What is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)? The EU's per-country register/report/pay regime, in plain English

EPR makes the company placing a product on the market financially responsible for its post-consumer stage. It runs per-country and per-stream — packaging, WEEE, batteries, textiles — with marketplace delisting now the sharpest enforcement lever. Here's what it actually is.

EU Responsible Person (EU RP): who needs one, what they actually do, and how to designate one

An EU Responsible Person is the EU-established economic operator that authorities can reach when a non-EU brand sells into the Union. Since 13 December 2024, every covered consumer product placed on the EU market must have one named on the listing, the product, or the packaging. Here is what the role does, who needs it, and what to put in place this quarter.

GPSR for Shopify sellers: the Article 19 block, the EU Responsible Person, and what changes for every EU-shipping store

Shopify is not a marketplace under GPSR Article 22 — which makes the seller, not the platform, responsible for Article 19 compliance on every listing. Here is the exact listing block, the EU Responsible Person requirement, the theme-template change, and the per-region catalogue audit every Shopify store needs to run for the EU 27.

What is a Digital Product Passport (DPP)? The EU's per-SKU data record, in plain English

The Digital Product Passport is the structured digital record the EU is rolling out under ESPR — batteries first (Feb 2027), textiles next, then most physical product categories through 2030. Here's what it actually contains, who has to issue one, and what to do this quarter.

What is GPSR? A plain-English overview

The EU General Product Safety Regulation has been enforceable since 13 December 2024. Here is what it actually changes for online sellers — the obligations, the dates, and the practical baseline.

What is REACH SVHC? The 0.1% w/w per-article threshold and Article 33 communication duty, in plain English

REACH — Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 — requires anyone supplying an article in the EU that contains a Substance of Very High Concern above 0.1% w/w per article to (a) communicate sufficient information up the B2B chain under Article 33(1), (b) respond to consumer requests within 45 days under Article 33(2), and (c) notify the ECHA SCIP database. The Candidate List is updated by ECHA roughly each January and June — every update can pull new substances into your existing products.

What is CE marking? The EU self-declaration that lets you place a product on the market

CE marking is the manufacturer's declaration that a product meets every applicable EU product directive — Toy Safety, LVD, EMC, RED, PPE or Machinery, in most ecommerce cases. It is self-declared (Module A) for non-Annex-IV products, but you must hold a technical file and a signed EU Declaration of Conformity (EN ISO/IEC 17050-1) for ten years. Amazon EU has intensified DoC requests since August 2025 and delists ASINs that cannot produce one.

What is EmpCo? The EU's anti-greenwashing law, in plain English

EmpCo — Directive (EU) 2024/825 — is the live EU law banning vague eco-claims, offset-based 'carbon neutral' product claims and unverified sustainability labels. Enforcement starts 27 September 2026. Here's what it actually does.

What is the EU Right to Repair Directive? Plain-English overview of (EU) 2024/1799

The Right to Repair Directive — (EU) 2024/1799 — forces manufacturers of regulated product categories (washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, vacuum cleaners, smartphones, tablets and the categories ESPR expands to) to repair on request, offer spare parts and tools at a non-discriminatory price, and provide an indicative repair price up front using the standardised European Repair Information Form (Annex I). Repaired products get a 12-month warranty extension. Member states must apply the directive by 31 July 2026.

What is PPWR? The EU's directly-applicable packaging law, in plain English

PPWR — Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — is the EU's new packaging law. Same text in all 27 member states. General application starts 12 August 2026, with tightening milestones through 2038. Here's what it actually does.

GPSR on Amazon EU: the Manufacturer Contact attribute, the EU Responsible Person field, and how Seller Central enforces Article 22

Amazon is the EU's largest GPSR enforcer. The Manufacturer Contact and Responsible Person attributes in Seller Central are mandatory on covered listings since 13 December 2024, and Amazon delists non-compliant ASINs automatically. Here is what each field expects, the per-marketplace differences, and the audit every Amazon EU seller needs to run this quarter.

Non-EU seller obligations: the actual EU compliance stack for brands shipping into the Union from outside

If you sell physical consumer products into the EU from outside it, six regimes attach to every order: GPSR, EU Responsible Person, EPR, PPWR, EmpCo, and (from 2027 onwards) DPP. Here is the full obligation stack, the deadlines that are already live, and the operational checklist for 2026.

Banned green claims under EmpCo: the six practices to remove from your marketing

Under Directive (EU) 2024/825, six specific marketing practices are banned outright across the EU 27 from 27 September 2026 — no balancing test, no defence. Here are the six, with concrete before/after examples.

