From 12 August 2026, a company importing goods from outside the European Union is responsible for the compliance of their packaging with EU law. The obligation follows from the PPWR Regulation (EU Regulation 2025/40), which replaces the packaging directive 94/62/EC on that date. For an importer this means a new scope of supplier verification, its own details printed on the packaging and documentation to be kept for several years.
Importers ask most often at which point responsibility passes from the manufacturer to them. The guide below sets out the roles in the supply chain, the obligations applying from August 2026 and the calendar of later requirements.
Update of 6 August 2026. On 5 August 2026 the Polish Ministry of Finance published a notice for importers on PUESC, the Electronic Services Platform of the Fiscal and Customs Service. We have updated the sections on customs clearance and on documents requested by the authorities, together with the list of preparatory steps.
Key facts
- The abbreviation PPWR stands for the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (2025/40), which applies from 12 August 2026 and is directly applicable, with no national implementing act required.
- An importer places on the market only packaging that complies with Articles 5 to 12, puts its own contact details on the packaging and verifies the supplier’s documents (Article 18).
- Article 21 transfers the full obligations of a manufacturer onto the importer whenever goods reach the market under its own brand.
- Documents must be kept for 5 years, and for reusable packaging for 10 years. This covers the technical documentation and the declaration of conformity.
- On 5 August 2026 the Ministry of Finance confirmed that a customs declaration requires neither an attached declaration of conformity nor new document codes. The complete documentation stays at the importer’s disposal, to be produced at the request of the authorities.
PPWR: what is the packaging regulation?
PPWR is Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste. The act was published on 22 January 2025, entered into force on 11 February 2025 and applies from 12 August 2026. The abbreviation comes from its English name, Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
For an importer, the change of legal form has a concrete meaning. Directive 94/62/EC required separate implementation in every member state, so requirements differed between markets. The PPWR Regulation applies directly in a single wording, which means goods admitted in Poland meet the same criteria in Germany and in France.
The directive is repealed on 12 August 2026, although some of its provisions remain in force after that date. The regulation additionally amends Regulation 2019/1020 on market surveillance and Directive 2019/904 on single-use plastics, which remains a separate act.
Who PPWR applies to: roles in the supply chain
Regulation 2025/40 defines the roles in Article 3 and separates two regimes that are often confused in practice. The first concerns product compliance of the packaging, the second extended producer responsibility, meaning the financing of waste collection and recovery.
Under the product regime, legal responsibility for the compliance of packaging rests with the manufacturer. Under the waste regime, obligations fall on the producer within the meaning of extended producer responsibility rules: it registers and reports to national authorities (Article 44) and pays a fee in the country where the packaging becomes waste (Article 45(1)). A single company may hold both roles.
| Role | Scope of responsibility | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Conformity assessment, technical documentation, declaration of conformity, labelling | 15 |
| Importer | Verification of the manufacturer’s documents, own details on the packaging, keeping the documentation | 18 |
| Distributor | Checking the labelling before making the packaging available, storage and transport conditions | 19 |
| Authorised representative | Tasks conferred by the manufacturer’s mandate | 3 |
| Producer (waste) | Registration, reporting and the fee in the country where the waste arises | 44, 45 |
Importer obligations from 12 August 2026
Article 18 of Regulation 2025/40 sets out the obligations of the importer in four areas. The starting point is the rule that an importer places on the market only packaging compliant with Articles 5 to 12, that is from substance restrictions through to labelling.
The identification details go directly onto the packaging. Where its size or shape makes this impossible, the regulation allows two alternatives: a standardised, open digital carrier under Article 12, or a document accompanying the packaged product. The print run happens at the factory, so the subject usually comes back at the ordering stage with the supplier.
When does an importer become the manufacturer of the packaging?
Article 21 describes two events after which an importer takes over the full obligations of a manufacturer under Article 15. The first is placing packaging on the market under its own name or trade mark. The second is modifying packaging already placed on the market in a way that may affect its compliance with the regulation.
What this means for own brands: importing a product in packaging carrying the buyer’s logo means stepping into the role of manufacturer. The company is then responsible for the conformity assessment, the technical documentation and the declaration of conformity, not merely for checking the supplier’s documents. Transhipment or a change of logistics label does not produce that effect.
Article 21 also provides for the reverse mechanism. Where the importer or distributor is a microenterprise within the meaning of Recommendation 2003/361/EC and the supplier of the packaging is established in the Union, the supplier remains the manufacturer for the purposes of Article 15. A separate role belongs to the authorised representative, who performs the tasks conferred by the manufacturer’s mandate.
Declaration of conformity and documents from a non-EU supplier
The conformity assessment procedure is governed by Article 38, and the model declaration of conformity by Article 39. The scope of the technical documentation is set out in Annex VII, while Article 16(1) obliges suppliers to provide the information on which that documentation is based. Collecting this data from a manufacturer in Asia usually takes the most time.
