The maximum fine is 100,000 euros! With only 3 months left, it would be too late for Amazon sellers to stop acting!

      The EU EPR regulations are about to come into effect, and many European sellers received an email reminder from Amazon not long ago. Laogao E-commerce Circle has compiled practical knowledge points for everyone to help you quickly understand relevant information and avoid losing pitfalls!

What is EPR?

       EPR is an abbreviation of an EU policy called Extended Producer's Responsibility Extension System, an environmental policy. Producers are required to be responsible for the entire life cycle of the goods they launch on the market, such as the collection and recycling of waste after consumption of the product. The responsible entity must reduce the impact of their goods on the environment throughout the life cycle of the product.

      EPR can be understood as a general term. For the German market, it refers to WEEE, packaging law and battery law, namely the three German compliance laws ; while the French market is still in the policy testing stage and there is no clear news yet, merchants can wait and see first.

Who needs to do EPR?

If the following situations are met, it means you are a "producer", which also means you need to register for an EPR.

      (1) Production or importation of goods in France and Germany that meet the EPR requirements;

      (2) Selling EPR-compliant goods in France and Germany, and no company was established in that country;

      That is, product manufacturers, importers and sellers all need to register EPR, while most of the domestic cross-border e-commerce companies belong to the second type.

Which products require registration for EPR?

      Understanding the EPR product classification is the basis for registering an EPR. Merchants need to determine which EPR categories they register. Different product classifications need to register and apply for different registrations.

      The packaging covers the recycling of first-level packaging (commodity packaging) and second-level packaging (distribution packaging) materials , which means that as long as the product is sold to Germany, the packaging law must be registered;

      The products covered by electronic and electronic equipment (WEEE) mainly include electronic and circuit board-related products such as large and small household appliances, display screens, lamps, etc., all of which fall within the EPR range, that is, WEEE is required;

      Batteries refer to products containing batteries, industrial batteries, storage batteries, and portable batteries that require registration of battery methods.

How to get an EPR registration number?

      Merchants can obtain the EPR registration number of applicable products from upstream or product suppliers, or obtain the corresponding EPR of registered products in the name of their own company or store.

Materials required when registering EPR:

      (1) Scan the business license  

      (2) Store information

      (3) Product Information

      (4) Product sales quantity

      (5) VAT tax number

How does a merchant calculate the number of declarations required

      The seller needs to calculate the specific recycling amount declared by the agency to the recycling company;

      Recycling volume = the quantity/weight of the products sold in the store in the current year under the EPR category;

      Example: There are 5 monitors sold in the store, and the total number of 5 monitors is 1,000. If you need to register for electronic and electrical appliances, the number of applications is 1,000.

What else do you need to do after registering?

After the merchant registers an EPR, he or she needs to put the corresponding information or mark on the product, including but not limited to:

      (1) The trash can logo is printed on the electronic and electrical products sold and the packaging;

      (2) Print the recycling registration number on the sales invoice;

      (3) Put the French packaging recycling company logo on the packaging carton;

      (4) French electronic appliance sellers must list environmentally friendly funds on their invoices.

      Amazon will provide channels for uploading EPR registration numbers in the fourth quarter of 2021, and merchants need to submit their registration numbers to Amazon's backend for review.

      Remember, different EPR product categories have separate registration numbers. The WEEE submission number in Germany is not a registration number and cannot pass the review.

What will happen if you are not registered?

      Amazon stated in an email that from January 1, 2022, sales in Germany and France must meet the EPR requirements, and Amazon will collect and verify the merchant's EPR registration number.

      There are only 3 months left before the deadline . If the merchant cannot prove that the product meets the EPR requirements, Amazon will suspend the sale and remove the merchant's products. If the German government finds that the seller's products do not meet the EPR requirements of the country, it may face a fine of up to 100,000 euros.

Therefore, the merchants involved must register EPR as soon as possible, and some categories have a long registration cycle:

      (1) German packaging law: 1-5 working days

      (2) German battery method: 1-2 months

      (3) WEEE registration in Germany is generally slow

      Therefore, you should hurry up and register. As time approaches, the number of merchants will become larger and larger, and the review time will also increase.

      If the packaging method has a low cost, you can register first according to the minimum recycling volume . The WEEE and battery methods have long cycles and high costs. You can consider looking for an agent to register. The production cycle can be effective on January 1, 2022, which can save the recycling fee for one year.

      Since Amazon's "stopping wave", it has become increasingly moving towards reasonable and compliant. Merchants should also abandon past habits as soon as possible and comply as soon as possible to avoid losing big things in the future sales process.