PPWR Manufacturer, Importer or Distributor? How to Determine Your Role

Understanding your economic-operator role is one of the first steps toward complying with the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

A company may manufacture products, purchase packaging from another company, import packaged goods, sell products under its own brand, or distribute products manufactured by someone else. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, these commercial arrangements matter because the Regulation assigns different responsibilities to manufacturers, importers, distributors and suppliers.

There is an important complication: your PPWR role is not necessarily determined by what your company normally calls itself.

A retailer can be the manufacturer for some private-label products. A company importing another company's branded product may be an importer. An importer or distributor placing packaging on the market under its own name or trademark can take on manufacturer responsibilities. A company that physically produces bottles, cartons or other packaging components may function as a supplier rather than the PPWR manufacturer of the finished packaged product.

The Regulation also contains specific rules for micro-enterprises that can change who is considered the manufacturer or who carries certain manufacturer obligations.

PPWR roles in brief

Under the PPWR:

• A manufacturer manufactures packaging or a packaged product, or in certain circumstances has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark.

• An importer is established in the EU and places packaging from a third country on the EU market.

• A distributor makes packaging available further down the supply chain without being the manufacturer or importer.

• A supplier supplies packaging or packaging materials to a manufacturer.

But these definitions are only the starting point. Branding, private-label arrangements, modifications to packaging, supplier location and micro-enterprise status can change the result.

Important: This table is a simplified starting point. Own-brand products, private-label arrangements, micro-enterprise rules and changes made to packaging can alter the analysis.

Why your PPWR role matters

The PPWR assigns different responsibilities to different economic operators.

Manufacturers carry the central packaging-conformity responsibilities under Article 15. Importers have verification, documentation and corrective-action responsibilities under Article 18. Distributors have due-care and verification responsibilities under Article 19. Suppliers of packaging and packaging materials have information obligations under Article 16.

In certain circumstances, Article 21 also causes manufacturer obligations to apply to an importer or distributor.

Your role can therefore determine:

• who must demonstrate packaging conformity;

• who prepares the technical documentation;

• who is responsible for conformity assessment;

• who draws up the EU Declaration of Conformity;

• who must verify that those steps have been completed;

• who must obtain information from packaging suppliers;

• who must retain or make documentation available;

• who must respond to requests from authorities; and

• who must take corrective action when packaging does not comply.

For many organizations, determining the correct economic-operator role is therefore the starting point for PPWR implementation.

Timing also matters. The PPWR became generally applicable on 12 August 2026, but this does not mean that every substantive requirement in Articles 5–12 became applicable on that date. Some requirements have later application dates or depend on delegated acts, implementing acts, harmonised standards or other measures.

For more on that distinction, read PPWR Obligations Starting 12 August 2026: What Companies Need to Know.

What is a manufacturer under PPWR?

The term manufacturer can be misleading because the PPWR manufacturer is not necessarily the company that physically makes the packaging.

Article 3(13) defines a manufacturer as a natural or legal person that manufactures packaging or a packaged product.

It then addresses another commercially common situation.

Subject to the micro-enterprise exception discussed later in this guide, when a natural or legal person has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, that person is considered the manufacturer, regardless of whether another trademark is also visible.

This rule is particularly important for:

• brand owners;

• retailers selling private-label products;

• cosmetics and beauty companies;

• food brands;

• consumer-product companies;

• companies outsourcing manufacturing; and

• organizations purchasing standardized packaging for products sold under their own brands.

The European Commission's 2026 PPWR guidance further clarifies that the PPWR manufacturer is not necessarily the company physically producing the packaging.

For sales and grouped packaging, the manufacturer will often be the economic operator carrying out the final packaging step and filling the packaging with its product, and in many cases this will also be the product brand owner.

The exact analysis can be different for transport packaging, service packaging and other packaging configurations.

What are the manufacturer's main responsibilities?

Article 15 places the central conformity responsibilities on manufacturers.

Manufacturers may only place on the market packaging that complies with the applicable requirements laid down in or pursuant to Articles 5–12.

Before placing packaging on the market, the manufacturer must carry out the applicable conformity assessment procedure under Article 38, or have it carried out on its behalf, and draw up the technical documentation referred to in Annex VII.

Where conformity has been demonstrated, the manufacturer must draw up the EU Declaration of Conformity in accordance with Article 39 and Annex VIII.

Manufacturers also have responsibilities concerning:

• packaging identification;

• manufacturer identification and contact information;

• continued conformity;

• corrective action;

• cooperation with national authorities; and

• retention of compliance documentation.

