Until now, most Amazon sellers got away with two EPR registrations: Germany and France. Those were the countries Amazon actively verified, and the rest of the EU sat in a grey zone that nobody enforced.
That ends on 12 August 2026. From that date Amazon verifies packaging EPR registration in every EU country where you sell or store stock. It is a hard enforcement date, not a phased rollout, and the consequence for a missing number is a deactivated listing in that country.
This article sets out what changes, which number you need where, and what to do first if you are reading this with days rather than weeks to go. We are Westwood Sourcing, based in Breda, and we handle EPR registrations for non-EU sellers placing consumer products on the EU market.
What EPR actually is, briefly
Extended Producer Responsibility makes you financially responsible for the collection and recycling of what you put on the market. If you ship a product in a cardboard box with plastic wrap, you pay towards the cost of processing that box and that wrap when the consumer throws it away.
You do that by registering with the national scheme in each country, receiving a registration number, and entering that number in Amazon Seller Central. Then you report volumes and pay a fee based on what you put on the market.
There are three separate streams, and they are genuinely separate registrations:
- Packaging. Applies to almost everyone. If your product ships in anything, this is you.
- WEEE, electrical and electronic equipment. Only if your products are electrical.
- Batteries. If your product contains or ships with batteries, including the ones inside the device.
What changes on 12 August 2026
Three things at once, and they compound.
Amazon verifies every country, not just two. Where the check used to focus on Germany and France, it now covers every EU country where your products are sold or stored. If you use Pan-European FBA, your stock can sit in seven countries without you having chosen that.
There is no EU-wide registration. Each country runs its own scheme, with its own authority, its own portal and its own number. A German LUCID number does not cover Italy. A French IDU number does not cover Spain. There is no shortcut here, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
Amazon paying on your behalf is ending. In some countries Amazon previously handled the EPR contribution for sellers. Under PPWR the marketplace is required to verify that sellers hold their own registration, which means that arrangement no longer covers you.
Which number you need, per country
The five that matter most for Amazon sellers, because they are the largest marketplaces and the most common fulfilment locations.
|
Country |
Scheme or authority |
What you get |
|
Germany |
LUCID (Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister) and a recycling company |
LUCID number. Registration required before your first sale, with no minimum volume threshold. |
|
France |
Citeo |
Unique Identification Number, the IDU. The Triman logo is also required on packaging. |
|
Spain |
Ecoembes |
Registration in the national producer register. Also add the Spanish recycling logo to the packaging. |
|
Italy |
CONAI |
CONAI membership and reporting obligation. Don't forget to add the Italian icon and text. |
|
Poland |
National register (BDO) |
Separate registration with the national authority. |
The remaining member states each have their own equivalent. Which ones apply to you depends entirely on where you sell and where your stock physically sits.
How to find out which countries apply to you
This is the step most sellers skip, and it is the one that determines everything else.
- Check your inventory placement, not your marketplace list. With Pan-European FBA, Amazon moves your stock to whichever fulfilment centre suits its network. You can be storing in Poland without ever having sold to a Polish customer. Pull your inventory report and look at the actual locations.
- Check your distance sales. Even without stock in a country, selling into it triggers the obligation once you place packaging on that market.
- Check what Seller Central already flags. Amazon has been sending notifications ahead of the deadline. Those name the specific countries and streams where a number is missing.
What happens if a number is missing
Amazon deactivates your listings in the country where the registration is absent. Your listings elsewhere keep running, which is why this often shows up as sales quietly disappearing in one market while everything looks fine in another.
Separately from Amazon, national authorities can impose fines. Depending on the member state these reach into the tens of thousands of euros, and in some cases up to 100,000 euros.
The registrations themselves cost a fraction of that. For most small and mid-sized sellers a packaging registration is a low annual fee plus a contribution based on volume. The gap between the cost of compliance and the cost of non-compliance is not close.
If you are reading this with days to go
Registrations take one to four weeks per country, so you will not have everything in place by Wednesday. That is not a reason to do nothing. Do this instead, in this order:
- Start with the country where you have the most revenue. For most sellers that is Germany. Losing German listings hurts more than losing Polish ones.
- Start the registrations in parallel, not one by one. They run at different national authorities, so there is nothing to gain from sequencing them.
- Enter each number in Seller Central the moment you receive it. Listings usually come back within 24 to 48 hours after the field is filled.
- Document that you started. If an authority questions you later, evidence that you began the process before the deadline is materially better than nothing.
Need a German LUCID registration?
Need a German LUCID registration? We handle the registration and give you the number to enter in Seller Central. Germany is the largest Amazon marketplace in the EU, so it is the one to sort first.
We also handle France for packaging and electronics. For other countries, get in touch and we will tell you what is involved.
How this connects to PPWR
The 12 August date is not a coincidence. It is the day the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, becomes applicable across all 27 member states. PPWR requires marketplaces to verify that their sellers hold valid EPR registrations, and Amazon has set the same date as its own enforcement point.
PPWR brings a second obligation on that date that has nothing to do with EPR: a Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation for each packaging type you place on the market. That is a separate piece of work, and we set it out in detail in our PPWR guide.
PPWR: What Importers Should Do Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some common questions about this service.
Only if your stock is stored elsewhere or you sell into other countries. Check your inventory placement report first, because Pan-European FBA moves stock without asking.
Under PPWR, marketplaces must verify that sellers hold their own registration rather than covering it themselves. That arrangement no longer satisfies the requirement.
One to four weeks per country, depending on the authority and how complete your application is. Start with your biggest market.
Conclusion
From 12 August 2026 Amazon checks EPR registration in every EU country where you sell or store. There is no single registration that covers the EU, each country has its own number, and a missing number means deactivated listings in that market.
If you are behind, start with the country where you have the most revenue and run the rest in parallel. The registrations are administrative and the fees are modest. The cost of being caught without them is not.
Not sure which countries apply to you?
Sources
- European Union. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR). EUR-Lex.
- Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister. LUCID Verpackungsregister. verpackungsregister.org
- Citeo. Registre des producteurs, identifiant unique. citeo.com
- European Commission. Extended Producer Responsibility. environment.ec.europa.eu
