Packaging Regulation: what changes from 12 August 2026

But not everything enters into force that day. Distinguishing what applies now from what comes later is the first useful thing to do, because many undertakings are worrying about the wrong things.

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What applies straight away

The heavy metals limit. The sum of the concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium present in the packaging or in one of its components does not exceed 100 mg/kg. It applies to all packaging, with no size-based exemptions (Art. 5(4)).

The ban on PFAS in packaging in contact with food. Three limit values: 25 ppb for targeted analysis, 250 ppb for the sum of targeted analysis, 50 ppm including polymeric PFAS. The ban is triggered at values equal to or above the threshold (Art. 5(5)).

Conformity assessment, technical documentation and the declaration. The manufacturer carries out the procedure under Article 38, draws up the technical documentation under Annex VII and signs the EU declaration of conformity under Annex VIII, for each type of packaging (Art. 15).

Retention. Five years from placing on the market for single-use packaging, ten for reusable packaging (Annex VII, point 4).

Traceability of economic operators. Every economic operator must be able to tell the market surveillance authorities, on request, who supplied it with packaging or packaged products and to whom it supplied them, for the same five- and ten-year periods (Art. 22).

The information obligation on suppliers. Suppliers of packaging or of materials must transmit to the manufacturer the information needed to demonstrate conformity (Art. 16).

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What does not apply yet, and why the published dates are not deadlines

Here lies the most common misunderstanding. Nearly all of the regulation’s future deadlines are worded the same way: a date, or a certain number of months after an implementing act the Commission has yet to adopt, whichever is later.

Harmonised labelling. Art. 12(1), verbatim: "From 12 August 2028 or 24 months after the date of entry into force of the implementing acts adopted pursuant to paragraph 6 or 7 of this Article, whichever is later".

Minimum recycled content in plastic packaging. Art. 7(1): "By 1 January 2030 or three years after the date of entry into force of the implementing act referred to in paragraph 8, whichever is later".

Label for reusable packaging. Art. 12(2): from 12 February 2029 or 30 months after the implementing act, whichever is later.

The criterion is always the same, and it has one precise practical consequence: those dates are floors, not appointments. They can move forward, never back. Anyone who reads them as fixed deadlines risks planning investments against a calendar that does not yet exist.

As of 30 August 2026 the implementing acts that would trigger them have not been adopted.

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What can happen today to a company that is not in order

Italy does not yet have monetary penalties for infringement of this regulation. Article 68 leaves it to the Member States, which must lay down the rules on penalties by 12 February 2027. The delegation to the Italian Government expires on 9 December 2026.

That does not mean nothing happens, though.

The competent authorities can already take market measures, including withdrawing non-conforming packaging and prohibiting its marketing. For an undertaking that is a more costly event than a monetary fine.

And there is pressure that does not depend on the legislator: the customer who asks for the documentation and does not get it. In B2B relationships this is already the main reason undertakings are moving, and it does not wait for any decree.

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Where to start

1. Establish the role. Manufacturer, importer or distributor. Everything else follows from this: who drafts, who verifies, who only retains.
2. Take stock of the packaging. All of it, not just the product’s own packaging: shipping packaging, tape, filler and labels too.
3. Obtain the data from suppliers, who are required to provide it.
4. Draw up the technical documentation and the declaration.
5. Retain them, for five or ten years, and be able to produce them on request.

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References

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, in OJ L of 22 January 2025.

• Art. 5(4) and (5) · substances contained in packaging
• Art. 7 · minimum recycled content in plastic packaging
• Art. 12 · labelling of packaging
• Art. 15 · obligations of manufacturers
• Art. 16 · information obligations of suppliers
• Art. 22 · identification of economic operators
• Art. 68 · penalties
• Art. 71 · entry into force and application
• Annex VII, points 2 and 4 · technical documentation and retention
• Annex VIII · template for the EU declaration of conformity

Official text: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/40/oj