The manufacturer must retain the technical documentation and EU Declaration of Conformity for:

• 5 years for single-use packaging; and

• 10 years for reusable packaging.

This is why identifying the manufacturer correctly is so important: the manufacturer carries the central responsibility for demonstrating packaging conformity under the PPWR.

What is an importer under PPWR?

An importer is a natural or legal person established within the European Union that places packaging from a third country on the market.

This can include packaging entering the EU together with a packaged product.

Consider a U.S. skincare company selling packaged products to an unrelated German company that imports them into the European Union.

The German company may be the importer.

Being the importer does not automatically make the German company the manufacturer. Article 18 instead gives the importer a separate set of obligations.

What does a PPWR importer have to do?

Importers may only place compliant packaging on the market.

Before doing so, they must ensure, among other applicable requirements, that:

• the manufacturer has carried out the required conformity assessment;

• the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation;

• applicable labelling requirements have been met;

• required documents accompany the packaging; and

• the manufacturer has complied with relevant identification requirements.

If an importer considers or has reason to believe that packaging does not conform with applicable PPWR requirements, it must not place that packaging on the market until it has been brought into conformity.

Importers also have obligations relating to identification, storage and transport conditions, corrective measures, documentation and cooperation with authorities.

The practical implication for companies outside the European Union is important:

An EU importer cannot simply assume that imported packaging complies.

The importer needs access to sufficient information and documentation from the manufacturer and other upstream parties to perform its own PPWR obligations.

This is one reason supplier documentation and packaging data are becoming increasingly important throughout international supply chains.

What is a distributor under PPWR?

A distributor is a natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or importer, that makes packaging available on the market.

A wholesaler, retailer or other downstream seller may therefore act as a distributor for a particular packaging flow.

Article 19 requires distributors to act with due care regarding PPWR requirements.

Before making packaging available on the market, distributors must verify applicable matters including:

• relevant producer registration;

• applicable packaging labelling;

• specified manufacturer identification requirements; and

• specified importer identification requirements.

If a distributor considers or has reason to believe that packaging does not comply with applicable PPWR requirements, it cannot simply continue making that packaging available.

Distributors also have responsibilities relating to storage and transport conditions, corrective action, cooperation with authorities and provision of information and documentation to which they have access.

A distributor therefore generally carries fewer conformity responsibilities than the manufacturer, but:

Distributor does not mean no PPWR responsibility.

What is a supplier under PPWR?

The PPWR separately defines a supplier as a natural or legal person that supplies packaging or packaging material to a manufacturer.

This distinction is particularly important for packaging companies.

A company can physically produce a:

• bottle;

• cap;

• pump;

• carton;

• film;

• tray;

• label; or

• other packaging component

and still function as a supplier within a particular PPWR supply chain.

Article 16 requires suppliers to provide manufacturers with the information and documentation necessary for manufacturers to demonstrate conformity of packaging and packaging materials with applicable PPWR requirements.

This creates an important evidence relationship.

The manufacturer may carry the central conformity responsibility, but the manufacturer often cannot demonstrate conformity without information about materials, substances, components, design and other packaging characteristics held by upstream suppliers.

In practical terms:

PPWR compliance is not only a documentation obligation. It is also a supply-chain information problem.

Is a private-label brand a manufacturer under PPWR?

Private-label and own-brand arrangements are among the most important situations for PPWR role determination.

A company should not assume that outsourcing manufacturing means that it is simply a distributor.

Imagine a beauty company that works with:

• one supplier for the bottle;

• another for the pump;

• another for the printed carton; and

• a contract manufacturer that fills and packages the finished product.

The finished skincare product is sold under the beauty company's own trademark.

The companies physically manufacturing the bottle, pump and carton are not automatically the PPWR manufacturer of the finished branded packaged product.

Where the beauty company has the packaging or packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, the own-name/trademark provisions of Article 3 can make the brand owner the manufacturer.

The Commission's interpretation also indicates that simply selecting an existing standardized packaging design rather than developing bespoke packaging does not necessarily prevent the company commissioning that packaging under its own brand from being treated as the manufacturer.

This issue is particularly significant for cosmetics and skincare companies, where contract manufacturing and multi-supplier packaging structures are common.

For a sector-specific explanation, read PPWR for the Beauty Industry: What Cosmetics and Skincare Companies Need to Know.

However, there is an important additional consideration:

the result can be different when the brand owner qualifies as a micro-enterprise.

