border sellers.
- Industry groups support a more proportionate system, but disagree on whether exemptions should be based on company size or the volume of packaging.
- Stakeholders stress that any relief should apply only to authorized representatives, while registration, reporting, and EPR fee obligations remain in force.
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has raised concerns among micro and small businesses selling across borders within the bloc with its authorized-representative requirements, part of its EPR rules, industry groups warn.
While EU lawmakers consider temporary relief for eligible businesses, industry stakeholders remain divided over how exemptions should work and how to ensure producers continue to meet their packaging waste obligations.
The debate follows Packaging Insights’ recent coverage of the European Parliament committee’s backing for a proposed suspension of authorized representative requirements for eligible businesses under packaging EPR rules.
Since then, on October 8, Austria, supported by Czechia and Estonia, submitted a document to the Council ahead of its October 12 Environment Council meeting, calling for a proportionate EPR framework for small producers and the single market under the PPWR.
“While the suspension is still being negotiated, no obligation to appoint an authorized representative should apply,” Tim Arlt, CEO of Händlerbund, one of Europe’s largest e-financial obligations.”
The EXPRA spokesperson notes that the EU’s EPR obligations for SMEs selling online are not an entirely new concept introduced by the PPWR. In fact, these have been in place for
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