What Is an Authorised Representative? PPWR Article 17 AR vs Article 45 EPR AR
PPWR uses two authorised-representative concepts for two different compliance systems. One belongs to packaging conformity. The other belongs to packaging EPR. Calling both simply “the PPWR AR” can hide a legally important distinction.
Direct answer
A Manufacturer’s Authorised Representative under Article 17 is not the same role as an EPR Authorised Representative under Article 45.
Article 17 belongs to the PPWR conformity framework. It allows a Manufacturer to appoint, by written mandate, a person established in the Union to perform specified tasks concerning packaging conformity and communication with market-surveillance authorities. Article 45 belongs to Chapter VIII and concerns a Producer’s packaging-waste and extended producer responsibility obligations in a particular Member State (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2025).
The word “representative” is therefore not enough to identify the role. The first question should always be: representative of whom, and for which obligation?
If the principal is the PPWR Manufacturer and the issue is technical documentation, conformity or an EU Declaration of Conformity, Article 17 is the relevant lane. If the principal is the EPR Producer and the issue is national registration, reporting, EPR financing or Chapter VIII, the EPR-representation lane must be examined.
The core distinction
The two representatives sit on opposite sides of PPWR.
Manufacturer’s Authorised Representative
Acts for the Manufacturer in specified conformity-related tasks. The representative must be established in the Union.
EPR Authorised Representative
Acts for the Producer in packaging-EPR matters in the Member State where the relevant packaging flow occurs.
| Question | Manufacturer AR | EPR AR |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | Manufacturer | Producer |
| Main legal basis | Articles 3(1)(19) and 17 | Articles 3(1)(20), 44 and 45 |
| Main purpose | Packaging conformity | Packaging EPR |
| Where must the representative be established? | In the Union | In the relevant Member State |
| Written mandate? | Yes | Yes |
| Technical documentation? | May retain and provide it | Not the role's purpose |
| EU Declaration of Conformity? | May perform mandated document-related work | No EPR function |
| Producer registration? | No Article 17 function | May perform registration functions where applicable |
| EPR reporting? | No | Can form part of Chapter VIII duties |
| PRO interaction? | Not inherent | Often operationally relevant, but PRO remains a separate role |
Article 17
What can the Manufacturer’s Authorised Representative actually do?
Article 3(1)(19) defines the authorised representative as a natural or legal person established in the Union that has received a written mandate from the Manufacturer to act for specified tasks concerning the Manufacturer’s obligations under PPWR.
Article 17 says the Manufacturer may appoint such a representative. The appointment is therefore not framed as a universal compulsory step for every Manufacturer.
The mandate must allow the representative to keep the DoC and technical documentation available to national market-surveillance authorities.
The representative must cooperate when authorities investigate non-compliant packaging covered by the mandate.
Information and technical documentation must be supplied following a reasoned request from a competent national authority.
Relevant documents must be made available within 10 days when requested by the competent authority.
PPWR provides five-year retention for single-use packaging and ten years for reusable packaging.
Article 17 requires termination where the Manufacturer acts contrary to its obligations under PPWR.
The Manufacturer cannot contract away the core conformity responsibility.
The obligation to place only compliant packaging on the market cannot form part of the Article 17 mandate.
The obligation to draw up the required technical documentation cannot be delegated through the Article 17 mandate.
The Commission's June 2026 guidance also explains that an authorised representative may prepare the EU Declaration of Conformity within the mandate. That does not shift the substantive compliance burden. Article 39 states that by drawing up the EU Declaration of Conformity, the Manufacturer assumes responsibility for the packaging's compliance, and the Commission describes the Manufacturer as the sole economic operator bearing legal responsibility for that conformity (European Commission, 2026).
This is why a Manufacturer AR should not be described as an EU authority that “approves” packaging. It is a mandated economic operator, not a regulator or certification body.
Article 45
The EPR AR operates inside the Producer’s national packaging-waste chain.
Article 3(1)(20) defines an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility as a natural or legal person established in the Member State where the Producer makes the relevant packaging or packaged products available for the first time, or where the relevant unpacking occurs.
