In force since 12 August 2026
The exception for very small businesses
There is one way out of counting as the manufacturer of packaging carrying a business's own brand. Two things both have to be true: the business is a micro-enterprise, which the rules define by staff numbers and money, and the company supplying the packaging is based in the same country. When both hold, the supplier counts as the manufacturer instead.
Worth knowingThe supplier has to be in the same country, not merely somewhere in the EU. This exception only changes who counts as the manufacturer. It says nothing about the separate producer role a business picks up by selling into another country.
Situations where this one comes up
A business with fewer than ten people puts its own logo on its packaging, buys that packaging from a supplier in the same country, and sells only to customers at home.
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