Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
| Applies from | August 12, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Binds | Everyone |
| Evidence | Locked read in the EUR-Lex text |
Sets the vocabulary the whole regulation runs on. Manufacturer at Art. 3(1)(13)(a) is whoever has packaging designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, regardless of whether any other trademark is visible. That rule is expressly 'subject to point (b)', and point (b) reverses it: where the brand owner is a micro-enterprise under Recommendation 2003/361/EC as applicable on February 11, 2025 AND its packaging supplier is located in the same Member State, the manufacturer is the SUPPLIER, not the brand owner. Both conditions must hold together, so under point (b) a micro-enterprise buying from a supplier in another Member State remains the manufacturer; for the Art. 15 obligations, however, Art. 15(12) considers a supplier located anywhere in the Union to be the manufacturer. Placing on the market at Art. 3(1)(10) is the first making available on the Union market. Producer responsibility organization is Art. 3(1)(66). Producer at Art. 3(1)(15) is a manufacturer, importer or distributor to which one of points (a) to (e) applies: points (a) to (d) are four alternative tests, and point (e) applies only where no one is the producer under them.