Online sales: the obligations on shipping packaging

Sales packaging is nearly always attended to; shipping packaging almost never is.

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The definition

Article 3 defines e-commerce packaging:

"transport packaging used for the delivery of products to the end user in the context of online sales or other distance-selling channels"

The scope covers the box, the tape, the filler material and the label: each of these elements has materials and substances that must be documented.

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What already applies from 12 August 2026

The qualification of the role. Whoever places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark is considered a manufacturer under Article 21, even when the box is bought from someone else and even when shipping is entrusted to a third party.

The technical documentation and the declaration. These are drawn up for each type of packaging, including the shipping format, under Annexes VII and VIII.

The heavy metals limit. The sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium does not exceed 100 mg/kg, and it applies to the packaging and to each component: inks and adhesives included.

The PFAS limits, when the packaging is intended for contact with food products.

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What comes later, and when

Empty space. Article 24 requires economic operators who fill grouped packaging, transport packaging or e-commerce packaging to ensure that the proportion of empty space does not exceed 50%.

The date follows the regulation’s typical pattern, and it is not a fixed date:

"By 1 January 2030 or 3 years after the date of entry into force of the implementing acts adopted pursuant to paragraph 2, whichever is later"

The calculation methodology will come with an implementing act, for which the regulation sets the Commission a deadline of 12 February 2028. The same methodology will need to account for cases where space serves a purpose: irregularly shaped products, easily damaged contents, liquids, minimum space for shipping labels.

The harmonised label. Article 12 requires it from 12 August 2028, or twenty-four months after the entry into force of the implementing acts, whichever is later. The obligation does not apply to transport packaging, but e-commerce packaging is expressly excluded from that exception: so the label does concern it.

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Minimisation, which must be documented

Article 10 requires packaging to be reduced to the minimum necessary in weight and volume. Compliance with that requirement is demonstrated in the technical documentation, which must contain an explanation of the technical specifications and conditions used for the assessment, an indication of the design requirements that prevent further reduction, and the results of tests, studies or simulations.

It is the same analysis that will be needed for the empty-space calculation, and it can be set up from now.

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In practice

1. Take stock of shipping formats, not only sales packaging.
2. Establish the role for each: who places it on the market under its own name.
3. Request the data from suppliers of cardboard, tape, filler and labels.
4. Draw up technical documentation and a declaration for each format.
5. Measure empty space now, to know how many formats will need revising once the methodology is published.

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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. Applicable from 12 August 2026.

• Art. 3 · Definition of e-commerce packaging
• Art. 10 · Minimisation of packaging
• Art. 12 · Labelling of packaging
• Art. 21 · Manufacturer obligations applied to importers and distributors
• Art. 24 · Obligation on excessive packaging
• Annexes VII and VIII · Technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity

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