Rechtsstand: 21 September 2026 — the date every statement on this page was checked against the sources below.
The producer in Germany is whoever first opens the German supply chain for that packaging — and a representative is needed only when that party has no German establishment. Those two questions decide every case below. The common mistake is assuming the manufacturer is always the producer; often the importer or the distributor is, and sometimes the foreign seller is even though the buyer is a business. Sources (3)
VerpackDG § 13VerpackDG § 13VerpackDG § 39VerpackDG § 39
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWRegulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR)
The two questions
- Who opens the German supply chain? Whoever first makes the packaging available to a German end user is the Hersteller for it. ZSVR: in cross-border supply chains the decisive point is which economic operator opens the chain in the member state where the packaging becomes waste.
ZSVR - Does that party have a Niederlassung in Germany? If yes, it registers and reports directly. If no, § 5(2) VerpackDG requires a Bevollmächtigter. VerpackDG § 5
An end user is anyone who receives the goods without reselling them — a consumer, but also a business that uses them itself. That is the fork most tables get wrong.
The table
| # | How the goods reach Germany | Producer in Germany | Representative? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French shop → German consumer, own website | The French shop | Yes | Opens the chain, no German establishment. Art 45(3) sentence 1 |
| 2 | Chinese seller → German consumer, direct | The Chinese seller | Yes | Art 45(3) sentence 2, third-country producer |
| 3 | UK brand → German consumer via own Shopify | The UK brand | Yes | Third country; Brexit changed nothing about the test |
| 4 | US brand with a Dutch BV → German consumer | The Dutch BV | Yes | An EU subsidiary is not a German establishment |
| 5 | Foreign seller → German retailer that resells | The German retailer | No | The retailer opens the German chain |
| 6 | Foreign seller → German wholesaler → German shops | The German wholesaler | No | First German operator in the chain |
| 7 | Foreign seller → German hotel that uses the goods | The foreign seller | Yes | A business that uses the goods is an end user |
| 8 | Foreign seller → German factory, goods consumed in production | The foreign seller | Yes | Same end-user logic; B2B transport packaging goes via § 39, not a duales System |
| 9 | Foreign group → its own German GmbH → German buyers | The German GmbH | No | The GmbH is the establishment and carries the duties directly |
| 10 | Foreign seller on Amazon.de, own fulfilment ZSVR | The foreign seller | Yes | The marketplace checks you; it does not carry your duty |
| 11 | Foreign seller on Amazon.de using FBA | The foreign seller | Yes | Stock in Amazon’s warehouse is not your Niederlassung |
| 12 | Foreign seller using a German 3PL | The foreign seller | Yes | A warehouse operated by someone else is not an establishment |
| 13 | Foreign seller with a German VAT number only | The foreign seller | Yes | VAT registration is a tax status, not a Niederlassung |
| 14 | Dropshipper abroad, supplier ships direct to the German buyer | Whoever is the seller of record to the German end user | Yes, if that party has no German establishment | The chain opens at the sale to the end user |
| 15 | German company shipping to German consumers | The German company | No | Established in Germany; registers and reports itself |
| 16 | German company shipping to consumers in France or Austria | It is the producer there | Yes — in each of those countries | Art 45(3) runs per member state, in both directions |
| 17 | Foreign seller, goods returned and resold in Germany | The party that first made them available | Unchanged by the return | The duty attached at first Bereitstellung |
| 18 | Foreign supplier of empty packaging to a German filler | The German filler, for the filled packaging | No, for the EPR duty | Erzeuger and Hersteller can differ; see the roles guide |
Three patterns worth naming
- Resale breaks the chain; use does not. Rows 5 and 6 versus 7 and 8. If your German customer resells, you are out. If it consumes, you are in — even though both are businesses.
- Nothing about logistics creates an establishment. Rows 11, 12 and 13. Warehouses, 3PLs and VAT numbers are all irrelevant to § 5(2). Only your own establishment counts.
- It runs both ways. Row 16. German sellers shipping into other member states need representatives there, which is why the German government is lobbying to soften the rule.
If your case is not here, the two-minute check walks the same two questions, and we will answer a written question at no charge including when the answer is that you need nobody.
Razvan Toma is the founder of EPR Germany Rep and of EPR France Rep, the French sister service. He has worked in waste management and recycling since 2009, running waste-separation programmes inside large B2B organisations in France for clients including Chanel, Microsoft, Decathlon, Pirelli, IKEA, Vinci, Capgemini and E.Leclerc. He reads the statutes and the regulator's own guidance directly, and publishes what they say — including when it means telling a visitor they do not need to buy anything.
Razvan on LinkedIn ↗