PPWR packaging requirements: the seven checks every EU seller must pass

PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40) imposes seven concrete packaging requirements that phase in between 12 August 2026 and 2038. This guide walks each check with what is enforceable now versus what to capture for upcoming milestones.

EPR registration by country: the EU 27 register/report/pay map sellers actually need

EPR is implemented per member state — LUCID, ADEME, CONAI, Verpact and 24 others. Here's how the national registers work for packaging, WEEE, batteries and textiles, what PPWR Art. 44 changes from 12 August 2026, and where non-EU sellers need an Authorised Representative.

DPP for textiles: what sellers should track now

The Digital Product Passport lands on textiles before most other categories. Here is what fashion and apparel sellers should be capturing in 2026 to be ready.

Seller responsibilities under GPSR

GPSR assigns specific duties to manufacturers, importers, distributors and fulfilment providers. This guide maps the obligations to the role you actually play — and what 'documented' means when an authority asks.

Required product information under GPSR

GPSR Article 19 lists the information online sellers must surface before checkout — manufacturer details, Responsible Person, identifiers, warnings, safe-use instructions. Here is what each field really means in practice.

EPR for online sellers: how marketplaces enforce it, and what gets your listings delisted

For e-commerce sellers, the sharpest EPR risk in 2026 isn't national fines — it's marketplace delisting under the Digital Services Act. Here's how Amazon EU, Otto, Bol.com and others enforce EPR, what pay-on-behalf actually costs, and how to pre-empt suspension.

PPWR for e-commerce sellers: the parcel, the marketplace, and what changes 12 August 2026

PPWR explicitly covers e-commerce packaging and names online marketplaces as responsible actors. From 12 August 2026, the shipping box, mailer and polybag are in scope — and listing-level enforcement is the sharpest stick. Here's the practical guide.

GPSR for Etsy sellers: handmade is not exempt, the Responsible Person field, and what changes for makers shipping into the EU

Etsy is a marketplace under GPSR Article 22, and 'handmade' carries no exemption from the General Product Safety Regulation. Since 13 December 2024, every Etsy listing shipped into the EU 27 must carry manufacturer, Responsible Person, and warnings — and Etsy delists listings missing them. Here is what an Etsy shop actually needs to do.

EmpCo for fashion and textile brands: the highest-risk sector, mapped to the six bans

Fashion is the most-scrutinised sector under EmpCo. Generic 'sustainable' collections, offset-based 'climate neutral' garments, and self-made eco-badges are squarely in the banned set. Here's the sector-specific playbook for 2026.

DPP and product traceability: the supply-chain data work the passport actually demands

The Digital Product Passport is a traceability instrument before it is a consumer-facing artefact. Here's the data chain — identifier, components, suppliers, substances, country of origin, evidence — that any DPP under ESPR or the Batteries Regulation will demand, and how to start capturing it now.

GPSR for online marketplaces

GPSR Article 22 layers product-safety duties on top of the Digital Services Act. Here is what online marketplaces must now do, and what sellers should expect from the platforms they list on.

Common GPSR mistakes online sellers make

After a year of GPSR enforcement, the same gaps appear over and over in marketplace suppressions and national-authority findings. Here are the seven most common — and what a clean fix looks like.

Ecommerce compliance readiness: the per-SKU, per-regime readiness framework for EU-shipping catalogues in 2026

EU compliance is not a single 'are we compliant?' verdict — it is a per-SKU, per-regime readiness state across GPSR, EU RP, EPR, PPWR, EmpCo and DPP. Here is the five-layer framework, the per-SKU score that drives prioritisation, and the catalogue-audit pattern that turns a regulatory backlog into a shippable engineering ticket list.

The complete GPSR compliance checklist for e-commerce sellers

A working checklist for GPSR: establishing your role, the technical file, a real risk assessment, traceability and batch numbering, listing information duties, language requirements, incident reporting through the Safety Business Gateway, and recall mechanics — plus the five failures that actually cost sellers money.

EPR registration: which countries require it and how to register

Extended Producer Responsibility is still national. Germany's LUCID, France's ADEME identifier and Citeo, Spain's producer register and plastic tax, Italy's CONAI and environmental labelling, and the Netherlands packaging fund — plus a six-step method for working out what you owe and where.

EU Digital Product Passport: what brands need to know before 2027

Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, product data moves from paper files to structured, machine-readable passports with tiered access. What a passport contains, which categories come first, why it is a data problem rather than a document problem, and what to organise during 2026.

