A new EU regulation is coming. Does it apply to you?
Already in force
If you sell non-food consumer products into the EU, these apply to you right now. Not next year.
| Since | What | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 13 December 2024 | GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988. Every consumer product needs a named economic operator established in the EU, plus technical documentation and compliant labelling. | Everyone selling physical non-food consumer goods to EU customers, including through marketplaces. |
| 12 August 2026 | PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Your packaging needs an EU Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation, and EPR registration is checked per country. | Anyone placing packaged goods on the EU market. That is almost everyone. |
These two are where enforcement actually happens today. Blocked marketplace listings and customs holds come from missing GPSR details and missing EPR numbers, not from anything on the horizon.
Not sure whether you are compliant with these two?
Coming, with a date fixed in law
These have a real date written into the regulation. Plan for them.
| Date | What | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| 30 December 2026 | EUDR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115. Due diligence and geolocation data for commodities linked to deforestation, and for products derived from them. | Large and medium-sized operators. Relevant if you import furniture, wooden or paper packaging, leather, rubber or products containing them. |
| 30 June 2027 | EUDR for micro and small operators outside the timber sector. | Smaller importers of the same product categories. |
| 1 January 2028 | UKCA marking becomes mandatory in Great Britain. CE marking remains valid in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. | Anyone selling into Great Britain. From that date the same product can need two different markings depending on whether it is sold in London or Belfast. |
The EUDR date has moved twice already, which is why some sellers assume it will move again. The Commission published a simplification package in 2026 and confirmed the December date rather than postponing it further. Treat it as real.
Announced, but not yet an obligation
This is where most of the noise is, and where you can safely do nothing for now.
The Digital Product Passport
The ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, creates the framework for a digital product passport. It does not by itself require one for any product. The actual requirements come per product group through delegated acts, and each of those has its own timeline.
The first working plan was adopted in April 2025 and names iron and steel, textiles, tyres, aluminium, furniture and mattresses as priority groups. The dates attached to those are indicative adoption dates for the rules, not compliance deadlines for you. On top of that, a delegated act cannot apply earlier than eighteen months after it enters into force.
In practice: unless you sell one of those specific product groups, there is nothing to prepare for yet, and no date you can miss. If somebody is selling you a digital product passport solution with a hard deadline attached, ask them which delegated act they are referring to.
What we watch for you
We track the delegated acts as they are adopted and tell our clients when one actually touches their products. That is a short list, and for most importers of general consumer goods it is currently empty.
How to tell whether a deadline is yours
Four questions, in this order. They filter out most of what you read online.
- Does it name my product category, or is it a framework? A framework regulation without a delegated act for your category creates no obligation yet.
- Is the date in the regulation itself, or in a work plan? Work plan dates move. Dates in the text of a regulation rarely do, and when they move it makes news.
- Does it apply to me or to my supplier? Many obligations sit with the manufacturer or the importer specifically. If you are neither, check who in your chain is.
- What actually happens on that date? Sometimes it is a reporting duty, sometimes it is a market ban. The difference determines how early you need to start.
If you cannot answer all four for a deadline that is keeping you up at night, send it to us. Answering that question is usually a ten minute job and it costs you nothing.
We see which rules are actually enforced, not just which ones are written.
We act as EU Authorised Representative for more than 200 non-EU brands and handle registrations across the EU.
GPSR and PPWR representation under one written mandate, valid in all 27 member states.
EPR registration in every country where your stock can land, before it lands there.
A read on which deadlines are enforced today and which are still only on paper.
One point of contact for every authority that comes asking, in every country.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about EU compliance deadlines.
Almost certainly not. The ESPR sets up the framework but the actual requirements come per product group through delegated acts, and the first of those are still indicative. Unless you sell steel, textiles, tyres, aluminium, furniture or mattresses, there is nothing to comply with yet.
It moved to 30 December 2026 and the Commission has since published a simplification package that confirmed that date rather than postponing it. Plan for it.
It can. The regulation covers wood and products derived from it, which includes paper and cardboard packaging as well as furniture. Whether it catches you depends on your product and your size category.
UKCA marking becomes mandatory in Great Britain from 1 January 2028, while CE marking stays valid in Northern Ireland. From that point the same product can require two different markings depending on where in the UK it is sold.
That is what we monitor for clients. We tell you when a delegated act names your product category, and stay quiet when it does not.