Importer preparation: 6 steps
On 5 June 2026 the European Commission published guidance on the regulation (document C(2026) 3702) covering 33 interpretative issues, including the relationship between the roles under Articles 15, 18 and 21. An earlier set of answers to frequently asked questions appeared on 30 March 2026.
PPWR and customs clearance: how the control works
Compliance of packaging with Regulation 2025/40 is controlled by market surveillance authorities, not by a separate declaration system at clearance. The regulation creates no equivalent of a due diligence statement or of a reference number entered in the customs declaration, such as the one operating under the rules on deforestation-free products.
A common misreading: PPWR is sometimes described as a rule that blocks clearance when a packaging document is missing. The regulation works differently, through classic market surveillance. Control of goods entering the Union follows the general rules of Articles 25 to 28 of Regulation 2019/1020, which PPWR merely amends.
Regulation 2019/1020 sets up a two-stage mechanism. Customs authorities at the first point of entry pass information to the office of destination where they have reason to believe that a product does not comply with the requirements. Article 22 adds to this the obligation to identify who supplied the packaging and to whom it was passed on.
The position of the Polish customs administration
Poland’s Customs Department at the Ministry of Finance confirms this division of roles. Answering a query from an industry organisation in July 2026, the ministry indicated that customs control of the requirements of the regulation takes place under market surveillance, and that the conformity of imported packaging is assessed by the competent market surveillance authority. The notice announced at that point appeared on 5 August 2026 on PUESC and repeats this division of roles, adding specifics about customs documents.
The notice settles a question that returns with every clearance: the regulation does not require the technical documentation or the EU declaration of conformity to be attached to the customs declaration. Nor are any new document codes or additional data created in the systems handling import declarations. The customs agent completes the declaration exactly as before.
Where the burden of preparation lies: the documents must remain at the importer’s disposal. A market surveillance authority or a customs authority may request them, both before the goods are placed on the market and afterwards. The role of customs authorities stays subsidiary to the powers of market surveillance, so collecting the declaration of conformity and the technical documentation from the manufacturer rests with the importer and its supplier, not with the customs procedure.
For a company bringing in goods the conclusion is a practical one. The customs declaration goes through without an additional packaging field, whereas a missing declaration of conformity at the importer stops the goods only at inspection, once the cost of transport has already been incurred. The ministry advises importers to review their documentation and to agree with suppliers how the conformity of packaging will be confirmed before 12 August 2026.
Preparation starts with the classification of the goods and with putting the supplier’s documentation in order. Support in this area comes from the customs services team handling the import, while consistency of data between the order, the invoice and the customs declaration makes it easier to answer questions from the surveillance authorities.
Material requirements and the calendar after 2026
On 12 August 2026 the substance restrictions under Article 5 start to apply. The sum of concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium originating from substances added to the packaging remains capped at 100 mg/kg. From the same date a threshold applies to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in food-contact packaging, set at 25 ppb for a single substance in targeted analysis. The remaining design requirements arrive in stages.
Calendar of application
Two of the 2030 thresholds affect imports most strongly. Minimum recycled content in plastic packaging is calculated per unit of packaging, and the percentages are given in Table 1 of Annex II. The empty space limit of 50 per cent covers grouped and transport packaging as well as packaging used in e-commerce, with the obligation resting on the party filling it. The Commission is to set out the methodology for calculating empty space before 12 February 2028.
Penalties and the Polish implementing act
Liability for infringements is governed by Article 68, which leaves the setting of penalties to the member states. The level of sanctions therefore follows from the national law of each market.
In Poland the basis is to be the draft act on packaging and packaging waste, listed under number UC100. The version of 13 March 2026 went through public consultation, and as at the end of July 2026 the act remains a draft. The Ministry of Climate and Environment has announced a gradual approach to full fees under extended producer responsibility.
EU deadlines remain binding regardless of the pace of national work, because the regulation applies directly. Industry bodies pressed in spring 2026 for part of the provisions to be postponed, and the Commission announced reporting simplifications in the Environmental Omnibus package. The date of 12 August 2026 stands.
Status as at 6 August 2026. The Ministry of Finance published its notice for importers on 5 August 2026. Implementing rules for the regulation, the Polish act listed under number UC100 and notices from the environmental administration are still being prepared. This material is updated as new guidance is published, and clients handled by Polish Forwarding Company are informed about changes directly.
Support with imports covered by PPWR
Polish Forwarding Company is an independent logistics operator with 13 branches across Poland and a team of over 140 specialists. Industry certificates (AEO, IATA, FIATA, FMC, GDP, GMP+, HACCP and NATO NCAGE) open access to markets and sectors with high regulatory requirements. Our own customs services team with AEO status handles import clearance and puts the shipping documentation in order.
Frequently asked questions
Below are 9 answers to the questions importers ask most often about the PPWR Regulation.
Sources: eur-lex.europa.eu, European Commission, EUR-Lex summary, European Commission guidance, Regulation 2019/1020, PUESC notice of 5 August 2026, gov.pl climate, gov.pl draft UC100, Government Legislation Centre
