If you place packaging or packaged products on the market in an EU Member State where your business has no establishment, you may need to appoint an EPR Authorised Representative before you can lawfully sell there. This guide explains, step by step, who needs one, how the appointment actually works, and the mistakes that cause the most compliance problems.
What Is an EPR Authorised Representative?
An EPR Authorised Representative is a natural or legal person established in the relevant EU Member State, appointed by written mandate to fulfil a Producer's packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations under PPWR Chapter VIII — registration, reporting and, depending on national law, interaction with the local Producer Responsibility Organisation (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2025).
One distinction matters more than most guides admit. PPWR contains two different authorised-representative concepts, and confusing them causes real compliance errors:
- Article 17 Manufacturer's Authorised Representative — acts for the Manufacturer on packaging conformity tasks (technical documentation, cooperating with market-surveillance authorities). This role sits inside the product-conformity framework, not EPR.
- Article 45 EPR Authorised Representative — acts for the Producer on packaging-waste and EPR duties in a specific Member State. This is the role this article covers.
The two have different principals, different establishment rules and different mandates. Holding one does not automatically give you the other (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2025).
Regulatory status check (current as of this writing): Article 45(3) is currently binding under Regulation (EU) 2025/40. The European Commission has proposed suspending it until 1 January 2035 (COM(2025) 982), but as of late August 2026 that proposal remains under ordinary legislative procedure and has not taken legal effect (European Commission, 2025; European Union, 2026). Treat the suspension as pending, not enacted, until it clears the legislative process.
Who Needs to Appoint an EPR Authorised Representative?
You generally need one if your business:
- Is established outside the EU and makes packaging or packaged products available for the first time to end users in a Member State where you have no local entity.
- Sells cross-border within the EU into a Member State where you are not established, and that country's national law requires representation for non-established Producers.
- Sells through e-commerce or distance-selling channels directly to consumers in a Member State without a local subsidiary or branch.
Article 45 sets the EU-level frame for these cross-border cases, but national law fills in most of the practical detail — eligibility, appointment mechanics and what the representative can and cannot do vary by country (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2025).
How to Appoint an EPR Authorised Representative: Step by Step
1. Confirm you actually need one, and for which country
Check the specific Member State's rule, not a general EU assumption. "One EPR AR covers all 27 countries" is one of the most common — and costly — misreadings of the regulation; no such blanket appointment exists. Each Member State where you have obligations needs its own assessment.
2. Identify the legal entity, not the brand
Before anything else, get the full legal name, company-registration number and registered office of the entity that will actually sign the mandate. If a compliance provider works through local partners, ask which partner becomes the statutory representative and which company appears in the national producer register — the marketing brand and the legally appointed entity are not always the same company.
3. Verify legal eligibility in that Member State
Confirm the proposed representative meets the establishment and legal-person requirements of the country concerned: a registered office or qualifying branch there, and active company registration.
4. Define the scope of the mandate precisely
The written mandate should state exactly which packaging streams, registrations, declarations and EPR functions are covered — and, just as importantly, which obligations remain personal to you as Producer and cannot be delegated (such as the accuracy of your own packaging data).
5. Complete the country-specific appointment mechanics
This is where national law replaces any one-size-fits-all template. For example:
- Germany: the written agreement must be in German, signed by hand or with a qualified electronic signature, and the representative must be independent of the Producer's own company. Only one authorised representative may be appointed at a time. Initial registration in LUCID remains the Producer's own duty; the representative then takes on the ongoing EPR activities (Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister, 2026).
- Spain: foreign operators that qualify as Producer through direct first supply to Spanish end users appoint a representative operating through the RPP framework; the representative carries out RPP registration and information reporting (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, 2026).
- Denmark: current guidance requires a Danish legal entity with an active CVR registration, requested through the producer register and accepted by the representative, who may then choose a collective scheme or individual solution and receives invoices on the Producer's behalf (Dansk Producentansvar, 2026).
6. Set up ongoing reporting, PRO interaction and evidence management
Depending on national law, reporting may be submitted by you, your EPR AR, or your Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) — and a PRO membership is a separate arrangement from the EPR AR mandate, even though both may appear in the same compliance file. Make sure registration evidence, declarations and invoices are kept in an exportable, auditable form from day one.
7. Confirm financial terms are itemised, not bundled
Professional-service fees, statutory registration charges, PRO contributions, deposits and taxes should each be visible as separate line items. "The fee includes EPR" is worth a follow-up question — it can mean very different things depending on the provider.
8. Agree exit and continuity terms before you sign
Confirm, in writing, what happens to your registration data, your producer-register entry and any open reporting periods if you terminate the mandate or change provider.
What It Costs
Packaging EPR costs are not a single EU fee. They generally fall into four layers: authority/register charges, PRO or system contributions (often volume-based), representation fees where an EPR AR is required, and separate taxes, levies or deposit mechanisms. Some of these — registration or representation charges in particular — can remain payable even in a year where you sell nothing in that country, until the registration or mandate is formally closed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming an Article 17 (Manufacturer) mandate also covers Article 45 EPR duties, or the reverse.
- Assuming one appointment automatically covers every Member State.
- Treating a PRO membership agreement as if it were also an EPR AR appointment.
- Accepting "we handle everything" without asking which obligations legally remain yours as Producer.
- Writing the pending 2035 suspension proposal into a mandate or country decision as though it had already taken effect.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an EPR Authorised Representative the same as a Manufacturer's Authorised Representative under Article 17? No. Article 17 covers specified Manufacturer conformity tasks; the EPR AR represents the Producer in Chapter VIII packaging-EPR matters (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2025).
Does one EPR Authorised Representative cover the whole EU? No. The role is tied to establishment in, and appointment for, a specific Member State.
Has the Article 45(3) EPR AR requirement already been suspended until 2035? Not yet. The Commission has proposed the suspension (COM(2025) 982), but as of late August 2026 the legislative procedure is still ongoing (European Commission, 2025; European Union, 2026).
Can my EPR Authorised Representative take over all my compliance responsibility? No. National implementation determines exactly which duties transfer and which remain personal to you as Producer, including the accuracy of your own packaging data.
Appointing the right EPR Authorised Representative starts with knowing exactly which legal role you need and in which Member State. Beyoğlu Professional's PPWR-EPR compliance services help producers map their obligations country by country and put a compliant mandate in place — check your EU scope to see where your appointment obligations actually begin.
References
European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2025). Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from EUR-Lex.
European Commission. (2025). Proposal for a Regulation suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility for batteries and waste batteries and packaging and packaging waste. COM(2025) 982 final; 2025/0395(COD). Retrieved August 30, 2026, from EUR-Lex.
European Union. (2026). Procedure 2025/0395/COD. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from EUR-Lex.
Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister. (2026). Packaging Act: Authorised representatives. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from ZSVR.
Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico. (2026). Registro de Productores de Producto — Sección envases. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from MITECO.
Dansk Producentansvar. (2026). Authorised Representative. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from Dansk Producentansvar.
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