PPWR is live: what EU packaging rules mean for your products right now

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applied from 12 August 2026, with no grace period for existing stock. Here is what is binding today — conformity documentation, PFAS and heavy metal limits, the 40% empty-space cap, recycled content declarations, Article 12 labelling and packaging EPR — and what arrives between 2028 and 2030.

EmpCo enforcement begins September 27: what your brand needs to do this week

From 27 September 2026, national rules implementing the EmpCo Directive apply to environmental claims. Banned outright: generic green adjectives, whole-product claims from one attribute, offset-based carbon neutrality and self-made sustainability labels. A five-day plan to clean up every claim you publish.

Selling to the EU from the UK? GPSR means you need a Responsible Person

Post-Brexit, a UK company is not established in the EU — so under GPSR Article 16 your products need an EU-based Responsible Person, named in every listing. What the role covers, who can hold it, how to appoint one, and why marketplaces suppress listings long before any authority calls.

EU product compliance for cosmetics and personal care brands

Cosmetics sit under more overlapping EU rules than almost any category: Regulation 1223/2009 plus GPSR for accessories and devices, PPWR and national EPR for packaging, EmpCo for environmental claims, and REACH and CLP for substances. A category map, plus the gaps we see most often in real catalogues.

EU compliance for textile and apparel sellers: the full 2026 regulatory stack

Textiles and apparel are among the most regulated product categories in the EU — and the regulatory burden is increasing. A textile seller entering the EU market in 2026 faces obligations under at least six overlapping regulations, with more arriving through the ESPR framework. This guide maps the complete regulatory stack for textile products, explains what each regulation requires, and identifies where the obligations overlap.

EU compliance for electronics sellers: CE, WEEE, RoHS, batteries, and DPP

Electronics and electrical products carry the heaviest regulatory burden of any consumer product category in the EU. A single electronic product can fall under six or more EU regulations simultaneously — each with its own documentation, labelling, registration, and reporting requirements.

EU compliance for cosmetics sellers: what is different from GPSR

Cosmetics are a special case in EU product compliance. The Cosmetics Regulation (EC 1223/2009) is a standalone, comprehensive framework that predates GPSR and operates alongside it. Cosmetics sellers face a distinct set of requirements — including their own "Responsible Person" role that is different from the GPSR EU Responsible Person — and getting the two confused is one of the most common compliance mistakes in this category.

EU compliance for toy sellers: safety, CE marking, and the updated Toy Safety Regulation

Toys are one of the most strictly regulated product categories in the EU. The existing Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC) sets comprehensive safety requirements, and the European Commission has adopted a new Toy Safety Regulation (published 2024) that will replace it with even stricter rules. If you sell toys in the EU — whether you manufacture them, import them, or resell them through marketplaces — you face a regulatory stack that combines product safety, chemical restrictions, CE marking, traceability, and marketplace enforcement.

EU compliance for furniture and home goods: REACH, GPSR, and product safety

Furniture and home goods occupy an unusual position in EU product compliance. Unlike electronics (which have CE marking directives) or cosmetics (which have a dedicated regulation), furniture has no single sector-specific EU regulation. Instead, compliance comes from the intersection of GPSR, REACH, flammability standards, PPWR, and — increasingly — ESPR sustainability requirements.

What is a Digital Product Passport and when does your product need one?

A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a machine-readable digital record that consolidates essential information about a product's identity, composition, compliance, sustainability, and lifecycle. Mandated under the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) — Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 — the DPP is intended to make supply chains more transparent, support circular economy objectives, and give consumers, regulators, and recyclers structured access to product information.

EU product compliance roadmap 2026–2030: every deadline in one place

EU product compliance is not a single event. It is a rolling series of deadlines — some already enforced, some weeks away, some years out. Missing one can mean listing suppression, customs refusal, fines, or product recalls. This roadmap consolidates every major EU product compliance deadline from 2026 through 2030 in one reference document.

The cost of EU product non-compliance: fines, delistings, and recalls in 2025–2026

Non-compliance with EU product regulations is no longer a theoretical risk. In 2025 and 2026, enforcement has accelerated across every channel — marketplace automated checks, customs interceptions, market-surveillance authority actions, and Safety Gate alerts have all increased significantly. The cost of non-compliance is no longer limited to a fine you might someday receive. It is listing suppression today, customs refusal tomorrow, and a recall notice next week.

