The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, became generally applicable on 12 August 2026. From that date every unique packaging type placed on the EU market needs a signed declaration of conformity backed by technical documentation, and there is no grace period for newly placed stock.
Most of what circulates online about this regulation describes 2030 obligations as though they started this month. They did not. I have separated what binds an importer today from what binds one in 2028 and 2030, because the compliance work due now is documentary rather than a packaging redesign.
What actually changed on 12 August 2026
The regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025 and covers all packaging plus packaging waste regardless of material or origin. Four obligations bite from 12 August 2026:
- Declaration of conformity per packaging type. Every unique type placed on the market needs a signed declaration supported by a technical file.
- Importer verification under Article 18(2). Before placing packaging on the EU market, the importer must ensure the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the technical documentation.
- Documentation on demand. Technical documentation must be producible for market surveillance authorities, with 10 days a commonly cited response window.
- PFAS restriction in food-contact packaging, plus registration with the extended producer responsibility scheme in each member state where you place goods.
Retention periods run alongside those duties: 5 years for single-use packaging and 10 years for reusable packaging. If your first reaction is that this looks like CE-marking logic applied to a cardboard box, that is exactly what it is, and the same document-chasing problem follows.
The declaration of conformity is the document that stops a shipment
Importers request the declaration from the packaging manufacturer. They do not write it themselves. Article 15 places the duty to draw up and sign the declaration plus the technical documentation on the manufacturer, which means an importer whose supplier has never heard of Regulation 2025/40 has a supplier problem, not a paperwork problem.
The practical failure mode we expect through late 2026 is a shipment that arrives with correct customs documents plus a compliant product, held because the packaging declaration is missing or covers the wrong packaging type. A missing declaration, one drawn up incorrectly, or incomplete technical documentation falls under the formal non-compliance regime of Article 62(1). The member state then requires the non-compliance to end and can prohibit making the packaging available, or have it recalled or withdrawn from the market.
Who counts as the importer, and what a non-EU manufacturer must appoint
The obligations attach to the economic operator placing packaging or packaged goods on the EU market, which covers manufacturers, importers, distributors as well as online marketplaces. A non-EU manufacturer can appoint an authorised representative: an entity legally established in the EU, mandated in writing, which may draw up the declaration on the manufacturer's behalf and hold the technical file. Legal responsibility for compliance stays with the manufacturer at all times.
For freight forwarders the question I get asked most is whether the forwarder becomes the importer by handling the goods. Handling cargo does not place it on the market. The party doing that is the one named as the operator putting the packaged product into free circulation, which is the same analysis we run for other EU import regimes such as the Digital Product Passport.
Transport and grouping packaging are in scope, and that surprises people
Article 24 caps the empty space ratio at 50 percent for grouped, transport plus e-commerce packaging from 1 January 2030. Empty space is the difference between the overall packaging volume and the volume of the packaged product, and filling materials count as empty space: paper cuttings, air cushions, bubble wrap, sponge or foam fillers, wood wool plus polystyrene chips are all void, not content.
The minimisation principle behind that cap applies from 12 August 2026, so right-sizing is already an enforceable expectation even though the hard numeric limit arrives in 2030. The Commission must adopt the calculation methodology by 12 February 2028, which is the date to watch if your cartonisation logic depends on how the ratio gets measured.
One correction worth making, because I have seen it in three separate supplier briefings: the claim of a 40 percent empty space cap from August 2026 is wrong twice over. The value for grouped, transport plus e-commerce packaging is 50 percent, and the binding date is 1 January 2030 at the earliest.
