§13 Scope of harmonised packaging labelling

Legal provisions: Article 12(1): ‘From 12 August 2028 or 24 months from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts adopted pursuant to paragraphs 6 or 7 of this Article, whichever is the latest, packaging placed on the market shall be marked with a harmonised label containing information on its material composition in order to facilitate consumer sorting. The label shall be based on pictograms and be easily understandable, including for persons with disabilities. (…)’ Commission’s interpretation: Packaging labelling under the scope of Article 12 is exhaustive and fully harmonised, except as regards deposit and return schemes. National rules which add sorting instructions are not allowed based on the principle of primacy of EU law. Member States will not be allowed to keep their national labels next to EU harmonised labels after 12 August 2028 or 24 months from the date of entry into force of the implementing act specifying the labelling rules and pictograms. As economic operators cannot adapt to a new labelling regime without a transition period, the national measures should be repealed before that date or adapted to allow for that transition. Where national measures concerning sorting instructions might be judged disproportionate in view of their impact on the internal market, such measures should be repealed as soon as possible, regardless of the date of the entry into force of the harmonised EU requirements to be adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 12(6). The Commission Decision 97/ 129 of 28 January 1997 establishing the identification system for packaging materials (25), which sets up a system of numbering and abbreviations to identify the material composition of packaging mainly aimed at waste managers to help them sort packaging waste, still applies until 12 August 2028. The use of this decision and of the system of abbreviations that it sets up is voluntary for manufacturers, but Member States are obliged to ensure that no other system to identify packaging materials than the one defined in the Decision is used. In other words, where an identification system is used, then it must be the one defined in the Decision. However, the use of the abbreviations as established under the Decision will be no longer allowed after 12 August 2028. This is because technological advances in separation of waste after collection are reducing the necessity for such markings for recyclers and to ensure harmonised labelling across the Single Market. The objective of the labelling requirements provided for in Article 12(1) is to improve the sorting of packaging waste by consumers. Therefore, these requirements do not apply to the packaging of certain products, such as human or veterinary medicinal products, medical devices or in vitro diagnostic medical devices, that can only be used by professional end users in the course of their industrial or professional activities. The Regulation expressly excludes from this labelling obligation transport packaging, except for e-commerce packaging, and packaging that is subject to a deposit and return system. The specifications for the waste sorting labels will be established in an implementing act by 12. August 2026. As regards labelling for reusable packaging under Article 12(2), Member States will not be allowed to keep their national labels next to EU harmonised labels after 12 February 2029 or 30 months from the date of entry into force of the implementing act specifying the related labelling rules. The use of waste sorting labels and labels for reusable packaging is mandatory. As regards labels for recycled content and bio-based content under Article 12(4), they will be fully harmonised from 12 August 2028 or 24 months after the entry into force of the related implementing act, but the use of these labels is voluntary. This means that economic operators are not obliged to indicate the recycled content or bio-based content on their packaging, but if they wish to indicate this, they must use the EU harmonised technical specifications. As regards labelling of packaging covered by the mandatory deposit and return systems under Article 50(1), Member States may require that such packaging be marked with a harmonised colour label (Article 12(1), fourth sub-paragraph). While Member States are not required to use the EU harmonised deposit and return (DRS) label, they cannot prohibit the affixing of DRS labels on their market packaged products carrying DRS labels which have been affixed in other Member States, and this applies to both mandatory and non-mandatory deposit and return systems. By using the harmonised label, Member States will reduce the risk of creating barriers to the internal market via national DRS labels. When providing rules for national DRS labels, Member States are recommended to consider the Communication from the Commission — ‘Beverage packaging, deposit systems and free movement of goods’ (2009/C 107/01) (26). As regards labels for extended producer responsibility (EPR) (27), the PPWR bans physical labels and allows such information or labels to be provided only in a digital format (Article 12(9)). As regards the derogation provided for in Article 12(11), for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices there are no definitions for inner and outer packaging in Regulations (EU) 2017/745 and (EU) 2107/746. To ensure the derogation is correctly applied for those products, the reference to immediate packaging should be understood as referring to the packaging in contact with the device while the outer packaging should be understood as referring to the sales packaging of the device. As Article 12 fully harmonises packaging labelling in the Union, Member States are not allowed to adopt other national mandatory packaging labelling requirements. This is justified by the significant impact on the internal market impact of packaging labelling requirements.

← 12 · All articles · 14 →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07