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.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 3(1), point (13)(b) — read from this source on
Worth knowingFor the definition above, the supplier has to be in the same country. Two other provisions make the same swap for a narrower purpose, and those accept a supplier anywhere in the EU. They cover the manufacturer's own duties: checking the packaging, keeping the technical file, and marking it. So a micro-enterprise buying from another EU country can still carry the definition while those particular duties sit with its supplier. 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.
Work out whether this one is likely to matter for you · See what starts when