Article 45 of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is the clause that turned "an authorised representative is a good idea" into "you cannot sell without one." It is four paragraphs long — here is what each one actually says, and what it means for a US, UK or other non-EU seller.
TL;DR — Article 45 requires any producer not established in a member state to appoint a written-mandate authorised representative in each country where it makes packaging available — and it obliges marketplaces to verify registration numbers before allowing listings.
The four paragraphs, in plain language
Article 45(1) — the duty. Where a producer is not established in a member state in which it makes packaging available, it must appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility established in that member state.
Article 45(2) — the written mandate. The appointment is made by written mandate. It is not a handshake or a checkbox; it is a formal document that sets out what the representative is authorised to do.
Article 45(3) — one per country, and the producer stays liable. The authorised representative fulfils the producer's EPR obligations in that member state, while the producer remains responsible. A producer appoints one authorised representative per member state where it makes packaging available.
Article 45(4) — marketplace verification. This is the paragraph that changes enforcement. Marketplaces are obliged to verify that sellers hold valid EPR registration numbers before allowing them to list in a given country.
Who counts as a "producer" here
Under the PPWR, the producer is the entity that first makes a packaged product available on a national market. For e-commerce shipped from outside the EU, that is the seller — no importer of record steps in to break the chain. Using Fulfillment by Amazon does not change this: Amazon is your fulfillment provider, not the producer, and the obligation stays with you.
What the written mandate must actually cover
A mandate that survives scrutiny spells out at least three things: the scope (which member state, which EPR tasks the representative is authorised to handle), the duration, and the reporting and data obligations. Without a proper mandate the appointment is not valid, and the registration it was meant to support will not hold.
Why 45(4) is the part that bites first
Regulators move slowly; marketplaces do not. Article 45(4) means the first consequence of non-compliance is not a letter from an authority — it is a suppressed listing. If a marketplace cannot verify your registration number, your products disappear from that country's storefront. The legal fine is the second problem; the lost listing is the first.
The practical takeaway: Article 45 is not a formality to defer. Appoint a written-mandate authorised representative in every country where you sell, and hold the registration numbers that marketplaces will ask for — because they will ask.
Sources: PPWR (EU) 2025/40, Article 45.
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