What qualifies as a micro-enterprise?

The PPWR refers to the definition of micro-enterprise in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, as applicable on 11 February 2025.

To qualify as a micro-enterprise, the enterprise must satisfy both a headcount condition and a financial condition.

Headcount condition

The enterprise must:

employ fewer than 10 persons

AND

Financial condition

It must have:

annual turnover not exceeding €2 million

OR

an annual balance-sheet total not exceeding €2 million.

The most precise shorthand is therefore:

Micro-enterprise = fewer than 10 persons AND (annual turnover ≤ €2 million OR annual balance-sheet total ≤ €2 million).

Having fewer than 10 employees on its own is not enough.

At the same time, it is not necessary for both turnover and balance-sheet total to be below €2 million. Meeting either financial threshold can satisfy the financial part of the definition.

Headcount is calculated using annual work units

The employee calculation is more technical than simply counting names on a payroll.

Under Recommendation 2003/361/EC, staff headcount is generally expressed in annual work units (AWU).

Depending on the circumstances, this can include:

• employees;

• persons working for the enterprise who are treated as employees under national law;

• owner-managers; and

• partners who regularly work for the enterprise and receive financial benefits from it.

Part-time, seasonal and partial-year work is generally counted as a fraction of an AWU.

Related companies can affect micro-enterprise status

A company should not assume that it qualifies simply because one legal entity has eight employees and €1 million in revenue.

The SME Recommendation distinguishes between autonomous, partner and linked enterprises.

Depending on ownership and control relationships, staff and financial figures from other companies may have to be included in the calculation.

The Recommendation also contains rules governing what happens when an enterprise crosses the relevant thresholds over time.

Organizations relying on a PPWR micro-enterprise provision should therefore verify their status under the full EU SME methodology rather than relying only on their own company's current employee count.

Are micro-enterprises exempt from PPWR?

No.

The PPWR does not contain a general rule saying that companies with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from the Regulation.

Instead, it contains specific micro-enterprise provisions that can change who is treated as the manufacturer or who carries Article 15 manufacturer obligations in particular circumstances.

Three provisions are especially important:

These rules are similar, but they are not identical.

That difference can materially affect the outcome of a role assessment.

How does the Article 3 micro-enterprise rule work?

Article 3(13)(b) creates an exception to the own-name/trademark manufacturer rule.

Where:

1. the company that has the packaging or packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark qualifies as a micro-enterprise; and

2. the person supplying the packaging is located in the same Member State,

the packaging supplier is considered the manufacturer.

The packaging supplier itself does not have to qualify as a micro-enterprise.

Example: Spanish micro-enterprise with Spanish packaging supplier

Consider a cosmetics company established in Spain.

Assume that it:

• employs fewer than 10 persons under the applicable calculation;

• satisfies the €2 million financial threshold;

• sells products under its own brand; and

• obtains its packaging from a supplier also established in Spain.

If the other conditions of Article 3(13)(b) are satisfied, the packaging supplier is considered the manufacturer.

But now change the supplier's location.

If the supplier is established in France, the same-Member-State condition in Article 3(13)(b) is not satisfied.

That means Article 3(13)(b) does not transfer the general manufacturer definition to the French supplier.

However, that is not necessarily the end of the analysis.

What does Article 15(12) change for micro-enterprises?

Article 15 contains a second micro-enterprise rule with a broader geographic condition.

Where a company that has packaging designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark qualifies as a micro-enterprise, and the person supplying that packaging is located in the European Union, the supplier is considered the manufacturer for purposes of Article 15.

The geographic distinction matters:

Article 3(13)(b): same Member State

versus

Article 15(12): anywhere in the European Union

Example: Spanish micro-enterprise with French packaging supplier

Return to the Spanish cosmetics brand.

Assume that it qualifies as a micro-enterprise but purchases its packaging from a supplier established in France.

Because the supplier is not in Spain, Article 3(13)(b)'s same-Member-State condition is not met.

However, because the supplier is located in the European Union, Article 15(12) can make the supplier the manufacturer for purposes of Article 15.

That distinction matters because Article 15 contains the core manufacturer obligations relating to packaging conformity, conformity assessment, technical documentation and the EU Declaration of Conformity.

Example: Spanish micro-enterprise with Chinese packaging supplier

Now assume the same Spanish business obtains its packaging from a supplier established in China.

The supplier is:

• not located in the same Member State; and

• not located in the European Union.

