Does the PPWR also apply to companies outside the EU?

Yes. The PPWR requirements also apply to packaging and packaged products from third countries as soon as they are placed on the Union market. What matters is market access, not where the company is established.

Two questions that must be kept apart

Product conformity. The packaging has to meet the requirements, and someone has to assess, document and declare that. Who that is depends on the route to market: it can be the producer in the third country, it can be the importer in the EU.

Extended producer responsibility. Here the PPWR determines the responsible “producer” for each member state by who first makes available the packaging or packaged product there. In direct sales to end users in another member state the foreign seller can itself be the producer for EPR purposes. In classic supply chains through an importer or distributor in the EU, responsibility can sit with that European operator instead.

For certain cross-border distance sales, Article 45(3) as it currently stands requires an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility in the member state concerned. For producers from third countries, member states may require such an appointment on top of that.

What this means for exporters in practice

Three points decide whether a shipment into the EU goes through:

• The substance limits apply now. The sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium must not exceed 100 mg/kg, and for food contact the three PFAS limits come on top. That takes analysis, not an assurance.
• The evidence has to be usable in the EU. A test report from a laboratory without recognised accreditation does not help the European customer, because they cannot take it into their own technical documentation.
• The customer asks before the authority does. In practice the first request comes not from market surveillance but from the European customer, who has to back up their own declaration of conformity.

Evidence that rests on a published certification programme, tested in laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 and assessed under ISO/IEC 17065, travels internationally and can be passed along the supply chain through the sub-licence system.