The dates that matter
| Date | Obligation |
|---|---|
| 11 February 2025 | Regulation (EU) 2025/40 entered into force |
| 12 August 2026 | General application: declaration of conformity per packaging type, importer verification under Article 18(2), PFAS restriction in food-contact packaging, EPR registration, packaging minimisation principle |
| 1 January 2028 | Implementing acts on recyclability performance criteria due |
| 12 February 2028 | Commission methodology for calculating the empty space ratio due |
| 12 August 2028 | Harmonised pictogram labelling applies, if the implementing acts were adopted by 12 August 2026 |
| 31 December 2029 | Older essential requirements under Article 9(1) and 9(2) cease to apply |
| 1 January 2030 | Design for recyclability mandatory, only grades A to C marketable, recycled content minimums start, empty space ratio capped at 50 percent, 10 percent reuse target for specified beverage packaging |
| 2040 | Recycled content rises to 50 percent for contact-sensitive PET and 65 percent for beverage bottles plus other plastic packaging; reuse target reaches 40 percent |
The 2030 recycled content numbers, stated precisely
Contact-sensitive PET packaging other than single-use beverage bottles needs at least 30 percent post-consumer recyclate by 2030, rising to 50 percent by 2040. Other contact-sensitive plastics need 10 percent. Single-use plastic beverage bottles need 30 percent by 2030 and 65 percent by 2040, while other plastic packaging needs 35 percent by 2030 and 65 percent by 2040.
Only post-consumer recyclate counts toward those thresholds. Post-industrial material does not qualify, which is a distinction I would confirm in writing with any supplier quoting a recycled-content percentage today, because the two are frequently reported together. From January 2030 packaging must also reach a minimum recyclability threshold, and packaging scoring below grade C, meaning under 70 percent recyclability, cannot be marketed.
What we would do in the next 90 days
- Inventory packaging types, not products. The declaration is per packaging type, so a catalogue of 400 SKUs may reduce to 25 declarations.
- Send suppliers a written request for the declaration plus confirmation that the technical file exists and is retrievable.
- Appoint an authorised representative where the manufacturer sits outside the EU and no EU entity currently holds the file.
- Confirm EPR registration in each member state of first placement, with thresholds plus fees checked per country rather than assumed uniform.
- Screen food-contact lines for PFAS and get supplier statements on record.
- Set a retention rule of 5 years single-use and 10 years reusable in whichever system already holds your customs records.
- Measure void space now on your highest-volume outer cartons, so the 2030 cap is a reporting exercise rather than a redesign under deadline.
Penalties are set nationally. The regulation requires member states to adopt rules that are effective, proportionate as well as dissuasive, and authorities can impose fines plus restrict market access. That pattern of EU-level obligation with national enforcement is familiar from carbon reporting, and it produces the same outcome: the strictest member state sets your practical standard. Importers already mapping this kind of exposure will recognise the approach from our UK CBAM preparation guide and the documentation logic in the EU-Mercosur rules of origin guide.
Common questions
What exactly applies from 12 August 2026? The declaration of conformity per packaging type with supporting technical documentation, importer verification duties under Article 18(2), the PFAS restriction in food-contact packaging, EPR registration plus the packaging minimisation principle. Recyclability grades, recycled content minimums as well as the 50 percent void cap arrive on 1 January 2030.
Does an importer write the declaration of conformity? No. The manufacturer draws it up and signs it. The importer must hold a copy per packaging type, verify that the conformity assessment was done, and be able to produce the technical documentation to market surveillance authorities on request.
Is there a transition period for stock already in transit? No grace period applies to packaging placed on the market on or after 12 August 2026. Goods that have not yet been placed on the market need compliant packaging documentation regardless of when they were produced.
Does the regulation cover pallets plus outer cartons? Yes. Article 24 addresses grouped and transport packaging directly, and filling materials count as empty space rather than product volume. Any source telling you the rules cover only retail packaging is describing the old directive, not Regulation 2025/40.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2025/40 as published in the Official Journal, European Commission packaging waste guidance, plus legal analyses of Articles 18, 24 and 62 from Latham & Watkins, Fieldfisher as well as Greenberg Traurig. National penalty regimes plus EPR thresholds differ by member state, so confirm both locally before shipping.