Every Serbian company placing packaged goods on the European Union market will, as of today, have to demonstrate that its packaging complies with the new single European standard. Regulation (EU) 2025/40, known as the PPWR, begins to apply on 12 August and represents one of the most significant regulatory changes for Serbian exporters in recent years.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) replaces the previous Packaging Directive 94/62/EC, which had been in force since 1994. The new rules cover almost all types of packaging, regardless of the material from which they are made or the country of origin of the product.
The key difference lies not only in their content but also in their legal form: this is a regulation, rather than a directive, meaning that the same rules apply identically in all EU Member States from the same date, without having to be transposed into national legislation. This is important for Serbian companies because the PPWR makes no distinction between EU and non-EU producers: anyone who “places packaging on the Union market”, including exporters from Serbia, is treated as a producer and is subject to the same obligations as a company from Germany or France.
What applies immediately and what will be phased in
The regulation formally entered into force in February 2025, but its general application begins on 12 August 2026. However, a significant portion of the obligations will be phased in through 2040.
For exporters, the most important requirements are those that apply immediately:
– An authorised representative in each country of export. Any company that is not established in the Member State to which it exports must appoint a local authorised representative responsible for extended producer responsibility (EPR) – separately for each Member State, with no possibility of a single registration covering the entire EU.
– EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation. For each type of packaging, companies must carry out a conformity assessment, issue an EU declaration of conformity and ensure the traceability of the packaging throughout the entire supply chain.
– Ban on PFAS substances in food packaging. The limit values are 25 ppb (parts per billion) for an individual targeted PFAS substance, 250 ppb for the sum of those substances and 50 ppm for total organic fluorine. The restriction applies to all packaging that comes into contact with food, with no exception for stocks that have already been produced.
– Registration in extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in every Member State where the goods are sold, together with the payment of fees under national schemes.
– Initial restrictions on certain forms of single-use plastic packaging and initial minimum percentages of recycled content for certain categories of plastic packaging.
– A limit on empty space in e-commerce shipments of no more than 40%, except where technically unavoidable – particularly important for companies selling directly to consumers in the EU.
The greatest pressure will be felt by the food and beverage industry, due to the PFAS restrictions and the direct contact between packaging and food, followed by cosmetics and household chemical producers, as well as companies in the plastic and paper packaging sectors that supply exporters.
Secondarily, the regulation will also affect all businesses that sell goods directly to consumers in the EU through their own websites or stores, as the provisions on packaging minimization and empty space also apply to transport and e-commerce packaging.
Companies will gradually be required to reduce the amount of unnecessary material, use recyclable packaging and increase the share of recycled raw materials. Stricter requirements will also be introduced regarding the composition, safety and labelling of packaging.
The PPWR is not a one-off turning point, but rather a series of deadlines running from August 2026 through 2040. For Serbian exporters, this effectively means that compliance with the European market will no longer depend solely on the price and quality of a product, but also on how well the packaging in which that product reaches the EU customer is designed, documented and labelled in accordance with rules that, from August onwards, will no longer be recommendations but legal requirements.
Serbian Chamber of Commerce launches support programme
At the end of July, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce launched a Professional Support Programme for the implementation of the PPWR, primarily aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, in cooperation with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) and with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as part of the programme’s third phase, running from 2026 to 2029.
Companies that are members of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce have access to free expert support and two digital tools for assessing packaging compliance, preparing technical documentation and drawing up an EU declaration of conformity, along with guidance on proper labelling and registration in the relevant systems.
Source: Biznis.rs, 12.08.2026