For the protection of the environment, the recycling of packaging waste in the EU is indeed a good directive. It stipulates that producers shall be responsible for the entire life cycle of their products and pay corresponding fees to avoid excessive packaging of certain products and reduce the amount of packaging used. At the same time, it also ensures the recycling of product packaging waste to achieve the effect of environmental and resource protection. Today, in addition to the implementation of EPR in Germany and France, I don’t know if sellers have noticed that other EU countries are also implementing follow-up EPR compliance. Prior to this, Italy announced the relevant regulations of the Packaging Law, which clearly stipulated the obligations of cross-border e-commerce sellers on packaging and printing labels placed on the Italian market. According to the pace of EPR compliance in Europe, it is not ruled out that Italy is likely to become a country where mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay and AliExpress will enforce measures on sellers. Therefore, the content of this time will lead the seller to understand the specific requirements of Italian EPR compliance (packaging label). No.1 Italian packaging Specific obligations for environmental labeling Italy promulgated Decree No. 116/2020 on September 3, 2020, which stipulates that producers are obliged to apply labels. The decree defines manufacturers as “suppliers of packaging materials, manufacturers, processors and importers of empty packaging and packaging materials”. It is required that from January 1, 2021, companies should fulfill their packaging environmental labeling obligations, requiring participants in the supply chain to label packaging materials to promote the classification, recycling and reuse of packaging materials. Italy’s environmental labeling has 2 specific obligations: 1. The manufacturer must indicate the packaging materials, and in accordance with the regulations of No. 97/129/CE, the alphanumeric code that conforms to the resolution should be used. Heavy! Seller must know! The latest Italian packaging regulations, French and German EPR compliance have come into effect. Image source: Kenken Cross-border Talk If you need more information about the alphanumeric code that complies with 97/129/CE, you can add WeChat: KXT-75, please get the remarks~ 2. The packaging used by the final consumer must be clearly marked with appropriate disposal instructions, which must be written in Italian. Heavy! Seller must know! The latest Italian packaging regulations, French and German EPR compliance have come into effect. Image source: Kenken Cross-border Talk Note: Regarding multi-component packaging labels, sellers need to give suggestions on the labels to help consumers correctly separate and dispose of each component. Sellers can do this either by using graphics or short text, but the text must also be written in Italian. In addition, it is necessary to suggest information about the correct classification of waste, such as “Empty the packaging” or “Svuotare l’imballaggio”, refer to the figure below: Heavy! Seller must know! The latest Italian packaging regulations, French and German EPR compliance have come into effect. Image source: Kenken Cross-border Talk In general, the label should contain four parts of information: packaging type, material identification code, waste collection guidelines, and waste separation recommendations. In general, all packaging on the Italian market must be affixed with environmental labels in order to reduce the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste, thereby protecting the environment. No. 2 Italian packaging Types and differences of labels 1. Type Today, all product packaging on the Italian market is within the scope of the decree, including B2C and B2B packaging. B2C packaging refers to the packaging provided to the final consumer in the form of packaging or pre-packaging. For labeling recommendations for this type of packaging, material identification codes and waste collection guidelines are mandatory. B2B packaging refers to packaging/packaging semi-finished products, such as wooden pallets, for professionals or for transportation, logistics, and exhibition-related packaging. For label recommendations for this type of packaging, the material identification code is mandatory content, and the rest are recommended content. 2. The difference The alphanumeric code used to identify packaging materials must be applied to B2B and B2C packaging. There is a difference between B2B and B2C regarding the correct handling of packaging information. Packaging used by the end consumer must contain this information, and packaging used by other companies is exempt from this information obligation. No.3 product packaging labeling Points to note Italian sellers need to consider the material composition of the product packaging when labeling the packaging! If the packaging consists of multiple materials, but the secondary material is less than 5% of its weight, they are classified as single-material packaging, and then they are marked by weight based on the primary material. For example, when the weight of printing ink or glue is less than 5% of the whole, it is classified as a single-material packaging. If the size of the package is too small to put the information on each material, another solution can be used to put the identification code in the main part of the package. No. 4 violates the Italian law Will face administrative fines The transition period for Italian packaging and labeling is until December 31, 2021. Before this date, companies can sell products that have been on the market and do not meet the labeling requirements until the inventory is sold out. However, starting from January 1, 2022, companies need to fulfill the relevant labeling requirements. Anyone who puts packaging on the Italian market without meeting the labeling requirements will be punished with a penalty of 5200 to 5200. An administrative fine of 40,000 euros. In addition, this obligation applies not only to manufacturers, but also to traders and distributors. In the cross-border race track, old sellers who have experienced hardships said that as long as you look carefully, you can find one thing in common. Each policy is stipulated by government agencies, and these mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms put forward specific requirements for sellers. . As a qualified and compliant cross-border seller, you need to always pay attention to new policies and regulations, and don’t ignore a new regulation and make product sales risky. Although Amazon has not yet forced Italian sellers to complete packaging compliance, from the perspective of the continued implementation of EPR in Germany and France, EPR has become a general trend in the EU. Therefore, it is recommended that Italian sellers should plan ahead and avoid subsequent registrations. !