Its principal is the Producer, not the Manufacturer. Its job is to fulfil that Producer's obligations under Chapter VIII. That moves the relationship away from technical packaging conformity and into producer registration, EPR reporting and the national waste-management framework.
The Producer appoints the representative for the relevant EPR functions.
Article 44 permits Member States to allow registration obligations to be performed through the EPR AR.
Article 44 reporting can be submitted by the Producer, EPR AR or PRO as national law provides.
The representative operates within the Producer's Chapter VIII responsibility and interacts with the national EPR structure.
The EPR AR is also different from a Producer Responsibility Organisation. A PRO organises EPR fulfilment collectively for several Producers. An EPR AR represents a particular Producer under the representation framework. The same compliance file may contain both an EPR AR mandate and a PRO mandate or membership record.
Annex IX keeps these identities separate. Registration data can include the Producer, the EPR Authorised Representative and the PRO, together with the relevant mandate information.
Nor should appointment of an EPR AR automatically be described as transferring every possible legal liability away from the Producer. PPWR establishes the representative's fulfilment function, while national implementation rules may determine additional duties, enforcement exposure and liability consequences.
Regulatory status · 30 August 2026
Article 45(3) is also the subject of an active legislative proposal.
Article 45(3) remains part of Regulation (EU) 2025/40.
For the relevant cross-border Producer routes, the current Article 45 text establishes a written-mandate EPR-representation rule. It also permits Member States to require Producers established in third countries to appoint an EPR Authorised Representative when first making packaging or packaged products available on their territory.
The Commission has proposed suspending Article 45(3) until 2035.
COM(2025) 982 would suspend application of Article 45(3) until 1 January 2035. For third-country Producers, Member States could require an EPR AR or use alternative traceability and enforcement mechanisms. As of 30 August 2026, EUR-Lex lists the ordinary legislative procedure as ongoing.
A compliance decision should therefore distinguish the Regulation in force from a proposal to amend how part of it applies. The proposal should not be written into a mandate, country page or customer advice as though suspension had already taken legal effect.
National legacy EPR-representation rules also need separate review. PPWR does not make every existing register, mandate or national procedure disappear overnight simply because a new EU-level rule exists. The operating position must be checked for the specific Member State.
Common mistakes
Most AR errors begin with an incomplete name.
Do not assume that:
- “PPWR AR” automatically means the same legal representative in every part of the Regulation.
- The Article 17 AR becomes responsible for Article 15(1) conformity merely because it holds the technical file.
- An EPR AR mandate is also a Manufacturer AR mandate.
- A PRO membership agreement automatically appoints an EPR AR.
- An Importer is automatically either type of authorised representative.
- One EPR AR appointment automatically covers all 27 Member States.
- A pending EU legislative proposal has already changed the current binding PPWR text.
Never ask only “Do I need a PPWR AR?” Ask which legal role needs representation.
Manufacturer AR means Article 17 and the conformity side of PPWR. EPR AR means the Producer's Chapter VIII packaging-waste obligations in a Member State. Different principal, different establishment rule, different mandate and different evidence. Using the full name of the role is one of the simplest ways to prevent a serious compliance misunderstanding.
Frequently asked questions
Four quick distinctions.
Is the Article 17 Manufacturer AR the same as the EPR AR?
No. Article 17 concerns specified Manufacturer conformity tasks. The EPR AR represents the Producer in Chapter VIII packaging-EPR matters.
Can an Article 17 AR take over the Manufacturer's full legal responsibility?
No. Article 17 expressly excludes the Manufacturer's Article 15(1) obligation and the obligation to draw up the required technical documentation from the mandate.
Does one EPR Authorised Representative cover the entire EU?
No automatic EU-wide appointment exists. The EPR AR definition is tied to establishment in the relevant Member State and the Producer's packaging flow there.
Has the Article 45 EPR AR requirement already been suspended until 2035?
No. The Commission proposed that suspension in COM(2025) 982, but the legislative procedure remains ongoing as of 30 August 2026.
References