Manufacturer, importer, producer: who has to provide the Declaration of Conformity under the PPWR?

This is general information about Regulation (EU) 2025/40, not legal advice. Confirm anything you act on with qualified counsel or an accredited body.

The manufacturer draws up and keeps the Declaration of Conformity

The Declaration of Conformity is the manufacturer’s written statement that the packaging meets the applicable requirements of the regulation. Under Article 15, the manufacturer must carry out the conformity assessment (Art. 38, following the internal-production-control procedure in Annex VII), draw up the technical documentation (Annex VII), and draw up the EU declaration of conformity (Art. 39). Its content follows the model in Annex VIII. The manufacturer keeps the technical documentation and the declaration and makes them available to market-surveillance authorities on request.

The declaration confirms that the packaging satisfies the substantive requirements in Articles 5 to 12 — restricted substances, recyclability, recycled content, compostability where relevant, minimisation and labelling. It is a self-declaration, not a third-party certificate: the manufacturer signs it and takes responsibility for what it declares, backed by the technical file that evidences it. Note that the PPWR does not use CE marking for packaging, so there is no CE mark to apply here — the declaration itself is the formal statement of conformity.

The Article 21 own-name rule: when a brand owner becomes the manufacturer

This is the most common surprise for brand owners, and it is worth stating plainly. Under Article 21, an importer or distributor who places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark — or who modifies packaging already on the market in a way that affects its conformity — is treated as the manufacturer and takes on the manufacturer’s obligations. So if your logo is on a box that a contract packer produces for you, you are the one who must draw up the Declaration of Conformity and hold the technical documentation behind it. The packer’s name is not on the pack; yours is.

Practically, that means two things. First, you cannot assume your supplier “handles the paperwork” simply because they make the packaging — the legal duty follows the name on the product, not the factory. Second, you need the underlying evidence from whoever actually specifies and produces the packaging, because you are the one who will sign for it. Settle in your supply contract who prepares the technical file and provides the supporting data, so that you can stand behind the declaration you are legally required to make.

The importer verifies the DoC exists — and keeps a copy

An importer places packaging from outside the EU on the EU market. Under Article 18, the importer must, before placing packaging on the market, verify that the manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment, drawn up the technical documentation, and drawn up the Declaration of Conformity. The importer keeps a copy of the declaration available for market-surveillance authorities and must ensure that its own storage and transport do not compromise the packaging’s conformity.

The importer does not create the declaration. But an importer is responsible for not placing non-conforming packaging on the market: if the manufacturer has not done its part, the importer cannot simply pass the goods through. And if the importer sells under its own name or trademark, the Article 21 rule applies and the importer becomes the manufacturer — at which point it does owe the declaration itself.

The distributor acts with due care and checks the paperwork exists

A distributor makes packaging available on the market without being the manufacturer or importer. Under Article 19, the distributor must act with due care in relation to the requirements — checking that the required labelling is present and that the manufacturer and importer have met their documentation obligations — and must not make available packaging it knows, or should know, is non-conforming. The distributor is not required to hold the Declaration of Conformity itself, but it cannot ignore a visibly non-compliant pack. As with importers, a distributor that puts its own name or trademark on the packaging becomes the manufacturer under Article 21.

The authorised representative can hold the DoC, but the duty stays with the manufacturer

A non-EU manufacturer may appoint an authorised representative established in the EU by a written mandate. Under Article 17, the representative can keep the technical documentation and the Declaration of Conformity available for authorities and carry out the tasks set out in its mandate. What the mandate cannot do is move the substance of the manufacturer’s obligations: drawing up the declaration and standing behind conformity remain the manufacturer’s responsibility. Appointing a representative gives the EU authorities a point of contact and a documentation holder — it does not transfer the DoC duty off the manufacturer.

“Manufacturer” (product conformity) is not the same as “producer” (EPR)

This is a genuine source of error, because the regulation uses two different words for two different roles, and one company can be both at once.

• The “manufacturer” is the product-conformity role. It is the party that makes the packaging, or has it made under its own name or trademark, and it owes the Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation (Art. 15, Art. 21). This is about whether the packaging itself is compliant, and it is assessed EU-wide — the product rules are the same in every member state because the PPWR is a regulation (free movement of conforming packaging, Art. 4).
• The “producer” is the extended-producer-responsibility role. It is, broadly, whoever first makes packaging available in a given member state — the party that registers in that country’s producer register (Art. 44) and pays the national EPR fees (Art. 45). This is about who funds collection and recycling, and it is assessed country by country: you can be the registered producer in one member state and not in another, depending on who first places the packaging there.

So the DoC “manufacturer” question (is the packaging compliant, and who signs for it?) is separate from the EPR “producer” question (who registers and pays, in which country?). A brand that makes packaging under its own name is the manufacturer for the DoC everywhere it sells; whether it is also the registered producer in France, Germany or Spain depends on who first makes the packaging available in each of those markets. Answer the two questions separately — conflating them is how businesses end up either missing a national registration or assuming a national scheme somehow covers the product declaration. See the EPR guide for the producer side.

How to work out which you are

Use the name on the pack and the direction of the goods to place yourself, then read across to the duty.

If your name or trademark is on the packaging, start from “manufacturer” and assume the Declaration of Conformity is yours to draw up, whoever physically produces the pack. If it is not, you are most likely an importer or distributor with a verification duty rather than a drafting one — unless you are relabelling under your own brand, which pulls you back to Article 21.

Frequently asked questions