The Article 3(13)(b) same-Member-State rule does not apply.

The Article 15(12) EU-supplier rule also does not apply.

The micro-enterprise should therefore not assume that its size transfers the relevant manufacturer responsibilities to its non-EU packaging supplier.

This distinction is especially important for smaller brands sourcing packaging directly from outside the European Union.

Can an importer or distributor become the manufacturer?

Yes.

Article 21 addresses circumstances in which manufacturer obligations apply to importers and distributors.

Where an importer or distributor:

• places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark; or

• modifies packaging already placed on the market in a way that could affect compliance,

that importer or distributor is considered a manufacturer for purposes of the Regulation and becomes subject to the manufacturer's Article 15 obligations.

What if the importer or distributor is a micro-enterprise?

Article 21 contains another specific rule.

Where the relevant importer or distributor qualifies as a micro-enterprise and the person supplying the packaging is located in the European Union, that supplier is considered the manufacturer for purposes of Article 15.

Again, the geographic test is EU-wide, rather than limited to the same Member State.

This gives us three related but distinct micro-enterprise rules:

Article 3(13)(b)
Micro-enterprise + supplier in the same Member State → supplier is the manufacturer under the Article 3 definition.

Article 15(12)
Micro-enterprise + supplier in the EU → supplier is considered manufacturer for purposes of Article 15.

Article 21
Micro-enterprise importer or distributor caught by Article 21 + supplier in the EU → supplier is considered manufacturer for purposes of Article 15.

For small companies, this is one of the reasons PPWR role determination should not stop with the question:

“Do we have fewer than 10 employees?”

You also need to establish:

Do we satisfy the financial condition? Who supplies our packaging? Where is that supplier established? And which PPWR provision applies to this particular flow?

Can one company have more than one PPWR role?

Yes.

PPWR roles should generally be assessed against actual packaging and product flows rather than assigning one permanent label to an entire organization.

Consider an EU retailer that sells:

1. third-party brands purchased from EU manufacturers;

2. finished products that it imports itself from outside the EU; and

3. private-label products sold under its own trademark.

Depending on the facts, that company could potentially function as:

Distributor → for the first flow

Importer → for the second flow

Manufacturer or an economic operator subject to manufacturer obligations → for the third flow

A company can therefore have different PPWR responsibilities across different products, suppliers and packaging configurations.

Practical PPWR role examples

Example 1: retailer reselling another company's branded product

A French retailer purchases finished packaged products from an EU manufacturer and resells them without changing the packaging or placing them on the market under the retailer's own name or trademark.

For that flow, the retailer will generally act as a distributor.

The retailer still has Article 19 responsibilities but does not automatically assume the manufacturer's Article 15 conformity responsibilities.

Example 2: EU company importing another company's branded product

A U.S. company produces packaged consumer products under its own brand and supplies them to an unrelated German company that imports them into the European Union.

The German company may act as the importer.

It must perform the Article 18 importer obligations, including verifying relevant conformity and documentation requirements before placing the packaging on the EU market.

Example 3: private-label beauty brand

A beauty business contracts third parties to manufacture and package its products but sells the finished products under its own trademark.

The company should not assume that the contract manufacturer automatically carries the PPWR manufacturer role.

The own-name/trademark provisions must first be assessed.

If the brand qualifies as a micro-enterprise, the Article 3 and Article 15 micro-enterprise provisions must then also be considered based on the location of the packaging supplier.

Example 4: packaging supplier to a branded-product manufacturer

A packaging company manufactures an unfilled plastic bottle and supplies it to a company using the bottle for its finished branded product.

Depending on the particular arrangement and packaging configuration, the bottle manufacturer may function as a supplier under Article 16 rather than being the manufacturer responsible for the finished packaged product.

The supplier still has an important role because the downstream manufacturer may depend on its information and evidence to demonstrate conformity.

Example 5: distributor rebrands packaging

An EU distributor obtains packaging from another company and places it on the market under its own name or trademark.

Article 21 can result in the distributor becoming subject to manufacturer obligations.

If the distributor qualifies as a micro-enterprise, however, Article 21's separate micro-enterprise rule must also be assessed.

Questions to ask when determining your PPWR role

Instead of starting with:

“What type of company are we?”

start with:

“What happens to this particular packaging or packaged product?”