EU compliance for US and UK brands: the complete market access guide

If you are a US or UK brand selling consumer products to EU buyers, 2024–2026 has fundamentally changed your compliance obligations. The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo), and intensified marketplace enforcement mean that selling into the EU now requires structured compliance work that many non-EU brands have never done.

Country of origin labelling for EU products: when is it mandatory?

Country of origin is the second most common compliance gap across products scanned on Regonance — missing from 32.5% of all scanned products. This guide explains when origin labelling is legally mandatory in the EU, when marketplaces enforce it anyway, and what "country of origin" actually means in EU law.

"Made in" rules for the EU: what counts and what does not

There are no harmonised EU rules on when a product can carry a "Made in" claim. The rules come from customs law, national regulations, court rulings and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive — and they do not always agree. Here is what applies.

EU textile labelling requirements: fibre composition, care symbols, and what is changing under ESPR

Regulation (EU) 1007/2011 governs fibre composition disclosure for textiles sold in the EU, and the ESPR revision is expected to add digital labelling and Digital Product Passport duties. Here are the current rules and what to prepare now.

Care label requirements for products sold in the EU: the regulation-by-regulation guide

Care instructions are the third most common compliance gap across products scanned on Regonance — missing from 25% of scanned products. There is no single EU care-labelling mandate, but national law, GPSR, marketplace policy and ESPR make care labels effectively compulsory.

GPSR compliance checklist: every field your EU product listing needs

The General Product Safety Regulation (EU 2023/988) — GPSR — has been applicable since 13 December 2024. Every consumer product listing on an EU marketplace or ecommerce storefront must carry specific information. Missing a single field can result in listing suppression, marketplace enforcement, or regulatory action.

Amazon suspended my listing for GPSR non-compliance — how to fix it

If your Amazon EU listing has been suppressed, deactivated, or flagged for GPSR non-compliance, you are not alone. Since the General Product Safety Regulation (EU 2023/988) became applicable on 13 December 2024, Amazon has been running automated compliance checks across every EU marketplace — and enforcement has intensified throughout 2025 and 2026.

EU Responsible Person vs Authorised Representative: what is the difference and which do you need?

"EU Responsible Person" and "Authorised Representative" are two terms that non-EU sellers encounter constantly when trying to comply with EU product regulations. They sound similar, they serve related purposes, and they are easy to confuse — but they are legally distinct roles created by different regulations with different scopes.

What is the EU Battery Regulation and who does it affect?

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 covers batteries sold alone, inside products or with products — so most consumer electronics brands are battery producers. What already applies (registration, take-back, labelling, removability) and what the February 2027 digital battery passport will require.

REVIEWED BY THE REGONANCE EDITORIAL TEAM

9 MIN READ · UPDATED 14 SEPTEMBER 2026

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The EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) is the most far-reaching battery legislation in the world, and it affects far more businesses than battery manufacturers. If you sell anything containing a cell — a toothbrush, a wireless earbud, a power bank, a cordless tool, an e-bike, a toy with a coin cell — you are in scope.

It has applied since 18 February 2024, replacing the old Batteries Directive, and it phases in obligations through 2027 and beyond. The headline future milestone is the digital battery passport in February 2027.

What the regulation covers

Five categories, each with different rules:

portable batteries — the cells in consumer electronics and appliances;
light means of transport (LMT) batteries — e-bikes, scooters, and similar;
electric vehicle batteries;
industrial batteries;
starter batteries for vehicles (SLI).

Importantly, the regulation applies to batteries whether sold on their own, inside a product, or with a product. Selling a product with an embedded, non-removable cell does not take you out of scope — it changes which obligations apply.

Who it affects

Producers, meaning whoever first places batteries on the market in a Member State under their own name or trademark; importers; distributors; and, for many obligations, whoever manufactures or brands the product containing the battery. If you import consumer electronics from outside the EU and sell them under your brand, you are a battery producer for the cells inside them.

There are also duties for economic operators handling waste batteries, and for online marketplaces, which must verify that sellers using them are registered as battery producers.

What already applies

Producer registration. You must be registered as a battery producer in each Member State where you place batteries on the market, and appoint an authorised representative where you are not established there. This runs alongside your packaging and WEEE registrations — same shape, separate register.

Take-back and collection. Producers finance and organise collection of waste batteries, with rising collection targets for portable batteries. In practice this means joining a national compliance scheme.

Labelling and marking. Batteries carry the separate collection symbol, capacity and chemistry information, and the crossed-out wheeled bin marking where applicable. Cadmium, lead and mercury content must be indicated where present above the specified thresholds.

