EPR in Romania for online sellers based in another EU country
Extended producer responsibility is national, not European. If your webshop ships packaged goods to customers in Romania, you are the producer for that packaging in Romania — even with no company, warehouse or employee here. We are an environmental consultancy in Cluj-Napoca and we take that obligation off your desk: registration, the producer responsibility organisation contract, monthly returns to the Environmental Fund Administration and the records an inspection asks for.
Why an EU webshop has obligations in Romania under PPWR (EU) 2025/40
Under the EU packaging rules, whoever first places packaged goods on a national market is responsible for that packaging there. When you sell directly to a consumer in Romania, that market is Romania, and the fees are due to the Romanian Environmental Fund Administration (Administrația Fondului pentru Mediu, AFM) — not to the scheme you already pay in your own country.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) does not change that. It harmonises what has to be reported and makes distance selling explicit, but registration and payment stay per country. A seller active in six markets registers in six.
In practice most cross-border sellers discover this either when a marketplace asks for a Romanian EPR registration number, or when a Romanian authority contacts them.
You are likely in scope if any of these is true
- You ship parcels with your own or your supplier's packaging to consumers in Romania.
- You sell on a marketplace that has asked you for a Romanian EPR registration number.
- You place electrical or electronic equipment, batteries, tyres, oils or textiles on the Romanian market.
- You have a Romanian-language webshop, .ro domain or Romanian customer service, but no company registered in Romania.
- You use a Romanian fulfilment centre or third-party logistics provider.
What the Romanian obligation actually consists of
| Obligation | What it means | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Being on record with the Romanian authorities as a producer placing packaging on this market | Once, then kept up to date |
| Authorised representative | A person or company established in Romania that acts for a producer without a Romanian establishment | Ongoing |
| PRO contract | A contract with a licensed producer responsibility organisation (OIREP) that takes over your recycling targets | Ongoing |
| Declaration and payment | Quantities per packaging material declared to the Environmental Fund Administration, with the contribution paid | Monthly, by the 25th |
| Records | Evidence behind every declared quantity: invoices, packaging weights per SKU, shipment data | Kept and available for inspection |
Which of these applies in your exact case depends on your product range and how you sell. We confirm it in writing before you commit to anything.
How we work with foreign sellers
- 1Free assessment
You send your product categories, packaging types and rough annual volumes for Romania. We tell you what applies and what does not.
- 2Mandate
You appoint us as your authorised representative in Romania. We prepare the documents; you sign and, where needed, have them apostilled.
- 3Registration and PRO contract
We register you and put the producer responsibility organisation contract in place, so your recycling targets are covered.
- 4Monthly reporting
You send shipment and packaging data once a month. We calculate, file the declaration and tell you the amount to pay before the deadline.
- 5Backdated periods
If you have been selling into Romania without registration, we reconstruct the past periods and file the corrections.
Cost
Frequently asked questions
- We already pay a packaging fee in our home country. Do we pay twice?
- You do not pay twice for the same market. Your existing national fee covers packaging placed on that market; packaging shipped to Romanian customers is placed on the Romanian market and is covered by the Romanian contribution. Correct national splitting of your volumes usually means neither scheme is overpaid.
- Do we need to set up a Romanian company?
- No. A producer without an establishment in Romania acts through an authorised representative established here. That is the role we take.
- How small is too small to bother?
- Romanian packaging rules do not have a de minimis exemption comparable to some other member states, so even modest parcel volumes create a declaration obligation. The amounts owed can be small while the penalty for not declaring is not.
- What happens if we have been shipping to Romania for years without registering?
- Backdated periods can be reconstructed and declared. Voluntary correction is treated very differently from being found during an inspection, so this is worth doing before someone asks.
- Which language do we work in?
- English (or Hungarian if you prefer) for everything you see, Romanian for the filings and authority correspondence. You never have to deal with a Romanian-language portal yourself.
Next steps
- Packaging EPR in detailMaterials, targets, deadlines and how the contribution is calculated.
- Authorised representativeWhat the role covers and what we need from you to take it on.
- PPWR explainedWhat Regulation (EU) 2025/40 changes for cross-border sellers.
- How we work and what it costsOnboarding, the monthly cycle and our pricing model.