For each material packaging flow, ask:

1. Who physically manufactures the packaging or packaged product?

2. Who orders or commissions the packaging or packaged product?

3. Under whose name or trademark is it designed or manufactured?

4. Is it a private-label or own-brand product?

5. Who selects or determines the packaging specifications?

6. Who supplies the packaging?

7. Where is the packaging supplier established?

8. Is the supplier in the same Member State as the brand owner?

9. Is the supplier elsewhere in the European Union?

10. Is the supplier outside the EU?

11. Who brings packaging from a third country onto the EU market?

12. Are we simply reselling another company's branded product?

13. Do we alter the packaging after it has already been placed on the market?

14. Could that alteration affect conformity?

15. Does the company claiming micro-enterprise status employ fewer than 10 persons under the applicable EU methodology?

16. Does it also satisfy the financial condition: turnover ≤ €2 million OR balance-sheet total ≤ €2 million?

17. Do partner or linked enterprises affect those calculations?

18. Which micro-enterprise provision applies: Article 3(13)(b), Article 15(12), or Article 21?

These questions should be answered separately for the organization's material packaging and product flows.

What is the difference between a PPWR manufacturer and a producer?

Another important terminology issue is the distinction between manufacturer and producer.

They are not interchangeable.

The manufacturer concept is primarily relevant to packaging conformity and the obligations contained in Article 15.

The producer concept is primarily relevant to extended producer responsibility (EPR) and is separately defined in Article 3(15).

Depending on the supply chain, a manufacturer, importer or distributor can potentially be the producer for EPR purposes.

Producer status also depends on factors including:

• where the economic operator is established;

• where packaging or packaged products are first made available;

• whether products are supplied directly to end users in another Member State; and

• the specific packaging flow involved.

For compliance planning, organizations should therefore perform two related but separate analyses:

Economic-operator/conformity role:
Manufacturer, importer, distributor, supplier, etc.

EPR role:
Whether the organization is a “producer” in a particular Member State under the PPWR's EPR provisions.

Determining that your organization is a manufacturer, importer or distributor does not by itself complete the EPR analysis.

Relevant PPWR provisions

Organizations conducting a role assessment should review the following provisions in the official text of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on EUR-Lex:

Article 3 — Definitions, including manufacturer, producer, supplier, importer and distributor.

Article 15 — Obligations of manufacturers, including the Article 15(12) micro-enterprise provision.

Article 16 — Information obligations of suppliers of packaging or packaging materials.

Article 17 — Authorised representatives.

Article 18 — Obligations of importers.

Article 19 — Obligations of distributors.

Article 20 — Obligations of fulfilment service providers.

Article 21 — Cases in which manufacturer obligations apply to importers and distributors, including the micro-enterprise rule.

Article 38 — Conformity assessment.

Article 39 — EU Declaration of Conformity.

Annex VII — Technical documentation.

Annex VIII — EU Declaration of Conformity.

Organizations should also consult the European Commission's 2026 guidance on Regulation (EU) 2025/40, particularly when interpreting manufacturer, own-brand and micro-enterprise scenarios.

The practical takeaway

Determining your PPWR role is not simply an administrative classification exercise.

It affects what your organization must do, what evidence it must obtain, what it must verify, what documentation it must prepare or retain and what responsibilities it carries when packaging is placed or made available on the EU market.

For many organizations, there will not be one company-wide answer.

A business may distribute third-party brands, import products from outside the EU, sell private-label products and purchase packaging from multiple suppliers.

Each flow can create a different PPWR responsibility profile.

A practical starting point is therefore to map:

Product → Packaging → Brand → Packaging supplier → Manufacturer → Importer → Distributor → EU market

For a potential micro-enterprise, extend the analysis:

Fewer than 10 persons? → Turnover ≤ €2 million OR balance sheet ≤ €2 million? → Partner/linked enterprises? → Supplier location? → Article 3, Article 15 or Article 21?

That role map can then form the basis for determining which PPWR obligations, evidence requirements and implementation processes apply to your organization.

Join the PPWR Academy webinar

Still trying to determine what the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation means in practice for your organization?

Join our upcoming PPWR Academy webinar:

Is Your Organization Ready for PPWR? Immediate Obligations, Key Deadlines and Practical Next Steps

1 September 2026

We will examine how PPWR translates into practical responsibilities across the supply chain, including:

• manufacturer, importer and distributor responsibilities;

• private-label and brand-owner situations;

• packaging data;

• supplier evidence;

• technical documentation;

• key deadlines; and

• practical implementation priorities.

Register for the PPWR Academy webinar here → https://events.ppwracademy.com/webinar/

This article provides general educational information about Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and does not constitute legal advice.