Restricted substances. Limits on mercury, cadmium and lead apply, with specific derogations. If you cannot state the position for the cells inside your products, ask your supplier in writing.

Removability and replaceability. The regulation strengthens the requirement that portable batteries in appliances be readily removable and replaceable by end users, with limited exceptions. This is a design obligation with real product-development consequences and it overlaps with Right to Repair expectations.

Performance and durability information. For rechargeable portable batteries and LMT batteries, information about performance and durability must be provided.

What is coming

Milestone	Approximate timing
Digital battery passport for LMT, industrial (over 2 kWh) and EV batteries	February 2027
Carbon footprint declarations phasing across categories	2025 onwards by category
Due diligence obligations on raw material supply chains	Phased, with thresholds
Recycled content minimums for cobalt, lithium, lead and nickel	From 2031, rising 2036
Higher collection and recovery targets	Progressive to 2031

The February 2027 battery passport is the milestone to plan around now, because it requires a data structure, not a document. Each battery in scope gets a unique identifier, a QR code carrier and a record covering composition, carbon footprint, performance, durability and end-of-life information, accessible to different audiences at different levels of detail.

Note what the passport is not: it is not a marketing page, and it is not something you can assemble the week before. The data comes from cell suppliers, and getting a supplier to commit to a carbon footprint figure takes months.

How it connects to the wider picture

The battery passport is the first large-scale digital product passport in EU law, and its architecture — unique identifier, machine-readable carrier, tiered audience access, persistence obligations — is the template the wider Digital Product Passport regime under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation is following for textiles, electronics and other categories. Businesses building battery data now are building the capability they will need again.

There is also overlap with packaging (the PPWR and national EPR), with electricals (WEEE registration), with GPSR safety documentation, and with EmpCo where you make environmental claims about the battery or the product.

Safety, transport and the rest of the picture

Battery compliance is not only the Battery Regulation. Lithium cells are dangerous goods in transport, which brings UN 38.3 test summaries and packaging and labelling rules for shipment; those documents are also what a marketplace or freight partner will ask for first. Product safety sits under GPSR and, for most powered goods, sector legislation with CE marking. Chargers and wireless functions bring their own conformity routes. And any claim about battery life, charge cycles or environmental performance falls under the EmpCo rules on substantiation.

The practical consequence is that the cell supplier's document pack — test summaries, safety data, chemistry and capacity declarations, substance statements — is load-bearing for several regimes at once. Collect it as a condition of purchase rather than requesting it when something goes wrong.

If you sell products with batteries, do this now

1. Inventory your cells. Which SKUs contain batteries, what chemistry, what capacity, removable or not, and who supplies them. Most brands do not know this at portfolio level.

2. Check your registrations. Battery producer registration in every market you sell into, with representation where you are not established. Verify rather than assume, particularly in markets added recently.

3. Verify labelling. Collection symbol, capacity, chemistry and heavy-metal indications on the batteries and, where relevant, the product and packaging.

4. Test removability honestly. Can an end user replace the cell with commonly available tools, without damaging the product? If not, know which derogation you rely on.

5. Open the supplier conversation about data. Carbon footprint methodology, recycled content, and whether they can supply the identifiers and datasets the 2027 passport needs. Long lead time, so start it before the requirement is formal.

6. Check take-back arrangements. Consumers must be able to return waste batteries free of charge; your scheme membership should cover this and your customer communications should say how.

Where battery duties interact with your other registrations

Batteries add a third register alongside packaging and electricals in most countries, and the three are administered separately even where one organisation offers all of them. Germany runs LUCID for packaging, stiftung ear for electricals and a battery register; France issues separate unique identifiers per stream. The consequence is administrative rather than conceptual: the same product can require three registrations and three reports in a single market, each with its own frequency.

The dataset that satisfies all of them is the same one: per SKU, the weight and material of packaging components, the weight and chemistry of the cell, and the weight and category of the electrical assembly. Build it once, at product-introduction time, and each scheme's report becomes a query rather than a project.

The common misconceptions

"We do not sell batteries." You sell products containing them; you are a producer for those cells.

"The battery is built in, so it does not count." Embedded cells are in scope, and removability rules may apply.

"Our supplier is registered." Their registration covers what they place on the market, not what you place under your brand.

"The passport is 2027, so it is a 2027 problem." The data collection is a 2026 problem.

Educational information only, not legal advice. Category thresholds, derogations and national registration requirements are detailed — confirm your position with a qualified advisor.

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Compliance guidance based on published EU regulatory texts. Not legal advice. Consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.