Which e-commerce companies must follow the EPR law?
All e-commerce platforms are required to follow the EPR law. As the leading figure of the industry Amazon was the first company to respond to the government’s EPR program. It includes the latest initiatives for platform sellers in both France and Germany. Other platforms, such as Cdiscount, AliExpress, eBay, etc., will need to meet the EPR’s requirements.
Am I impacted by the EPR?
Companies impacted by the EPR are the ones who sell goods regulated by said policy. In France, you must register with the appropriate Producer Responsibility Organization to receive your Unique Identification Number (UIN). And you will need to have a UIN for each product category you sell. Producer Responsibility Organizations can either be collective EPR systems or individual EPR systems. European Member States have different registration requirements, what is asked to be done in France won’t be the same elsewhere.
“I am a producer and I sell products that fall under the EPR regulations. If I haven’t registered at an authorized organization on time what will happen?”
The new AGEC law, mentioned in Article n°1, came into effect on January 2nd, 2022. If the producer already had been a member of a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO), they simply would have sent him an UIN number. Because he wasn’t a member of such organization, he will have to join the appropriate Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO).
Now, E-commerce platforms do not register with any PROs, they will be ordered to stop their commercial activity and might be fined up to 1 million euros. In France, cross-border sellers will not be able to engage in commercial selling practices if the fine is not paid. If the sales revenue is obtained without registration, it will be considered illegal income.
Sources :
- Amazon seller central Europe. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Education. [online]. Available on: https://sellercentral.amazon.fr/gp/help/external/help.html?itemID=YDCAK9ZR6VJH2X3&language=en_FR&ref=efph_YDCAK9ZR6VJH2X3_relt_521 (Viewed on 15/04/2022)
- Chambre Franco-Allemande de Commerce et d’Industrie. EPR registration number for producers subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). [online]. Available on: https://www.francoallemand.com/newsroom/nachrichten/news-detail/epr-registration-number-for-producers-subject-to-extended-producer-responsibility-epr (Viewed on 15/04/2022)